Sleep paralysis is not a perfect term to use, but it is not incorrect when used on this forum. If anyone is incorrect it's the people who think sleep paralysis must be accompanied by a sense of terror. Sleep paralysis as described by the people on the typical sleep/health forums is incorrect. Sleep paralysis as a medical term is incorrect. How many sleep health doctors have actually learned to induce sleep paralysis on purpose to study it first hand? Not very many. They rely on the descriptions given by patients who are even more ignorant than they are.

If what you say is true then every time I WILD I pass through a few seconds of NREM sleep. Even if I've already slept for nine hours? NREM should be completely finished by that point. After that much sleep I pass from waking straight into REM sleep. And I can still get all the sensations that you're describing as NREM. As well as the total paralysis that you say doesn't occur during NREM.

I too want to demystify sleep paralysis. But replacing a commonly used and misunderstood term with another commonly used and possibly misunderstood term does not seem like a step in the right direction. I'd rather teach people what sleep paralysis really is.

When we perform a WILD our brain is asleep, yet we are still aware of ourselves. That's what it's all about. And that's exactly what happens to a person when they experience sleep paralysis the old fashioned way. Their awareness of themselves is awake while the rest of their brain is still asleep. Just like a WILD. But the average person doesn't know what's happening and panics. They aren't aware that a little mental discipline can allow them to control the sensations or to simply return to sleep.