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Sleep Paralysis: Awake But Still Asleep
Biology 202
2000 First Web Report
On Serendip
Sleep Paralysis: Awake But Still Asleep
Hiro Takahashi
A person may wake up and find himself unable to move or speak as if he is frozen. He also may hear footsteps, see a ghost-like creature, or feel someone sitting on his chest. Throughout the history, people considered this phenomenon as work done by evil spirits. However, the modern science can explain the terrifying event as a Sleep Paralysis.
A Sleep Paralysis is possibly a hereditary disorder in which one experiences very frightening seconds or minutes of total body paralysis with little respiration and eye movements (1). A victim in this state feels awake, but he cannot move or speak (2). In addition to the immobility, the common symptoms include feeling choked or suffocated, hearing strange noises like footsteps and voices, seeing beings or dark shadows, and feeling an existance of someone in the room (1). Although these symptoms often direct the victims to believe in ghosts, mistransmission of neural signals in the brain causes Sleep Paralysis. When a person sleeps, his brain sends signals to inhibit any muscle contraction (3). If he comes into consciousness before the brain sends signals to activate muscle contraction, he cannot move his body, and consequently, become "paralyzed"(2).
In order to understand how a body becomes paralyzed while the person is awake, it is necessary to understand sleep cycles. In a mammalian sleep, the brain activity undergoes two different states called non-REM (NREM) sleep and REM sleep, which differ very much from wakefulness (3). NREM and REM sleep alternate cyclically through the night; in human, about 80 minutes of NREM sleep starts a night of sleep, about 10 minutes of REM sleep follows, and this 90 minute cycle is repeated about 3 to 6 times during the night (3). During NREM sleep, a body produces few movement, but the body has capability of tossing about in bed and producing some other motor events, such as sleepwalking and sleeptalking (3). The cardiac-muscle contraction and breathing occur at a uniform rate, and the eyes move slowly (2). During REM sleep, on the other hand, heart rate, respiration rate, and blood pressure vary (3). The eyes move rapidly because most dreaming takes place in this period, and the sleeper probably "look" at the moving objects in a dream (2).
The brain's control over muscles during REM sleep points out that in this period, a body is normally in the state of total paralysis, called a "nonreciprocal flaccid paralysis" (3). Probably to prevent a person from "acting out" a dream, the brain sends signals to inhibit any muscle contractions (2). Although some peripheral muscles, such as the muscles of the fingers and face, still twitch, the large skeletal muscles become relaxed, or "paralyzed" as a result (3). Some evidence supports that the motor paralysis of REM sleep protect against the acting out of one's dreams. A patient who suffers from rare syndrome called REM Sleep Behavior Disorder lacks the normal nonreciprocal flaccid paralysis, and he acts out violent dreams during REM sleep, often with injurious consequences (4). For example, a 60-year-old surgeon dreamt that he was attacked "by criminals, terrorists, and monsters who always tried to kill [him]" and fighting against them in the nightmare, he was actually punching and kicking his wife who slept in the same bed (4).
A nonreciprocal flaccid paralysis during REM sleep is accomplished actively by postsynaptic inhibition of motorneurons (3). Although the exact process of motor inhibition is not clear, some neurotransmitters and hormones are known to generate the many components of REM sleep. Aministering physostigmine, an inhibitor of the catabolic enzyme, increases the concentration of acetylcholine within the neurons in the pons, making it possible to artificially generate and start REM sleep in the middle of NREM sleep (3). Carbachol, the cholinergic agonist, produces a period of REM sleep in cat when directly injected into the pontine tegmentum (3). The hormone melatonin, a "master hormone" (5) that mainly controls circadian rhythms, also seems to play an important role in enhancing the REM state; the level of melatonin secretion by the pineal gland reaches its lowest during REM sleep (5). Such neurotransmitters and hormones probably activate or inhibit the activity of second messengers, which then activate or inhibit the third messengers, and so on till the last messenger inhibit the synaptic transmission or cause hyperpolarization of the motorneurons. And if, for some reason, the nervous or endocrine system continues to release the neural inhibitors, a person may experience Sleep Paralysis as he enters awakefully into or awakens directly from REM period (2).
While the modern neuroscience can describe the state of Sleep Paralysis as some errors of the neural transmission in the brain during REM sleep, a person who has seen or heard ghost-like figures/voices may easily believe that eveil spirits fully controlled his entire body. However, the images or noises, which the victim believes that he has seen or heard, are most likely hallucinations; and hallucinations, too, can result from the brain activity. In the 1960's, the Canadian neurologist W. Penfield introduced that electrical stimulation of the temporal lobe can cause the auditory hallucinations in the wake state (5). The buzzing or ringing sounds in the ears and other auditory hallucinations are closely associated with the activity of the auditory cortex and involves the temporal lobe (5). During the early period of sleep paralysis, the activity of the temporal lobe increases significantly, sometimes inducing hallucinatory sense (5). Similarly, the visual cortex generates internal visual stimuli, causing the victim to "see" terrifying figures during the paralysis (5).
