Sleep paralysis is a peculiar disability in which the subject on going to sleep or awakening from sleep possesses conscious awareness of his surroundings but suffers from an inability to move and frequently is tormented by acute anxiety. Schneck presents some evidence that sleep paralysis is an inhibition of motor function, a conversion symptom due to unconscious homosexual drives and the defenses against them at a time when sexual urges are active and are less controlled by the conscious ego.

The case discussed is that of a prisoner in a United States Disciplinary Barracks. Conjectures as to the underlying dynamics are based on the usual type of anamnesis and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. A number of corroborative cases from the literature are cited.