Sleep paralysis documentary reveals terrifying phenomenon, watch The Nightmare

The creators of a documentary about sleep paralysis say they want to raise awareness of the terrifying phenomenon and reassure sufferers that “they are not alone”.
The Nightmare, directed by Rodney Ascher, looks at the stories of several individuals with sleep paralysis.
Sufferers find themselves awake but unable to move or react. While temporarily paralysed, many experience a sense of someone else being in the room. Vivid hallucinations of shadow-like people, aliens and other figures are common. The experience is only broken when the sufferer is moved or shocked out of the paralysis.
Scientists believe the phenomenon occurs when the mechanism that causes your muscles to relax during sleep persists after waking up.

Lifetime sufferer Carla MacKinnon, 34, said: “The first time it happened, as a teenager, I awoke and felt like I was buried alive under the sand at the bottom of the sea. Later I’d wake and feel there was a shadow-like figure in the room with me. In all the experiences was an overwhelming sense of terror.


“Now I’ve learned to manage the condition better and have it less often. I found it was a lot to do with good sleeping habits and managing stress.” The animator, from Finchley, has created a short film as part of another awareness campaign, the Sleep Paralysis Project. The condition is far more common than originally suspected, according to recent research backed by scientists at Goldsmiths, University of London.
Thirty per cent of Britons have experienced it at least once. Londoners, women and people aged 15 to 24 are more likely to be sufferers.
Mr Ascher, who has experienced it on several occasions and appears in the film, said one main motivation for the work was “raising awareness” so sufferers “knew they were not alone”.
He added: “Many people think they are going mad. But that’s not the case. It is a scientific thing.”
Professor Christopher French, of the anomalistic psychology research unit at Goldsmiths, said: “There is no cure, we’re desperate to fund a PhD student to do research. Films like this could help us get funding, but more vitally help sufferers who feel isolated by this distressing condition.”

@LizzieEdmo
The Nightmare is in cinemas now and available on DVD from October 26.

Source: http://www.standard.co.uk/

Mom schools publisher McGraw-Hill after they called African slaves ‘workers’ 'Workers implies wages... Yes?'

Roni Dean-Burren was less than impressed when her son’s “World Geography” textbook attempted to whitewash her son’s textbook.

The Houston mother’s 15-year-old son sent her a photo of a text bubble that read: “The Atlantic Slave Trade between the 1500s and 1800s brought millions of workers from Africa to the southern United States to work on agricultural plantations.”

Ms Dean-Burren would eventually call out the publisher on Facebook: "The Atlantic slave trade brought millions of workers...notice the nuanced language there. Workers implies wages... Yes?"

Ms Dean-Burren has worked at her son’s high school for 11-years as an English teacher. She’s also a doctoral candidate in the University of Houston’s Language Arts program, the Washington Post reports.

The publisher would soon issue a statement claiming they would rewrite the textbook's passage after Ms Dean-Burren's complaint.

Ms Dean-Burren told the Post: “On a surface level, ‘yay.’ I understand that McGraw-Hill is a textbook giant, so thumbs up for listening.”
“I know they can do better. They can send out a supplement. They can recall those books. Regardless of whether you’re left-leaning or right-leaning, you know that’s not really the story of slavery. Minimizing slavery in any way is a way of saying those black lives, those black bodies, that black pain didn’t matter enough to give it a full description.”
In July, the paper reported that students would be using new social studies textbooks across Texas that barely address racial segregation, Jim Crow laws and the Ku Klux Klan.
Former US Secretary of Education and Houston Superintendent Rod Paige, a Republican, argued against the state's new curriculum in 2010. He said he believes that the guidlines "swing too far" to the right and diminishes the importance slavery and the civil rights movement that "shaped who [Americans] are today."
“I’m of the view that the history of slavery and civil rights are dominant elements of our history and have shaped who we are today. We may not like our history, but it’s history, and it’s important to us today."

Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/mom-schools-mcgraw-hill-after-they-called-african-slaves-workers-a6683906.html