How an episode of Sleep Paralysis induces visual or auditory hallucinations is still not clear, but it seems to have a significant relationship with anxiety (5). For anxiety is a neurocognitive event closely related to both psychological and physical processes, the extreme anxiety or panic may cause the release of several different signal molecules that trigger all kinds of physical events (5). A person experiencing Sleep Paralysis feels mortal fear or extreme panic, and hence, the brain generates and releases internal visual or auditory stimuli, producing hallucinations.
Also, hallucinations during Sleep Paralysis may happen, for one keeps dreaming even after some parts of his brain wakes up directly from REM sleep. Since the nervous and endocrine systems continue to release the neural inhibitors which sustain the paralysis, it may be possible that those systems keep releasing the neural activators that stimulate dreaming. Thus, a person continues to "see" the images and "hear" the noises produced in the dream that he has just had in REM sleep from which he has awaken.
Understanding more neural concepts of Sleep Paralysis, some researchers now hypothesize that a very rare condition called Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome (SUNDS) may closely relate to Sleep Paralysis (1). Upon the death, a SUNDS victim produces no body movement even though he experiences a myocardial infarction and strong breathing difficulties and should straggle in agony (5). The death may be caused by the extreme muscle atonia during Sleep Paralysis, which is so severe that even the cardiac muscles and the diaghragm paralyze (5).
Until I started researching on this subject, I have believed that the total paralysis of a body is due to an evil taking absolute control over the body. However, the interactions between neurons in the brain can explain this seemingly mysterious phenomenon in a scientific way. Although the explanation is not complete yet, for there are many unclear processes about Sleep Paralysis, the current hypothesis appears to reject the possibility of ghosts on this matter. Of course, it is impossible to completely disprove the existence of "spirits", "minds", or "God" affecting one's behavior. Nevertheless, like Sleep Paralysis and SUNDS, many or the mysterious conditions and behaviors which are only explained in supernatural terms probably result from brain.
WWW Sources
1)The Evil's of Sleep Paralysis
4)REM Sleep Behavior Disorder: A Neurologic Dissociative Sleep Disorder
5)Recurrent Isolated Sleep Paralysis
Comments made prior to 2007
I have been trying to figure out what was going on in my sleep untill i read this.Now i am happy to know what my body was expeiencing. It's quite scary your first couple experiences of sleep paralysis but now i'm gonna stay calm when it is happening to me and try to get my own understanding of the experience ... Jeremy, 21 March 2006
I have had sleep paralyisis at least once per month for the last 8 years. I am 29 as of this writing. I just had the experience about 1 hour ago and thus has caused me to do reasearch about it on the net. I noticed that many Dr.'s contribute this to anxiety, stress and other factors. My question is ... why is there always an evil presence in that concious yet body is still asleep phase? Today I heard a loud static sound, and opened my eyes to a spider crawling all over my arm. When I prayed to God, or said His name (Jehovah) the spider would start to disappear. I finally went thru my mental prayer when I awoke. This leads me to believe that it is more of a spiritual occurence, because I never have positive images while in this paralized state. I know there are many things in which our ancestors thought it was demonic rather than scientific, only to find there was a scientific explanation. However, I think this is different and cannot be simply written off as "scientific". There is not enough proof to show that it is scientific.
About a month ago I had another episode of sleep paralysis and I saw a small presence in the room with me. It was dark, and I could not see it's face (I am getting chills typing about it right now). My question is, why is there always an evil presence not only associated with my episodes, but so many others I have read about? ... Abel, 24 August 2006
i was thinking it is evil who do that during night but now i find out why. I am suffering from sleep paralyze possibly every nigh spicily when i have dinar ... Salah Nasser, 28 January 2007
I used to have this sleeping disorder when I was a child. It has come back once or twice with adulthood, but otherwise, it is in the past. I used to, with great effort, move my hand to my face and pull an eye open, which would wake me up, but sometimes the struggle was too much and I would go on into a deeper sleep.
Since the brain can do this to me, can it also cause me to get migraines just as I am about to wake up?
It seems, as I have discovered, if I get less than 4 hours sleep a night, I do not get migraines. If I get 6 hours or more, it's about a 90% chance I will wake with a migraine. Later in the day, I get an hour or two nap and that is the routine as it works. Doctors just sort of treat the migraine and don't get into the sleep thing I have. I take MaxAult for the migraines when they do get me.
I woke one time, and just as I woke, I felt this white-hot needle going into my head... bingo. A migraine in 5 seconds. That is how they can occur. I wake with them otherwise. I figure it my brain doing things it shouldn't. I have a clean bill of health otherwise.
