Sleep paralysis is that frightening experience in which an individual just before falling asleep or before awakening finds himself completely paralyzed. He is partly aware of his surroundings but is unable to move or call for help. He may feel that the spell would be broken if he could only manage to make the

slightest movement. Recovery occurs spontaneously or when the individual is roused. A young woman is described in whom sleep paralysis was a prominent symptom. The author relates her sleep paralysis to a personality conflict between passive and aggressive trends. Inhibition represented her main defense against aggressivity and sexuality. The sleep paralysis, which appeared at the time of acute anxiety, was viewed as extreme inhibition, representing a compromise between fulfilment of her sexual and hostile wishes and a defense against them.