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Sleep Paralysis: Awake But Still Asleep

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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

2)The Body During Sleep

3)Basics of Sleep Behavior

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

Wow! I went through the same

Submitted by Patrick (guest) on Thu, 10/06/2011 - 9:45pm.

Wow! I went through the same thing but not as physical as yours. I was on the bed and I can hear my son right next to me in the crib.I had my left arm behind my head as I was sleeping.And I had a knitted blanket over my head also.The blanket has little holes in it so I can see through each knit hole of the blanket. As I'm waking up in the SP state I notice there was something standing at the foot of the bed looking down on me.Almost as if it didn't see me looking at it.I'm not saying it had eyes because it didn't. But his presence was felt over me as it stood there.So as I try to get up there was a strong energy type of force laying on my left chest to the pit of my under arm pit.Every time I've tried to look at what it was it didn't allow me to.It seemed like every try made it mad. The energy felt like a shock or some type of electric current from an outlet .Evertime I try to look down into my chest the energy got stronger as if it didn't want me to see it.During the whole ordeal I can still hear my son in the crib.A felt so helpless that I couldn't get to my son.I cried a little because I thought he was next.Then I came through after being exhausted from struggling through that ordeal.Was tired and sweating bad,as well as being frighten .

sleep paralysis?

Submitted by jap (guest) on Wed, 10/05/2011 - 11:45am.

I always experience this thing,I don't know what to call it.I am sleeping then suddenly i feel like i woke up but i can't open my eyes,i can't move,it is also hard for me to breathe,i can't speak nor make any sound. it feels like I'm frozen. But Sometimes I can hear my housemates voice.I know it;s weird. I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO IM SO SCARED.

The Lord will protect you.

Submitted by a christian friend (guest) on Wed, 10/05/2011 - 7:57pm.

As someone who use to experience this,I can saftly say that Jesus always freed me from these experiences.Pray friend.Not all Sp experiences can be explianed scientificly.Don't be scared.God will free you from this burden.God bless and take care.

In Jesus Name....

Submitted by Serendip Visitor (guest) on Sat, 10/08/2011 - 3:35am.

It has happened to me many times over the past years.
Always with the "evil" presence. Once with the feeling of my spirit being pulled out of my body..I went out through the ceiling..above the town...until I saw the world as a round ball. It felt as if demons were trying to steal my spirit into hell. I am a child of God and I knew they were trying to place fear in me. I prayed and immediately on thinking "Jesus" name I was back in my body and sat up straight.
Many times when these evil "presences" appear I would simply tell them to go in Jesus name. I can't actually talk - I just think it over and over and pray for Jesus to protect me and they stay away.
It just happened to me again 10 minutes ago. The presence was unable to look me in the eyes as I repeated the name of Jesus and just prayed. Although its a horrible feeling I have no fear. The more you fight and struggle physically the more tired it makes you and you might wake up feeling exhausted. Just relax and pray and give it over to God and let Him take care of the situation.
I have noticed however it generally occurs when I haven't had much sleep or when I sleep too much. That mid morning snooze on a Saturday when you're just sleeping to sleep some more and not because you need it.
Stay in prayer, exercise, eat healthy and it definitely reduces the sleep paralysis.
But most important of all - do not be afraid, do not fear it - immediately pray and find peace and protection in Jesus Christ.

Amen!

Submitted by a christian friend (guest) on Thu, 10/13/2011 - 8:05am.

Amen!Jesus Christ will give you protection.I started to experience Sp at a young age.All of my family have suffered from an evil presence one time or another.For me,it started occuring after the death of my mom.I would wake up around 10:00 and will feel the bed vibrating or shaking.From what I was told as a young child,my mom was not a christian.I don't want to say that it was my mother's spirit,but I will say that it had something to do with my Sp.Both of my sisters have seen 2 spirits in that trailer.This is why I can say that Jesus Christ has always protected me.Keep on praying,my friend,for the Lord will never leave you nor forsake.Thank you and may God bless your heart for encouraging and sharing your experience with a fellow christian.God bless and take care!:-)

I never knew it had a name!

Submitted by Andrea Jones (guest) on Wed, 10/05/2011 - 10:13am.

It is October 5, 2011 and I finally learned that what has been happening to me in my sleep for the past 15 years has a name! Everytime I have explained to people what I have been going through, they never know what i'm talking about. The only answer I have ever gotten as to what was going on is that a witch was riding my back. I grew up going to the kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses and I know alot about the truth of what the bible really teaches. Today in class, I over heard my classmate talking about how this was happening to her so I immediately jumped in the conversation and asked questions. I had finally found someone who has experiended the same thing I had. She informed me that it had a name and then we googled it right away. That is how i found this page with soo many others who have had this happen to them. I wish i knew this a long time ago. Now I don't think I am demonized or should I say, I don't think it is the demons who are messing with me. The scientific explanation makes a little sense to me but it still leaves some questions in my head whether or not it is something else going on. I have learned that the best way to handle it when it happens to me is don't fight it,just relax and wait till it finishes doing what it has to do. Or if you are in a rush and don't have time to wait, it helps if you start by, if you can, moving one body part at a time until you snap out of it. Im just glad its an explanation for it other than all that devil talk because that really scared me. I still plan to continue my research.

That's great you found an

Submitted by Patrick (guest) on Thu, 10/06/2011 - 1:30am.

That's great you found an answer for what you were going through.I did too. My mom said the exact same thing,a witch was riding my back. But as I experience more episodes,I learned something.You can over come it by being calm and try understanding where you are and figuring your next move.Myself I dont think it's anything scientic.I believe it's like a spirit realm.Everyone story I've read,explained the same detail about how awful and horrible it felt in S.P.Peolpe stating that they feel an evil presence when in S.P. We all have something in common and it doesn't have anything to do with religious factors.

Confused and Angry

Submitted by GeminiMama (guest) on Wed, 10/05/2011 - 9:33am.