Thanks for your time. Have a good day ... Jay, 11 February 2007
I have a question, and hope someone out there has an answer, it has been months and I have thus far failed to find one. Has there ever been a record of anyone receiving the effects of sleep paralysis without having been asleep? The reason I ask this, is a while ago, having not slept in a few hours, I was sitting at my computer, and it seemed to have happened to me. Within seconds I was too tired to hold up my own head, and my breathing got very difficult. Then I began to feel a sort of dizziness as my limbs lost feeling, and dropped to my side. after this, the dizziness turned to near blindness. I could see, but nothing would focus, and everything I tried to look at seemed to dart around like a mosquito. By this time I had no feeling in my entire body, could move nothing without quite a bit of concentration, and I could barely breath. My mother heard me try and make out some kind of cry for help, and found me there spilled into my computer chair. She rolled me to my bed, and poured me into it. Within about 10-15 minutes I had regained everything I once had, but my sea legs did not ware off for another ten or so minutes. I went to the emergency soon after. I had an E.K.G. and a C.A.T. scan, with no results, and I piss less in a week then the amount of blood they took that night. After basically telling me I was lying, the doctor told me that my symptoms did not fit anything at all. What I do know, is I have been researching the issue ever since, and can only base my problem on Sleep Paralysis. All the symptoms match. And again, my question....Has there ever been a record of someone under the effects of sleep paralysis without ever having gone to sleep? I hope you can shed some sort of light on this subject, as it,...well, it freaked me the hell out, and no one has been able to answer me! Thank you for your time ... Mitchel Henderson, 7 December 2007
I used get this "evil paralysed me" feeling when i was paralysed and usually saw a ghost. i tried to shout or move but no sound escaped my mouth and couldn't move at all. it happened again yesterday and was almost convinced that ghosts/evil spirits were getting the better of me. But, me being a practical and logical guy, erjected this theory and started researching on this phenomenon. I came across this research paper on Sleep Paralysis. This greatly helped me in alleviating my fears. And next time i "see" a ghost during sleep paralyses, ill just laugh at it ;-) Thanks for the research ... Siddarth, 10 December 2007
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Comments
Advice
Yes. Science does indeed have an explanation for most things. As our knowledge of science increases so to do our number of explainable things. Surely this is expected.
Of course there will be stubborn individuals out there who have an aversion to science and will proclaim there is magic at work. Magic is what primitives usually call it when you haven't yet found the scientific explanation no matter how far fetched it may be.
Either way, reassurance will also help deal with panic attacks. Repeating the name Jesus or Allah or reciting the names of the wombles backwards may do it for you. If it works stick with it.
Advice
It's a common feature that many of you are anxious or stressed in general. I would advise the following:
1. DON'T eat within 4-5 hours of bedtime. Waters ok but anything high in calories will result in increased neural activity overnight.
2. Mental state and anxious or fearful response is key here. Exercises to lessen your fear will prove to be invaluable. When ypur can consider your own death whenever it comes and accept it you're there. After all what's the worst eh.
3. If anyone is in or near a country where it's legal and is suffering repeat problems with this condition.. look into something called ayahuasca/caapi. The immediate effects don't sound ideal. In an anxious state you will most likely be sick and have scary visions. However the chemical composition will also result in release. You will most likely be significantly calmer. I would equate it with facing your dreams and fears and feeling great about it. That said, I've never tried it over here in the UK. It's not legal here..
Science almost always have an
Science almost always have an explanation for everything...It might b sleep paralysis but evil is behind it 100%and its been happening to me for 15 years...whenever this happens to me I say either a prayer or sing a gospel song in my head feeling a tingling sensation until I'm able to move...This is beyond annoying and I can only ask God to keep me.....Satan dosnt bother the ones he already has...
Mr. Takahashi, I have noticed
Mr. Takahashi,
I have noticed that you use the term “he” in your article to refer to sex of all ages. Please don’t use that term to describe both males and females, since the term “she” would not be used to describe both males and females. I am not a feminist, just someone looking to confirm equality.
Thank-you!
If i may ask for assistance
Hello, my name is Antonio. I just turned 17 and i believe i have been suffering from SP for a while. I am no stranger to the sensation, however i can't say i hallucinate but rather i hear everything around me. Believe it or not I just woke up from such an episode. It has been occurring frequently too frequent, the nightmare begins almost every other night now. I have a history of extreme anxiety and insomnia (which I recently conquered) so I believe this is a remnant of my disorder. Instead of letting it take control i decided to take action, if someone can please help me so i don't fall back into that dark hole i fought so hard to get out of.
I when ever I have SP, I
I when ever I have SP, I always wiggle my toes to get out of it. Every time im in the SP there is always a nightmare along with it followed by me hearing voices, objects, and seeing the unusual. What i did to fix this was, I created mental characters to protect me, so as soon the SP starts to take control, the chatacters are activated and start to battle it out, and the SP goes away. I see this as a whole mental thing that you must learn to take control of. This may sound out of the norm, but it works.
what helps me
Hi Antonio, sorry to hear that you are experiencing things.
Personally, what has helped me is to embrace a bible to my chest/heart when I go to sleep [like hugging someone]. This has worked for me on every night that I have experienced these events [when this happens to me repeatedly in a night, I grab the bible, hold it my chest and sleep].
same here
You are absolutely right, I believe science has done a good attempt to explain this but in my personal experience ,
Sleep paralysis has always had a strange evil air to it. The only way for me to get out of it is by praying in my head and rebuke it in the name of Jesus in my head because I can't speak, when I am actually out of it, I say it out loud.
I just found out a few
I just found out a few minutes ago that ive had sp for most of my life im 19 now almost 20 and tonight was the first time that i realised i was awake and that something wasn't right, i was only able to move my head and eyes, as i woke up i looked around and at a place in my room that freaks me out sometimes and i saw a figure standing there that wasn't much of a concern because i usually have horrific nightmares so much so that horror movies don't scare me at all anymore and i thought i was dreaming that was when it felt like something was on my chest, i also heard very soft odd noises thats when i realised i was actually awake, i tried to move but couldn't i thought to myself ''omw why is this happening! Why can't i move i know im awake'' it was also like i was so tired i couldn't keep my eyes open, i did eventually close them, i opened them a few seconds later and tried to call my mom but to no avail i had no voice. I have a friend who's mother gets epileptic fits she also sees 'demons' he also sees them but research has been done which has shown that the 'demons' they see are actually images that get sent involentarily so that the person sees these 'demon' like halucenations i would suppose its the same with sp basically because youre in a state of utter panic you tend to halucenate.
Ive had many experiance with
Ive had many experiance with sp in a spiritually ho rrifying way...it began when i was 13..it was at its worst when i was about 21, im know 27....i was so horrified from theese night terrors i couldnt shower alone! I felt like i had an evil spirit around me 24/7 no matter where i was...but to make a long story short, i truely believe spirits feed off your fear and worries and low self esteem i truely believe u just have to stand up to them show them ur not frightened and no matter whT they do u believe god is on your side and they can suck it
Incubus(sleep paralysis) symp
Incubus(sleep paralysis) symptoms are same as fainting (syncope) symptoms and so Incubus(sleep paralysis) is caused by fainting (syncope) .
How I wake up from sleep paralysis
I used to have these every other night when I was a kid. At first it was scary because you cannot move, shout and breathing is difficult.
I have devised a method to wake myself up from this sleep paralysis. How I came about this was thinking what actions I could do while in sleep paralysis... the only thing I could do is breath, even though it is hard.
The method:
1. I relax my breathing from a struggling state
2. Breathe out the most of the air in my lungs
3. Gather all my might and breathe in air quickly. This causes me to wake up (may be from the sudden surge of oxygen)
4. "Stay awake", at least for a half a minute or so because my body may still want to go back to sleep. And if I go back to sleep, I may go back into that sleep paralysis state and I will have to repeat from step 1.
I have successfully conquered this sleep paralysis of mine with the method I have stated above. I am not sure if it will work for all of you, but I just wanted to share this with you.
Lemme know if it works out!
my sleeping disorder
thank you imma try this just a few moments ago i basically froze i could see everything perfectly i just couldnt move then it felt like someone or something hit me in the bck i just got this shivver through my body and then i think i fell asleep lol but it was scary it happens a couple time a months sometimes i have good months though but thankyou
reply
I also have been experiencing these crazy sleep paralyzing symptoms and do the same steps you do..I thoght I was having a seizure when I first got one, scary. I calm myself down and I start feeling a numbing sensation on my body as if anesthesia was wearimg off. And so tre abot not going back to sleep for a while becase I have fallen right back to sleep and it happens again..Thanks for your help.
non evil
I just experienced Sleep Paralysis a couple minutes ago and decided to research this symptom after a coupleexeriences now. This symptom usually appears after fighting sleep. After finally falling asleep for a couple seconds i wake up to my paralysed body, contrary to other statements in my case i experience no evil events nor hallucinations, i still do get scared and try to fight the paralysis and it is until i relax for a second that gain back control over my body. Therefore, i completally believe this is non evil related what so ever, people experiencing those events must be hallucinating as a reaction to fear.
I believe the entire point
I believe the entire point and the reason people are bothered with this condition is that it SEEMS real. Now logic should tell you in most cases that what you experienced can't happen. However it's in human nature where in doubt to believe our own memories and "eyes".
The fear of the unexpected makes other worse. Emotional response strengthens memory. Furthermore there is a natural inclination in many towards the spiritual. The need to feel some degree of permanence in an ever changing world and in a brief life. Loss, love, a need to see change and retain hope even with an ever ticking clock. These all direct pur natures towards spirituality.
Even where there is a logical and calm explanation many would rather face fear and embrace the hope of finding more than resolve it.
help
I'm 25 male. Recently bought a used rv cheaply enough and after having it for a week I noticed written on the inside of the storage and closet doors the infamous tripple 6! Kinda freaked me out but I just thought the previous owners were into that type stuff. Idk. I've had the rv for about 3 months now and I ise the bedroom part as storage for my sons toys clothes ect. And we sleep on the pull out couch.From night to night when we sleep id hear someone or thing playing with the toys. Id go back there and the room was silent. No big deal just kind of creapy. Tonight I Went to sleep around 1:30 with my 2 year ols son next to me. I had my first sp ever and it scared the every loving crap out of me. I was dreaming for some reason I was in someone elses house sleeping in the fetal position next to a bed and caling out for help and screaming "no no no no....."and could hear people near by but noone came to my aide. I woke uo in my dream and was back in my rv sleeping. Then all the sudden I couldn't move my eyes were open and started twitching horribly and a dark presence hovered over me and was trying to make its face visible to me and I literally found myself trying to speak "jesus" after about the 7th time saying I was actually waking up saying it aloud and the presence was gone. Scariest thing in my life so far. I imediatly rose up turning on lights and checked on my son and started to pray. Any thoughts if its just sp or an actual haunting in my rv?
new rv owner
Don't fear! I really don't think you experienced any type of haunting, just sp. I've had it for years now and it certainly is terrifying beyond belief, but not related to true evil despite what you may have heard or read. There can be physical and emotional reasons for sp. My best suggestion since this was your first
episode is to read up on some legitimate sp information sources on the web, and if it
happens again, decide what works best for you to fight it. It can often be caused by sleep deprivation, alcohol, or prescription medication, though this may not apply to you. If it does continue, keeping a journal may help you identify patterns that may be leading to sp. Good luck and I hope this does not happen again!