AGAIN I "awoke" to an episode. Usually I can tell my hand to move and wake my husband, he knows to wake me. Same as everyone; the voices in different languages, weight on my chest, dark shadows, hearing someone in your house...etc. I have been having them since I was about 8. I have noticed with me it mostly happens when I am sleeping on my back, with my arms crossed in a casket-like pose.

Also, I must point out that I was brought up in a house with supernatural episodes. We had a priest cousin who came into town; he refused to stay at our house because of the evil he felt. Any friend of the family has a personal experience they can tell you about. Their were white and black apparations. As a kid I used to talk to a small boy who died in the area; I didn't know he was a ghost. I was doubful, until I saw him again while staying the night at my mother's house as an adult!

My worst episode was in my teenage years at my mothers. I only had the paralysis and was patiently waiting for it to go away; that's all it was until this episode. Then I heard a man's voice and freaked out, tried to wake up knowing this wasn't a dream. I felt the sheet sliding on my skin as I was being pulled downwards on the bed; someone pulling on my ankles! I thrashed and faught as hard as I could. I was actually swinging when I was able to open my eyes. I was also half off the bottom of the bed. How could I have drug myself down with straight legs?!?!? I'm not saying it's religious, but there's no doubt it's an eerie feeling. That same man has been involved ever since and I don't care to relax and find out what he wants.

And since my teenage years I get feelings when bad things are going to happen, just as my paternal Grandma used to have. My friends would make fun of me....until I predicted the 2 car accidents we were in. Now they believe me when I get that bad feeling!! My Nana Jay knew exactly how and when she was going to die. She said I got these 'gifts' from her. She made a point to come see me before she passed, to say goodbye and wish me the best because I was going thru chemo at the time :(

My 9yr old son recently confided in me he has SP (with no visions/sounds yet) and it broke my heart. He also has special 'gifts'. At 3 he pointed out and waived at angels, then started describing things that happened before he was born (without EVER hearing about it)! Regardless WHY this happens, there is no doubt it's hereditary. And with my family history, no one can prove to me that it's 100% scientific. There are things/experiences NO ONE can explain, period.

Resercher

Submitted by Rich Vanden akker (guest) on Wed, 10/05/2011 - 2:23am.

Hello i would like to contact the person that wrote this artical i have a friend that is suffering from this and i would like to talk to them and figure out a way to treat this

I experience this a few times

Submitted by Chris Claymont (guest) on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 8:04pm.

I experience this a few times a month. It used to scare me but now I just lay there and know it will pass. Although while it's happening I do feel or hear creepy things Once I gain a little more consciousness I can calm my self down. I'm not sure what will work for you guys but I noticed if I keep my hands to my side before a fall asleep that it doesn't happen?? I'm hoping I found my Personal cure for this.I am 29 years old and this has happen to me in 2 different homes. Relax! It is NOT Paranormal I know it feels creepy and you may hear and see creepy things as do I. It still is NOT paranormal. I do believe I. All that but this is not it.

Glade I'm not alone.

Submitted by Chris Claymont (guest) on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 7:45pm.

I started experiencing this only 3 years ago and I'm 29 now. Same thing, After some time of sleep I "sort of wake up" and can not move or really breath. I try to move my hands an only sometimes I can get them up to my face to try an tap or slap my face to snap out of it. 50% of the times I hear eary things and even sometimes see scary things. And like the others I am a logical person and I know it isn't evil or paranormal but why is it always creepy sounds and somewhat evil visions. This is on weird and scary condition and I am glad I'm not alone. PS: It is very unnerving that this is associated with Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death. If I'm not mistaking that means this could possibly kill us?

I starting having SP as a kid

Submitted by bebes77 (guest) on Mon, 10/03/2011 - 7:13pm.

I starting having SP as a kid around 8 years old or so. I had the feeling or something on me starting at me feet and working its way up. I remember being able to look around my room and see everything as it was and I would also see a black shadow floating over me . The first episodes I had were consecutive for about a week. I finally told my mom and she said a preyer for me and I slept fine that night.

Growing up I would have SP episodes and since they happened so often I was able to get my self out of it by focusing on moving a body part....hand, foot, shoulder whatever would get me out of it. I was also able to feel the onset of it and would move my sleeping position.

As I got older they became stronger and I was not able to get out of them as easily. Within the past year they have been progressing and I am convinced it is an evil spirt. I grew up in a religious household but last year began reading the bible on my own. After reading the bible before I went to sleep I started feeling SP set in. I moved and it happened again and I kept struggling with it a few times before it had me good. In my head I said a preyer and I saw a man with a fedora looking hat and coat on. He was walking away looking over his shoulder glaring at me as though to say I'm coming back. I said an other preyer and was able to go to sleep.

The last few Ive had I hear a man talking to me but I don't know what he is saying. In one dream I thought my boyfriend was coming down the stairs saying something to me and then sat on the bed with me. I then realized I was having SP and his voice changed and the voice was in a stutter. My boyfriend had already left the house. I said a preyer and went back to sleep. A few night ago I had another one. I thought I was awake & my boyfriend was saying something but I knew it wasnt him because he was snoring. I lay there in bed then felt the SP come on. It was real strong & I felt panicked I couldnt even say a preyer. I felt like something was laying next to me saying something in my ear. It was the same deep voice I had heard before. I was finally able to say a preyer and the SP stopped but I still felt like something was watching me. I kept saying preyers throughout the night. This happened at 3am and I finally went back to sleep at 6am.

How to deal with it

Submitted by Mya (guest) on Mon, 10/03/2011 - 4:42am.

I've been living with this my whole life, and I hope that what i've learn can help someone.

I've been afraid many years, but I never gave up, and I never let it control my life.

I tried many many many things, some work better than others.

I read many books, I tried to find answers in different religions, etc.
It runs in my family I also talked about it with them, and it helped understand many things.