Aware of about 20+ years now
The first that I really recognized an issue with this was when I was I believe in about 10th grade, so at about age 15. The dreams/nightmares are somewhat consistent and similar to the one I had just yesterday. I will awaken suddenly, not sure for what reason or even if I was in the middle of a dream or not and I will realize or be aware of something, a presence in the room with me. At times it has appeared as a dark shadow or figure in an area of the room or near or around me but most often a few feet away. I am always afraid of this presence or aware that I should be. It scares the hell out of me and I fight for the life of me to move but can't. I have tried to scream, I can still recall trying to scream "Mom" when I was younger and it only sounding like a slight moan for help. I have learned to be able to move my finger , potentially two in attempt to defend myself it is usually not long after that I awaken completely to realize it was some sort of dream? But it never seems like a dream. It usually lasts more than a minute to several minutes where you see someone or something in your room just feet away from you without the ability to move or do anything, it is horrifying, because it always seems evil or harmful. This last comment is in no way intended to make light of these occurrences. The best way I ever learned to defend myself came from the movie Nightmare on Elm Street, the only way to defend yourself is to realize and tell yourself its just a dream, its just a dream. I swear to God this is usually the reason I wake up and "survive" these episodes. Your heart races like I'm not sure you can imagine at least for me it does.
I dont have them as frequently as I did when i was a teen but have had cycles of episodes during the last 20+ years. Im now 38 and I believe its happened to me a few times recently, the most recent yesterday. I am currently going back to school full time and working 30+ hours a week along with a website business that Im trying to get off the ground. Perhaps I'm overstressed, which is a trait that I often have as I tend to take on quite a bit.
demond attack or sleep paralysis
ok im 18 but i have been having this episode for about two years now about 1-2 times a month. Ill be in bed close to falling asleep, then out of the blue i feel this pressure on my body. I cant move or talk. I feel my eyes rolling. and the only thing that moves is my neck but its moving on its own i have no control over it. its kind of like its twisting and moving from side to side.i can breathe fine but i am terrified during and after. during these episodes i see green or black shadows or here strange noises. one time while it was happening i was faced towards the tv and when the episode ended the same tv show was still on. thats how i knew i wasnt dreaming. another time it happened over the phone as i was talking to a friend but getting drowsy. while having this episode i also couldnt speak or move all i heard was his voice over the phone calling my name but i couldn't reply. thats also how i knew i wasnt dreaming. these episodes first happened when my mom and i moved into her boyfriends house. 4 years earlier his wife had passed away. she wasnt the best woman. she was very mean. Could this be her attacking me at night? is she angry my mother and i came into her home? One time i even woke up with long scratches on the back of my shoulder. One summer i had scratches on my breasts and thighs, one resembling a small upside down cross.(btw my moms boyfriend and his former wife were atheists). What confuses me is not only does it happen at the house. it happens anywhere. One time in detention(high school). and a couple times sleeping over a friends. somebody please help am i being tormented by an evil spirit or is this Just sleep paralysis?
Both
It's both scientific and spiritual. More spirituality though.
I'm 17 and female, My attacks happen back - to -back 8 times a night for about a few minutes long.
I get this weird feeling before my sleep paralysis attacks come on.
I usually hear buzzing noises when i'm in Sleep paralysis mode but it happens to me a lot.
Yesterday i had a bad Sleep Paralysis experience.
I froze up and i had a vision that i was in heaven and hell and all i hear is "You will obey me or you will go to hell."
i guess that was from some freaky demon telling me to close my eyes and sleep and i won't wake up the next morning.
I usually can move when i'm in attacks and wake up, but last night i couldn't move at all except for my eyes
That scared me pretty bad!!
I would suggest a sleep study, but since we can't turn the attacks on or off, it would be hard for a doctor to see if we have the sleep disorder. but he will at least give you sleep meds to help you go to sleep with out having a sleep paralysis attack.
Your Dream Problem
This is fine, i get like this all the time, infact it just happened to me 3 times just now, crazy i know but the worst was when i was half awake and i felt like i was floating out of my room, when i woke up i had drewld over my pillow. lol
Is it ok if this happens at a very young age?
Hi my name is Makena and im a freshman in high school. So i have a question, is it ok to get these kind of dreams at a young age because i got my first SP at about 7-8 yrs old.
I was like sleeping in my room and then all of a sudden, my dream just got like a yellowish tint to it then i couldn't move at all, and there was this super black dark grimm reaper thing rite next to the edge of my bed. I was so sacerd so i tried to sream, but no sound came out, and i couldn't hear anything. So i decided to get up, but when i tried i couldn't, all i could do was move my eyes, and in my head i heard a noise very quietly in my head that sounded like a clock going tick tick tick.... And whenever i tried to call my mom or move, the creature would move closer to me, until i stopped because it was about 5 ft away from me. Then i just woke up and told my mom, but she said it was just a nightmare. So the next time this happened i didn't tell her because she would say the same thing. But i have dreams like thisa atleast every 3 months ever since i was 7-8. Sp what should i do, because every time i hhave this dream i get relly tired for like 2 days and i can't afford to be tired because of the school i go to is a campus college prep. school thats about an hour away from my house, so i cant afford to be tired.
PLEASE HELP ME!!
Don't believe everything you
Don't believe everything you read! :)
has anyone had an out of body
has anyone had an out of body experience during /befor or after a sleeping paralysis episode? i read that its part of astral projection somewhere.
sleep par.
Im preety sure i have, but not for a long time, and it only happened once. I have the sleep paralysis at least once a week but it happens multiple times that one night over and over again. I am actually about to print out this book about astral projection that i have read in the past, about 10 years ago....Its a how to guide on how to experiance an astral projection. I also think sleep paralysis can be used if experianced to travel out of your body and anywhere in the universe, but you have to practice at it like anything else. I finally found a good book on it, actually two books in one online. I downloaded it and im about to print it out. The last time i read the book it took me a 3 days to complete step one and when i did, it just scared the shit out of me and i returned the book right away to the library. Ill let you know, when i find out more. My sleep paralysis is so wierd. Im awake usually when its happening but also dreaming at the same time. I also dream when im awake, ive tried to get help from a doctor with no results, I also refuse to take any sleep medications except for melatonin sometimes. Keep in touch.
I forgot about it until now.
I forgot about it until now. Had one of those old TV's in my room. The tinny ring I got faintly and the blackness started there. It was off and cold though.
Lol not sure why it would be related. Just the static feeling and ringing noise and the direction it started in?
Don't see any reason cathode tubes would have that effect or make any dark shapes or energy under any conditions.
Sleep Paralysis
I am 32 yrs old and have experienced SP for the past 10 yrs. I have anywhere from 3-8 episodes each night. It is the most horrible and terrifying thing for anyone to go through and for anyone who has to experience this I am truly sorry. Although I do not feel or see any evil spirits or feel as if I'm being held down, I am completely paralysed and sometimes I can moan loud enough for my husband to hear me and then he shakes me out of it. I have narcolepsy and SP has been linked to it. When I awake from SP I am EXTREMELY weak and this last for hours and sometimes throughout the next day. It can be caused from anxiety but can also lead to anxiety and depression which is where I'm at now. I am planning to see another sleep specialist because I've tried EVERYTHING that is suppose to help SP such as changing my diet, changing my sleep schedule and just about everything else you can think of but NOTHING is working. If ANYONE reads this and you have any advice for me or if you have any questions or if you just need someone to talk to who is going through the same thing please do not hesitate to email me . Thanks.
sleep paralysis
hi:)..i've been experiencing SP these past few months. And i'm only 14 years old. Could you please give me some advice on how i can prevent or possibly cure it? It's really hard, i just experienced it a few minutes ago, and this was the first time i saw some black shadows. Before i just can't move, and while i'm on the situation, the only thing i can do is pray to Godthat i would wake up. I need some help, please. Your reply would be very much appreciated.
sleep disorders
I have been saying up rheumatologists for pain. he recently has changed my anxiety medication. lately been havin exploding head syndrome . last night had extreme sleep paralysis .it lasted several minutes my mind was screaming I was yelling and yelling but it could not be heard nothing would come out I contribute obviously lack of sleep for the last 2 weeks also feelings anxious and vertigo. I am also a victim of sleep apnea. I am yearning for the day to have a real night's sleep. thank you Bob D
Hey this is a question for
Hey this is a question for Nadine or anyone else who has been experiencing SP for a log time. As I previously stated below, mine is not a scary experience(so far) and does not happen very often. However, I'm Concearned that this can change over time. To Nadine or anyone else, did you find that over time your episodes got worse and happened more frequently? I'm going to document it and perhaps see a sleep specialist soon but not sure if the specialists can do anything.
Thanks,
Jay
yea,jay i have never had sp
yea,jay i have never had sp were yu see things (5-6 years) until last month then i seen a black hooded figure type thing that just smiled at me ,
then last week i had another one with im not even sure wat it was lol, but i mean its possible it could get worse these are hard to predict
my fight
Im 28 and been having these dream since I was 5 I'm so use to them now I have the black fog and loud noises but mind or difernt now for some reason when I have these dreams know somebody in my family are friends die I know this seem like a lie once I had dream a guy was in my house it was so real I was trying so hard to get up and get this guy but I could not finally when the dream broke I grabed my battle ax of the wall and ran down stairs screaming like a mad man my wife woke up and got me and ask me what the Hell going on I told her that it was a guy in the house she said how the windows are locked and all the doors she ask me how he look so I told her will after that we both wanted to go outside for some fresh air in guess what the guy I describe to her was outside we moved that week I'm starting to belive my dreams are telling me when Something bad going on but now I got full control of my dreams when I have them know I can calm myself down its wired but you wouldn't belive the things you can do in your dreams now I look foward to have them now
Reply to Jays comment
Yes over time the SP definitely happened more often and it takes longer to come out of it so yes SP has also become more scary too. I've heard it only happens if you sleep on your back but that is not true because it happens to me no matter how I am laying. I've even had them while sitting up in a chair. My episodes happen as I fall asleep... Not waking up like a lot of people say is when it happens to them. Also try eating something sweet right after you have one. That's what I do and a lot of the time it actually works. Try to keep the same sleep schedule and see if that helps. It helped me for a while but not anymore. If you have anymore questions or concerns or just want to talk then please write back. If I think of anything else that has helped me or has not helped me I will write back and let you know.