Either way if you believe is a brain dissorder or a spiritual movement, have in mind that your brain is very powerful, and you can learn to deal with it, and even control it.

Faith is very powerful, if your connection with God is strong, just ask God for the strength to deal with it and control it. God gives us what we can handle. And if you suffer from this, guess what? YOU CAN HANDLE IT.

As humans is natural to be afraid of the UNKNOWN. When you decide to accept it as part of your life, and that you will welcome it under your own terms, you stop being afraid.

Each person is different, so try different ways to stop being afraid of it something will work for you.

-Go to Sleep listening to music, soft music or classical music.
-Sleep with television on.
-A shot of tequila. (one shot, not one bottle )
-a glass of wine (once again, one glass not one bottle, and red wine is healthier than white)
-flip your pillow.
-sleep in different rooms of the house.
-compare if SP experiences that happend in different houses you slept.
-Stress, stress is bad for any things. Get rid of stress . (its not easy, but very necessary)
-Not eating heavy meals at night.
-Yoga,
-exercise
-reading the bible or falling asleep listengin to the bible
-Don't watch scary movies at nite.
-I've even tried sleeping pills, tylenol pm, works wonderful for me. BUT I ONLY USE THAT WHEN I REALLY REALLY NEED TO HAVE A GOOD NITE SLEEP. Its not healthy to depend on sleeping pills.
-Do research on the house you live in, and the history of the location.
-Sage, burn sage in the house, then once in a while in bedroom.
-candles, white candles. the ones that come in a long clear glass. The color the glass ends after candle is burn, has meaning. if its dark like burned or ashy, turn on another one and onother one until glass ends up clear.
-put a glass of water on night stand.

this are just some of the many many things i've tried. 27 yrs thousand of episodes is a long time to experiment different things.

I've learned that the process is long and not easy, it all depends on how strong minded you are.

I'm a scary cat, I get scared very easy. I'm also afraid of the sight of blood. But i'm stuborn and strong headed. So after a long hall of darkness I've found the light. Hopefully you are not as scary cat as I am, and you'll find solution faster than me.

The things that change my mind:

I got tired, I decided I was not going to be afraid anymore, I decided I was gona confront it. Show my face , here I am, what do you want. What ever you are, who ever you are, I"m tired of you so we are gona fix this once and for all.

Ofcourse the first time, I decided to just let it happend, i was so scared, I asked God to hold my hand and not let go.

In Chicago, (the city where I was haunted the most by many SP experiences ) around 2005. I kept having the same SP experience, with a siloute of a man. every nite, over and over and over. usually I get different images, images that depend on were i'm sleeping. but this man was the same man, i couldn't see his face nor clothing, but i knew it was a man, i knew it was the same man, i knew he wasn't bad man, but i was afraid him. So one night, I was very tired, my throath started making the buzzing sound, my body starts feeling dizzy, then I feel paralyze, like if something heavy is on top of me. I tried to fight it by waking up, but after third time of coming in and out of it. I just said. "God, please help me, i'm afraid but i'm so tired, i'm going to let it happend, hold my hand and don't let me go." then i started again to fall into the paralize stage. I relax my body, relax my breathing, i just let if happend. I started to see a small cloud in front of me, that was getting closer and closer, then a face came out, it was becoming more clear little by little, then i saw his face. It was the face of my grandfather. He died in march 2001, I loved him very very much, I miss him very much, so I felt a lot of happiness when I saw his face. then, i woke up. and he never bother me again.

from 2005 till 2010 aproximately, I had SP experiences pretty often, living in chicago, but all of them different. I learned to deal with it with help of my boyfriend. He learn to know when i was in SP moment, and would wake me up, and hug me, and I was able to fall asleep again without having another that night. He cheated on me, I wanted to leave him, but I was more afraid of sleeping alone, that i decided to stay, give him another chance. But the relationship was unhealthy, and I was never able to trust him again. So I got tired of depending on him for me not to be afraid to sleep.
So, one night, I was coming in and out of SP episodes. I was fighting it, would be able to wake up then then my body would go back in. Boyfriend woke me up but didn't hug me, so I said to myself. "This is it. I don't need him. I'm going to confront it once again, I did it once i can do it again". I relax my body, I said to myself "I'm going to let it happend, I'm opening the door and i'm going in. But its going to be under my own terms. what ever you are , i'm going to give you 30 seconds, and i'm going to listen to you. but after those 30 second your time is up and your going to let me go to sleep. " I started counting, 1, 2, 3... I heard children on the bed, laughing, i was scared but kept counting 8,9, 10.. then i heard two men to the left of my bed, talking. they were all happy, celebrating something. I kept counting 15, 16, 17... then one of the men said to me "do you want to dance?" i answer ofcourse in my mind, "what, i let you talk and this is what you have to say, if i want to dance?" i continue counting, 27, 28, 29, as soon as i said 30. everything went away. the children, the men, the voices. and i felt asleep, peacefully.

I left the boyfriend, moved out. and i've been sleeping alone for a year now, and i've had very few SP episodes. which have been pretty cool. Very spiritual encounters, not afraid at all. I also moved out of chicago, that might be why this thing gave me break, too. I have less stress, that could be another reason. Now in my whole life, this has been the most time i've slept alone. when i was at parents house, i always share room with my little sister. so being able to sleep alone is a big deal for me.

Hi - I have experienced sleep

Submitted by Belle (guest) on Sun, 10/02/2011 - 5:07am.

Hi - I have experienced sleep paralysis since I was about 18, I am now 29. They seem to come and go - I could have them constantly for a few months then I wont have another for about a year. My very first one I took an afternoon nap on a Saturday - I heard my mother calling out to me that dinner was ready, although I could hear her I could not move or speak. I started panicking and I could hear my heart beat growing louder and louder. It felt like it lasted 5 minutes. I was terrified and believed that I was in a coma.
When I snapped out of it I ran to my Mum and told her my experience. She told me that she too experiences this (she is very spiritual and believes its a bad spirit), her sister also experiences this (I have read that this can be a hereditary disorder).
I have learnt to control my breathing when this happens now and will make a loud grunting noise which wakes up my husband.
I did seek medical advice a few years ago in regards to this and my GP told me about sleep paralysis.
I have experienced the hallucinations only a few times.
I have also since the age of 5 seen spirits - Im not sure if the sleep paralysis is related to this.