Is this pehnomena ??
Is this phenomena happens to male only or female also do have experience this kind of body numbness. If female don't experience this then I wont believe what is mention above as it should be given statues of X-files.
CRTs
Coincidence?
Bit random
Something seemingly random....
Unlikely these days but out of interest how many have and haven't had one or more of the old Cathode Ray Tube TV's in their house while they have had these issues?
I only ask as I remember the initial static / closing in sensation coming from the same direction and now I think about it the weird high pitch ringing or pinging type of noise you get from those old boxes.
black hooded figure
ok so when i was little (around 5 or 6 years old) i had this hallucination or something about this black cat figure on my bed and a monkey in the top corner of my room. so then i had these episodes were i fell asleep but was awake through out my teen years not every night though so then about 20 mins ago it happened again (im 18 now btw) right so all that happened was i looked over and saw this black hooded figure he was there for a breif second then came back and i saw his lower face and he smiled but it was a humans lower face so idk can someone help me out
First time
This happened to me for the first time. Except I didn't see anything really scary as the rest of you say. I saw two white doors. Two white doors identical to the ones in my grandmothers house. I was blinking continuously. I was breathing fast and my heart beat was very fast as well. All of a sudden I hear a sound like when a machine turns off. I couldn't hear my heart beat I couldn't hear myself breathing. I tried to yell for help but no sound escaped my lips. I tried to get up but I couldn't move.i then finally got up. It felt like 5 mins but I had actually woken up prior to paralysis at 9. I quickly reached for my iPod seeing the time as 9:45. Surprised and scared. I texted all my close friends and told them what happened. Luckily one of my friends told me it was normal and had happened to her too. I researched and all these symptoms make sense. They all happened. According to my friends and the other comments its going to happen again, but I will try to stay more calm, but I am scared to find out what is between those two doors. One of my other friends told me that many people have dreams like that, that point to your future. After I was told this I have been thinking of some of the worst possible things that could happen. Only 1 good solution and that was the next time I go to my grandmothers and wake up those two white doors will open and all my little baby cousins will come out. I hope this one is true, but next time I do go to my grandmothers house I will try to avoid that room. My question is is there anyway to stop sleep paralysis ?
Ohmygod
i just got one of this wierd fucked up dreams. i felt like am gonna die . its like starangling to get some oxigine . well it all started like this( as far as i can remeber ) i went to bed laied and i was just playing with my legs and sqeezing my balls and stuff ( things guys usyaly do befor they lose concious and sleep) so i was just roling around . and when i start faling a sleep . i dont know if this was in the dream or it actlay was real. i saw a black cat walking trough the door and coming twards me i could see it relay moving and all.. and then it claaimed the bed and sat right in the middle of my legs and in that right moment i freaked out and tryed to kick it off me . i coundt move nor scream nor breath . i was like what the fuck is going on . and then i tryed again nothing i . felt something was wrong and i got realy scared and i felt my heart was beatiing fast . all i could think of is geting this cat off me and just move and breath . i even tryed to kick my brother in his head because he was sleping in the other side of the bed but i coundt and my last hope was parying ( am muslim btw ) so i started to pray . i dont know if someone heared me cos i think it was loud..praying for god to end this nightmare . and after some secondes it was gone .. i dont want to go trough this again pls some one tell me what to do.. to stop it. another question . do people atlay die because of this? do you actlay ran out of oxigen and die in this fucked up freaky dream? pls someone answer me . am 25 years old btw
never a cat
but i have had this dream lately that im getting hunted. like something wants me to die and never wake up. everytime ive had this dream i wake up and cant move. theres always a shadow standing over my by my bed wispering things i cant understand but it isnt one person wispering its thousands. sometimes he adresses himself as gael. sometimes i think hes good but other times not so much [like when im at a freinds house i wake up in the middle of the night and start wispering what he says is latin and saying really messed up stuff like eating his heart or something along those lines.] but praying to god doesnt help me. tried it. what works for me is fighting it. ive been in this state once for 40 minutes drifting in and out of dreams. a couple months ago i lost and slept for close to 20 hours, and today i won and slept for 40 minutes and am still not tired. kind of afraid to go back to sleep
Freaky
thats is so freaky .
Scary sleep parylisis
I have been having the same symptoms as the rest of you. The first time it happened I was almost asleep or so I thought and I heard someone walk in my room, at that time I easygoing home alone the kids were in school and the wife was at work. So I tried to open my eyes to see who was in my room and I couldn't move, I couldn't open my eyes and l couldn't yell. It was like l was paralized and helpless. That was my first experience about 6 years ago. But in the past two months it's been happening more often. When it happens l feel an evel presence and all I can do is get some moans out to get my wife's attention to wake me out of the dream. I can't move no matter how hard I try and I am yelling as loud as I can in my dream . My wife tells me that the moaning wakes her and she knows I am having another experience and she wakes me from the dream. I am 42 years old and never had anything scare me as bad as this does, I question whether I'm looking my mind or if it is something evil controlling my dreams. I do believe in God and was told by someone close that when it happens again pray and ask God for help for help the next time it happens. I haven't happen since but I know it will happen again and will try his advice. I will update when it happens if anyone is interested. Like I said I don't scare easily but this has got me concerned. The last time it happened which was last week I dreamed that a women with long wet hair claimed on top of me in bed and when I tried to see her face there was nothing but blackness where her face should be and it was a very evil presence. And again no matter how hard I tried I couldn't wake from the dream until I got my wife's attention by moaning. Thank God she is a light sleeper.if there are any medical treatments or meds I would be interested in trying . I don't know how much more of this I can take and it's affecting my wife's sleep pattern, but I am afraid to sleep without her there to wake me. Thanks for reading my post and please felt free to reply. Thanks again.
Bill.
this has been happening to me
this has been happening to me like every month for the last couple of years, its genetic i believe my father used to get them and all his brothers and my sister and brother also get them so u should ask ur family if maybe they have ever experience it. but yeah i unlike you dont have anyone to wake me up so what i do is pray and pray during the whole "episode" theres really nothing else to do but pray an hope that horrible feeling goes away and eventually it does help and i wake up
sleep paralysis
Ive had this happen to me since i was 15 and now im 21 it happens at least once a month if not more, i scares the life out of me not only does it fel like ive got a tall black figure looking over me , i start to panic and my breathing gets very fast , because ive got ashma i think that i might have a attack and not beable to do anything about it . the last time it happend to me my partner herd my breathing got faster and tryed to wake me up , i try to push my self out of these dreams by trying to move my body as much as i can but wen i wake, im sooo tired n nealry fall strat back into it. ive never been to the doctors about it or really told anyone because i felt stupid about it , but having looked it up and found that im not the only one is a great relief.
This happens to me every
This happens to me every night, and even when I take naps. I first started to experience this around three years ago, the first time it happened I was really scared, But now it's so common that it's nothing to me. Just recently I started to hear things, For some reason I thought I was under a spell of something evil, lol
sleeping now sucks
i just had sp i was watching copland (great movie) and i was in between being awake and asleep my eyes were closed but i could still see the light of the tv then it was like a movie everything in my room got darker like someone slid a black film across my eyes and the old terrifying feeling of paralysis took over then for the first time i heard what sounded to me like bells ringing in my ears and also another first it felt like my bed started lifting up but only certain parts i prayed and in a few seconds it was all over but i must say im curious as to why you feel an evil presence i definitely felt that for sure and i thought oh know im possessed or something and to make matters worse while im anxiously scanning the net for answers i hear a loud noise in my house which dam near gave me a heart attack due to my still fragile state to make matters even worse the lightbulbs in the room where my computer is started going out and i see complete blackness scared the hell out of me im sleepy but refuse to go back to sleep ive had this sp once or twice before but never this intense i fear im going to end up like christian bale in the mechanic to make matters worse i read about sunds oh bloody hell man!!
YES! that also happens to me.
YES! that also happens to me. its like every thing gets dark and slowed down. i definatley feel an evil presence in my room some times i see green or black shadows or hear sounds that i cant clearly make out. and i feel like my house is haunted to but i havent had any recent activity just mostly being paralyzed. I feel possesed i cant talk or move and my eyes roll around sometime. only my neck moves but i have no controll over it. it twists and moves from side to side. the only noise i can make is a small moan but not loud enough to leave the room. and this also happens when i am not awake but not asleep. its in-between. I am capable of thinking though during these episodes sometimes. I imagine jesus face the cross or i say jesus in my head. a couple years ago mu mom and i moved into her boyfriends house his former wife had died 5 years earlier and from what i hear she was very cold hearted. I think its her attacking me. One time i think my cat saw her he raised up focused on one area of my room his eyes got big so did his pupils and he darted out my room.
paralysis
I've basically had this paralysis all my life. It seems it would happen randomly not too often. I'm curious how many times a year. Probably like maybe once every two months or so on average. Okay, so my experience... I would be in this dream state. I would kind of feel my body and it seemed to be a kind of blurred sky/ top view image of my body. I can't move my extremities. Most notable and obvious to me is my neck. I feel panic. I can't move. I fight to move my arms and neck. I feel more anxiety, is this going to end... And then finally I am able to move. I wake up and sit up. I'm sweating, relieved it's over. Most times I would be able to calm myself and go back to bed. I've had fewer and fewer occurrences of this kind during my life. I'm 19 now. Now when this happens it's different. I know when I'm in this dream state that it's just some fucked up dream and that it will end so I am able to end it quicker. I'm able to get my limbs moving a lot faster than when I was younger and I stay a lot calmer because during the occurrence I can feel and know it will pass and that I will feel some discomfort from the paralysis but that I will fight through it like every other time. I've found that it's a lot more likely to happen if I'm wearing jeans while sleeping. Especially when they are tight. I think it cuts off the blood to my head and extremities or something. This has been the case several times. Only one time of which I can remember.
this happened to me
ok i was sleeping and i felt this but it was diferent becuase it was like a dream and i was trying to move my head and i couldnt i tried to grab my tv remote and i couldnt it was really scary is this sleep paralysis? if it is how do i stop it from happening?