Meh.

Submitted by Fayt. (guest) on Sat, 10/01/2011 - 10:19pm.

Okay, so I couldn't think of a title. Anyway, the problem is, I don't experience either good or bad SP. I just experience it. It happens frequently for me, usually twice to three times a week. But there's nothing bad or good about it. I'm sleeping one minute, then the next my eyes are wide open but my body is shut down. I can't move, speak and/or breathe.

For an example, this happened last night, I was dreaming, as normal, but, I had the episode of waking up, or gaining consciousness, through it, and as I did, my body wouldn't move, I couldn't talk and I was in a cold sweat. This is the usual time I feel someone watching me were tv is. Except this time, I felt a hand on my arm, and it was repeating a word, not a bad or good word, just: "Oops", over and over for two minutes, or what seemed like two minutes.

Don't get me wrong, but that's never happened before, I've never heard a voice from an SP episode before. Now I don't want to sleep because I don't wanna hear that voice again. Again, there was nothing bad or "evil" to it, it was just too unusual for an occurrence.

Fayt.

past experience and just now

Submitted by Jose (guest) on Sat, 10/01/2011 - 8:07pm.

I am here because this thing happens again. My first experience is when I was 1st year college I tried to move or open my eyes but I cant move then I can feel someone is beside my hand as I try to look at it my vision opens a lil it was a very hairy person so black or dark he tries to close my eyes and I cant do something and then a light enter my room and the hairy person started to run the light turned into a beautiful lady wearing a blue dress with golden hair it is so bright that I cant see the face but I believe I saw a smile actually all I did when I cant move is pray or say jesus name then that light came then after that I woke up.

Today what happened is while sleeping many voices entered my mind and my eyes are like closing more and more I cant open it then I tried my best to open it and I was able to wake up. I did sleep again and it happened again after minutes I feel so sleepy as I lie down my eyes are closing even if I want to get out of the bed as my eyes close the voices come back again so many of them I cant understand but idk why I was able to get free from that

I dont know what happened but it is really scary its like it is showing something that you dont wanted :l I want to sleep T_T

I look forward to sleep

Submitted by Jack3d (guest) on Fri, 09/30/2011 - 5:08am.

I look forward to sleep paralysis, actually. I get really scared and my body enters a state of panic, but I like to test myself. When this happens to me I always keep my cool, relax, and breathe. It's amazing what you can do if you have the mind power. DON'T PANIC! Don't try breaking out of it or crying out for help that only makes it intensify. Sign of weakness. When you have nightmares don't run away, instead, face the nightmare even if you show or have fear. I've had dreams that I can actually control myself and remember things in the real life and not only focusing on my dream. It's kind of hard to explain. There was even one time where I had my eyes half open and i was able to see my room and my dream at the same time.

I agree

Submitted by Mya (guest) on Sun, 10/02/2011 - 11:19pm.

I agree with this, I have been able to control it too, and I also have fun with it.

My last sleep paralysis

Submitted by Serendip Visitor (guest) on Thu, 09/29/2011 - 11:49pm.

This is a great article. This has happens to me at random times but always when I nap. Last week I took a nap & I remember being mentally awake but physically asleep. I tried so hard to open my eyes but it felt like I was lifting 50lb weights with my eyelids. I even thought I saw a figure & started panicking because I thought someone had broken into the house. Eventually I go back to sleep but I can't tell how long I fight myself to stay awake. Today my father was telling me about this conversation I had with him while I was asleep. I had no idea what he was talking about. This conversation happened when I was in paralyzed in my sleep.

Has anyone ever had someone watch or study them while they were in sleep paralysis? Is sleep talking in paralysis mode the same as a regular nights sleep?

I dont know if this will help anyone but I notice that if I eat before I sleep I end up dreaming more vividly than usual. I try not to eat before I sleep or nap and whenever I nap I make sure to set an alarm because that always wakes me up.

"Has anyone ever had someone

Submitted by Mya (guest) on Sun, 10/02/2011 - 11:46pm.

"Has anyone ever had someone watch or study them while they were in sleep paralysis? Is sleep talking in paralysis mode the same as a regular nights sleep? "

I have had experiences since I can remember, so its been about 27 yrs of my life. I lived with my most recent partner for 4 yrs in Chicago, close to downtown, and thats were I've had the most. So, he watched me many many many times, while I go through these episodes. His main conclusions were that I make weird sounds, like if i have a bee stuck in my throat,sounds that I have heard too. Also that my face expressions sometimes are of disconfort others of scare, or mad, or struggle. I can never speak, but I have woken up screaming, or crying.

My sister, goes to similar episodes, but hers are different. For example one time she was taking a nap in her room, with the door close, and a couple of hrs later she came out, saying she was in the living room and was able to see us, and hear us, but her body was on her bed. She used to sleep talk and walk frequently when she was little, during regular sleep episodes, and yes they were different. The differences are that she was very peaceful, funny, her stories wouln't make sence, she would talk about a city of mice, or would try to carry me to put me in her backback. But when talking happends during an SP episode, its more frightening, tends to be repetition of same words, or you find your self sitting on your bed screaming.

Its started again

Submitted by Serendip Visitor (guest) on Thu, 09/29/2011 - 9:02pm.

Hi. When i was 13 I experienced this for the first time. I was sleepping in the bed with my cousin and the lights and tv were off. As i started to drift off i could see everything in my room and a man with red hat on turned the tv on and started playing my playstaion. I couldnt move or talk. He then turned to me and jumped ontop of me and was putting all his weight on my chest. I was paralized and trying to scream but nothing would come out. This lasted for a while til I finally forced myself to sit up and wake up. After that I splet with my light on for years because i was so scared it was going to happen again.

It didnt happen again until i was 18. I was away on holidays with a friend and had beeen feeling nausious all day so i went to the doctors and got some medication to stop me feeling sick. That night i was watching a movie with 3 other people and i fell asleep, i could still see everything in the room but i couldnt move or talk. The same man with the red hat on appeared again but this time all the pressure was on my right shoulder. He was talking to me this time but I dont remember what he was saying. All i know is i felt like he was talking evil to me and i felt like i was going to die. I couldnt move, i was trying to scream but nothing was coming out and i was trying my hardest to get out of it. when I woke up i was screaming fuck off and started crying. It happened again that night but this time i was laying in bed with a friend. Same thing i coulndt move/talk and the same man was talking to me putting all his pressure on my right shoulder. I woke up again screaming fuck off once again.

Since then i have experienced sleep paralysis at least once every 6months but the man had disapeared. I'm now 24 and I was thinking of the man in the red hat the other day then That night i went into sleep paralysis and i felt him coming towards me again so i started screaming fuck off to him in my head, tried moving my legs as much as possible and woke up yelling out fuck off. My partner came into the room to see if i was ok. I remember telling him my body was paraliyzed and he just laughed at me. I dont like sharing this with people i know because they always think im tripping and its all in my head. I know it probaly is all in my head but i just have this feeling that it is something else beyond that. I dont care if anyone thinks im mad because this seriously does happen to me. Its interesting reading what happens to other people. I have another friend that this has happened to and she says she feels an evil presense too.

Questions

Submitted by Mya (guest) on Mon, 10/03/2011 - 12:18am.

I have had thousands of these experiences. I would like you to ask you these questions. Where do they happend? Place, location, time, season, etc. Do they happend when you are very tired, or stress, or with alcohol in your system, or another emotion?

These episodes have happend to all my family and to many family members, and we talked about it, it helps us feel that we are not alone, and that we are not crazy. What I want to say, is that to each person it happends in different ways, times, etc. To one of my cousins it happends when he is very tired only. He feels that his body is spinning around, then he sees stuff like old pictures of people he doesn't know but look like some other family member.

To me they happend more often in some places than in others. In chicago they happend about everyday. In Los angeles they happend more in some houses than others, but not as frequent as in Chicago. Some scare me more in one house than in another. I also had different images of different people. I used to get many of one men in particular, and I got tired of being afraid, of fighting to wake up, so I decided to confrot it. Instead of fighting to wake up, move or scream, I relaxed my body, stay still, let the feelings come, which were feelings of body freezing and other stuff, and I said to the feeling, or the image, what ever it was, "ok, what do you want? show me who you are, but don't scare me, i don't wanna see blood, nothing like that." Then I saw a cloud in front of me appearing, and a face was coming closer and closer to me, and I saw the face of my Grandfather. After that experience, I went back to having episodes with different images, they all depend on where I'm at.

sleep terror

Submitted by Serendip Visitor (guest) on Thu, 09/29/2011 - 3:34pm.

i had one today around 10:40am, my sleeping patterns are so messed up. i only get like 4hrs of sleep a night sometimes three. its hard when you have 5am cross country practice everyday, 15hrs of college, practice again at 7:30pm then homework. so its pretty crazy, it comes and goes sometimes, but this morning was one of the scariest. started to fall asleep, then all of a sudden i felt myslelf melting for some reason that i cant explain. i realized that it was happing again, couldnt move any part of my body, started to hear voices and bangs behind me. opend my eyes only to find myself looking at a drak shadow right infront of me, that scared the hell out of me. so i closed my eyes and started to pray, for some reason i tried as hard as i could to make a fist, thinking if i keep trying to move that i would snap out of it faster. that didnt work, all of a sudden while i was praying to god to make it stop,, the only way i can describe it is like an electric shock started going through my whole body starting from the back of my neck. it paused for a few seconds, i could still hear the voices, never opened my eyes back up though. then another shock came through, my whole body was shaking, then i could here that i had gotten a text message. well aboout a few seconds after i had gotten the message it had stoped. felt like a huge weight had been lifted up on top of me, woke up though out of breath my hear rate was up. felt like i had sprinted 1mile. anyway that scared the crap out of me, but at least now i know that whatever i see next time no matter how freaking scary it is, it cant hurt me. well at least i hope it doesnt, just wish for one that i could see nice things like a bunny or something instead of evil. thats the only way i can describe it.

Stange things

Submitted by Diamond (guest) on Thu, 09/29/2011 - 6:30am.

It just happened to me a few minutes ago around 5:00am. I was had a hard time sleeping but I got over my fear and went to sleep and then out of no where In waking up I couldn't move I was scared because it hasn't happened in a long time but then I was a black figure of a alien.. I know but I think I was it because Im believe in such things insted of a ghost or something but the weird thing for me was I was facing the wall so I was so scraed an I hurd a buzzing noise and felt my bumm hurting like someone was putting a moving object on it then. I try going to sleep but I feel like if I do I'm going to die so I found a way to wake up I try moving a body part I know I couldn't move but it's like it's a one body part if you move you wake up so I move my left leg. And I was woke so I got really scrared and had to look it up I'm happy I know what's happing to me but at the same time what I see seem so real u can't go back to sleep one time I had it 3 times in one night and what I saw was so horrific and sometimes when it happened I payed to not see something. But i just wanted to tell my story and if It help try to move every part and I mean every part it could be a head tilt and you will get out of the tans I hope I help some one reading this.....

This has happen to me

Submitted by Mya (guest) on Mon, 10/03/2011 - 12:59am.

Everything, exept the alien images, have happend to me. After thousands of experiences, these reminds me of the ones that happend bewteen 2006 to 2010. I was living in Chicago, close to downtown with my boyfriend. By the way, this is the place where I got the most frequent episodes. They would happen at any time of the day, if I had naps, but mainly at night. At first my boyfriend would get mad at me, because he had to wake up early and my struggle during the episodes wouldn't let him sleep. Right when I thought I was falling a sleep, the buzzing would start, then I would think, "oh no, I'm going to have an episode" so i would move, and move, trying to avoid it, but It happend anyways. I would be able to get out of it, then I would go in it again, over and over, about 7 to ten times a night. After many months of my boyfriend suffering bad nights with me, he learned things that help us have better nights. He knew when I was in the middle of an episode, he says I make weird noises, so he would wake me up. The times when he was deep asleep, but I didn't want to be in the episode, I tried to moved a part of my body, the head, the hands, the legs, anything in order to wake him up, so that he could move me and help me get out of it. After trying and trying, I was able to move a finger and pocked him, so thats what I would do many times, move the finger of the hand close to him, until he would wake up and then he would move me, then he would hug me very tight, and that would work for me not to have another episode that night. Bewteen 2009 and 2010 I was so tired of not being able to have a good night sleep, and of bothering my boyfriend. That I decided to do something about it. I made up my own rules, one night I said, "I'm tired, and now its my way or the highway. What ever this is, it likes to visit me okay, do it, but its going to be under my rules." That specific night, when i was having an episode, I felt someone was in our room, like always, but these were new visitors. so i said " i'm going to give you 30 seconds to express your self, then your going to let me sleep." I started counting, 1, 2, 3, .... then I was able to hear the voices more clearly, I heard about 3 children laughing, they were on my bed, I keept counting 7, 8, 9 ,... then I heard two men talking, standing to the left of my bed, all of them were happy, like if they were celebrating something. I keep counting 18, 19, 20,... then a man said to me "do you want to dance?" then I said, "man, all this trouble you make me go through and all you want to ask, is if I want to dance?" then I finish counting 29, 30, and like magic, everything went away, the feeling of someone on my bed, the voices, everything. I decided to do this, because in 2003, I had episodes , but always with the same men. So i also told the man, "what do you want and who are you?" and the siloute of the man, became clear and I saw the face of my Grandpa. So, I was wondering if it could work again, and it did.

my story

Submitted by 16 year old christian (guest) on Wed, 09/28/2011 - 4:16am.

about two years ago i awoke but i couldent open my eyes i couldent scream it fellt like my body was violently vibrating and shaking something was pushed up against my face whispering a very fast chant in some language and it dident leave untill i told it to go in the name of the lord in my head. and the wierd thing is my little 9 year old brother had the same expereince except he could open his eyes and it was pushing on his cheek. he said it fellt like an electric massage gizmo was pushing on his cheek. he screamed go away in the name of jesus and it disapeard then he could move. but he heard another demon coming up the hallway and he walked to the hallway door and said it again then it left for good. please pray for me and my family.

Sharing experiences

Submitted by Mya (guest) on Mon, 10/03/2011 - 2:04am.

As I mention it, I'm 30 and I had these episodes since I can remember the first episode I remember happend when I was 3 yrs old. My mother was in the hospital because my little sister had just being born. I had to stay at grandparents house, and I slept with 2 of my cousins. I remember seing stuff, on top of the bed, so my cousins took me with my dad who stayed in the last room of the house, but I still had episodes all night long.

I grew up in a catholic family, and I tried many things during these 27 yrs to help me. Including praying, asking God for help, reading the bible before sleeping, listening to prayers I had in a cassette (dvds were not in the market yet, lol, nor mp3s) I also read many books, trying to find answers. After many years, I just learned to not be afraid of it. I learned that I used to feel they were demons because I didn't know what they were, so, i was afraid of the unknow, i was afraid, that if i let my body just go through the experience i was gona die.

By the end 2010 my relationship ended, and I moved from Chicago to a suburb about an hr away. I moved in with my best friend, who is Christian. We feel very connected because we have had similar experiences. And we help each other, at least by listening to our weird stories with an open mind, and not judge each other. But since we moved in together, we share moments of weird happenings.
Sometimes we dream the same thing, I would wake up and tell her, "I had a bad dream, I dreamed you were mad at your ex, and you came into my room, and started trowing my stuff to the floor" ......then she would say " I had a bad dream too, I dreamed I was back with my ex, and I found him in bed with another woman, and i was very mad" so we laugh, and joke about it.

A week ago, I couldn't find my glasses at night, so I went to sleep with out watching tv. and in the morning she knocks on my door and says "here i found your glasses on my bed" looking at me weird, she though i went to her room at night, lol... i told her, that maybe her doughter took them, but she wasn't here, she spent the nite at grandmas house.

Last night, I couldn't sleep, I went to sleep at 5 am. but before i fell asleep, I heard her screaming at around 4am, then i heard what i thought it was her, walking in the hall, to the living room, and stayed there. So this morning I asked her, "did u had a nightmare? and why did you went to living room at 4 am?" she said, yes i had bad dreams, but I was in my bed all night, i never got up , not even for the bathroom. " So, I don't know who was walking at 4 am ... lol....

but besides these weird things, we have shared other experiences, that before, i was the only one looking or hearing things, now we both see and hear the same things. She has the bible in a cd, so when she is afraid at night, she goes to sleep, listening to the bible, she says it helps a lot. I sleep with music on, it helps me a lot to not be afraid, If I hear noises, i just blame it on the music.

I have many friends who are christians, and when I visit them, and spend the night, I feel peaceful. In 2005 I went to mexico, spring break, and I stayed at friends house for two weeks. I had ZERO SP episodes at there house, and I felt very peacefull in their living room. It became my favorite place of the house. The begining of the second week I told them, that i felt peace in their living room, but I didn't know why. She said to me, "thats where me and church friends pray once a week"

Then she put her hand either on top of my shoulder or head, I don't remember, and she started praying for me. (me as a catholic, I'm not used to that, we pray for each other at home or church, but not that close) But I consider Christians as brothers and sisters, so I'm open and respecful to their traditions, so I received her praying with an open heart.

That night it was movie night, we watched 3 movies, her husband, and two kids and me. I was crying during the 3 movies, and they were comedy, romatic, and drama. The kids who were 16 and 17 yrs old, though it was funny, that I was crying during a funny movie. Kept asking me if i was okay, I answered "Yes I'm fine, I just don't know why I'm crying, and I can't stop " After all that crying, I felt like brand new.

Science explains some, but not all

Submitted by bc (guest) on Thu, 09/29/2011 - 1:07pm.

I have had the same thing happen to me. Its strange how most occurences have an evil prescence. I would also hear a weird latin like language whispered in my ear. If you pray, it will leave. Thats how I get out.

Keep on praying friend.

Submitted by Serendip Visitor (guest) on Wed, 09/28/2011 - 9:50pm.

Keep on praying friend.We are the same age.Like you,I use to feel evil presences when I was younger.The bed would shake and all I could do was call my dads same(unfortunatly I was not saved yet,I was only seven years old).When I became a christian,the Lord protected me from the evil presences.Keep on praying and God will protect you.I will keep you and your family in prayer.May God bless you and keep you.

This is what happens to me im

Submitted by Natalie (guest) on Tue, 09/27/2011 - 3:26am.

This is what happens to me im 14 and this happens so much and im scares to sleep aftere: My eyes were being poked in by thumbs. Till I moved, then it changed. One eye couldn't open. I was weak. My phone vibrated in real life and in the dream. But everything was to dark. iPod would not turn on. So I called my sister in because I hears her. I asked her to help me and get my dad but she said he was busy freezing his hair. I ran off and it stared at the one eye thing again. Before calling for my sister: I slapped myself over and over yelling wake up Natalie! Please wake up. And sat myself up right and tried waking up. Didn't happen called for her again. Same thing happen, but this time she said princesses were all over my face. I started crying. Then I don't know. Cleared my mind, woke up breathing hard and crying. Not the first time I have had dreams like this. And when I yell it's like a whisper.

peacemakers theory

Submitted by Dawn Reul (guest) on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 11:15am.

I am familiar with your theory "peacemaker" I too have had both positive and negative experiences I want more information please email mail me or find me on facebook. I cant find a source for you other than this when I google you. I want to hear more I want to know more. I am a very spiritual person and this has me very confused is this something of a ailment or is this truly something bigger than that and science has just tried to explain it away as everthing else. Please help I know I'm not crazy I do need help coping with this.

i too have thought this is a

Submitted by Jeno Ettner (guest) on Wed, 10/12/2011 - 6:05am.

i too have thought this is a religious experience but lately i feel a spirit want to steal my soul or posses me and i think this (sp) is actually a time where spirits catch you in an astro plain and freeze your body to try and scare your soul out, so they can enter... ive been dragged out of my body really fast one time but i rubber banded right back??... idk ive also met a war god of some time (in future past?) i don't know but ive had dreams and then i had these i know the difference.. i was shown an idea i will or should invent some kinda machine to help humans?? and at the end he called me atom.. which is odd cuz i go by atom but no one calls me atom or even knows i use it for emails and usernames and such?.. and he made clear his name was mota with out saying it... also in (real life) i saw a demon go to a store or maybe even the devil... i saw this weird dirty guy who had a race structure ive never seen before and when i went outside i saw a van with a guy with no face????? i wasn't high tired or drunk???

Just this last night.

Submitted by Serendip Visitor (guest) on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 9:46am.

I had this "sleep paralysis" I can tell you it sucked :/. I was lying in bed for 45 minutes and on the front side of my body on the right side of my bed. First I couldn't move what ever I did. I couldn't take or so much as make a sound. I felt kind of like a tingle in my neck and upper back. I also heard a sound like in this link ( ) into my ear. This also occurred when I was younger too.

every other day SP

Submitted by Serendip Visitor scared (guest) on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 2:45am.

iam 34 years old i suffer from this SP almost every other day and its getting worst and harder to awake from it. all i can do is moan very loud and move my ankles. i do not see ghost or etc but my eyes are open and i cant move. i move my ankles as fast as i can and moan and bring my heart up so i can awake and when i do im so dizzy and scared. been having it for years now and now this past year it has become worst that im scared to go to sleep so i be up for 2 days then my body gives out but sometimes i wonder am i going to die from this? my doctor says i wont and to relax and go back to sleep when it happens but i tried his advice and it didnt work.. it became harder to awake when i was trying to relax when the SP was happening . tomorrow i will see a Pulmonary DR. about what is going on and i hope they do a sleep study on me and help me with this.. i suffer from anxiety and depression and was in a bad car accident and was in life support and i dnt know if im getting flash backs from the accident that happen 11 years ago... but a normal sleep i do not know of it, cause of this fear of this SP. Anyone that can help please let me know??? or anyone that is going thru what im going thru please feel free to reply.

hope I can help

Submitted by Mya (guest) on Mon, 10/03/2011 - 2:59am.

Tony is right, you can train your brain. All my family and most of my family members suffer from this. But we all have different experiences and we all deal with it a little different .

I am very open minded, and very curious, so I deal with it, confronting it, learning about it, going through all the experiences. And after 27 yrs of having it, I can control it. I let it happend but only under my terms.

It has been a long proncess, and I've been afraid, so afraid that I haven't been single since i'm 20yrs old, because I was afraid to sleep alone. When I separated of first husband at the age of 24, I asked him to stay in the room with me, cuz i was afraid, then months later he moved to the room next door, then months later to the first floor, until I moved in with next partner.

That relationship lasted little less than 5 yrs. and the reason I didn't broke it off two yrs earlier, when I should of, was because I was afraid to sleep alone. I wanted to deal with my SP episodes, and I did , but the process was not easy nor fast. Until the end of 2009 begining of 2010, I was so tired of it, that I tried a method that did wonders for me. I welcomed it to my life but under my terms. Thanks to this, I am not afraid to be alone, I broke it off with my ex, and left. I've been sleeping alone for the first time in my life for a yr. ( before i got marry, i would share room with my sister, so i never slept alone)

As I mention, each person is different. My dad, suffered from it when he was a kid, but he was so afraid of it that he block it. He trained his brain to block it and told him self it wasn't real. So when I was a teenager, I remember telling my dad about what happend to me, and he would said. "its your imagination, control it, I did, you can do it too" Thats how my dad delt with it for many many years. It worked very good until dad and mom separated 8 yrs ago. Dad didn't like sleeping alone, so he would fall asleep with the television on, every single night.
I never gave up, I still shared my experiences with him, eventhough, he used to blame it on imagination, or he used to asked me not to tell him, he was very afraid of those things. But I kept dealing with all the weird things and sharing with family, that dad started opening him self little by little, and now he is less afraid, and he even laughs when weird things happen.

Now, it is possible that what happend to you has to do with the car accident you had, and the trauma your body went through.
Talk with family and relatives, this SP runs in the family. If nobody else goes through what you feel, then most likely what happends to you is because of the accident. but if other family members have experiences with this, then maybe the accident its not the cause of it, but only what woke it up.

Now you have choices, but two of them are.... to train your brain to either block it , or train your brain to deal with it your way, under your rules.

thats what i do. I deal with it, under my rules, Which are simple, i put the time limit, and if i see images, they cannot be bloody, nor scary, they have to be friendly images, or balls of colors instead of silouttes.

The important thing, is NOT TO LET THIS MAKE YOUR LIFE DIFFICULT.

Try listening to music before you fall asleep, or television on, or sleep with a pet, what ever you have faith in. Try and Error, thats how you gonna learn what works for you. My ex husband sufferend from it too, but worst than me, his were very scary. He once told me, "when it happens, and you are able to wake up, flip your pillow, and it will stop" I did, cuz to me it happends at nite over and over. So the times i was able to wake up, i would flip my pillow and it stopped for that nite. that how powerful the brain is. I believe in it, so it worked.

OH one more thing. analyze your sorrounding. Does this happends when you spend the night at a different place? does this has been happending since you used to live somewhere else?

My sorrounding influence my episodes A LOT. They happend to me more often in some houses, and less in other. they happend more scary in some houses and less in others. And in some houses it doesn't happend ever. I moved about 29 times in my whole life, i'm 30 so thats a lot.

and also emotional status have influence on it too.

I am with you ' I have also

Submitted by Diana Dillon (guest) on Sat, 01/07/2012 - 6:56am.

I am with you ' I have also learnt to control it in my own way and it works wonders , its still a bit creepy but nowhere near as bad as before

Help?

Submitted by Tony (guest) on Wed, 09/28/2011 - 12:26am.

Hello,
This may work depending on how much you believe in it. You can train your brain to not wake up like that. Before bed tell yourself repeatedly that you will not wake up into paralysis and you'll sleep until you need to, etc. Your brain is an amazing powerful machine. Stay positive and keep telling yourself every night that it will not happen to you anymore. I hope this helps!

really scared....

Submitted by emma (guest) on Sun, 09/25/2011 - 7:34pm.

okay so this has been happening to me lately and im so terrified to sleep or try to go to sleep now....so last night for example, i fell asleep. normal right?...well just wait. i was in a dream, a really vivid but halfway there dream. i was in a big mall parking lot and i start rolling/falling down this ramp thing, and i hit the wall. it was then when i could faintly hear my t.v. in the backround, and make out some of my room in the dark, but i was STILL IN MY DREAM. i try waking up, but i couldnt. i tried like jolting myself awake and i jolted my legs and tried my HARDEST to move any part of my body, but my actual body didnt move at all. its like my spiritual soul/body was moving, but i couldnt move myself. i tried screaming as hard as i could. i tried screaming for my dad who was sleeping in the room across from me, but a little whisper came out of my mouth in the dream, but not in real life. my mouth didnt move, but inside (like, my soul/spiritual being) my mouth moved a little. but then in my dream, i started falling through the floor of the parking lot, and when i did, i kept crashing through the floors below. at that point i was scared out of my mind. before hitting the ground, i jolted myself awake. i woke up, but started falling asleep again. when i did, i felt myself becoming paralized so i started to try jolting myself out of it, and i did. that happen for about 10 minutes and it happened atleast 20 times. i was becomming exhausted because i didnt want to become paralizied again. i got on my phone and googled what was happening to me, but no one had a story quite like mine. i just need help. please. im terrified.

respond

Submitted by melissa (guest) on Thu, 10/06/2011 - 12:01pm.

so last night around three this happened to me. i was in a regular dream with alot of wierd things goin on around my house. im seventeen yrs old ive been experiencin them weekly now. so, im dreamin and all the sudden i am counsious and in my mind i know im dreamin but the same time wonderin if im awake so im walkin out my room and into the hall and it just keeps gettin longer and narrow and goin in circles theres alot of doors but only the last one is opened i see someone layin on the bed
the bed i try callin out my sis name but wen i do this girl ive never seen before gets up and crawls on the floor i start runnin i go into my room all the sudden im on my bed i can see and hear my bby cryin but i just cant wake up. I struggle the more i struggle the the more intense it gets...so i finally get up runnin towards my bby..but im still dreamin i can see myself layin down so i finally wake up and my eyes felt so heavy i was so sleepy but i was so scared of closin them cuz i could sence it was goin to happen again. i read yur story and it sounded similar to some of my past paralysis.

very good ideas

Submitted by Mya (guest) on Mon, 10/03/2011 - 3:16am.

All the advices given by people who reply to your post are very good ideas and points. EACH PERSON IS DIFFERENT, EACH PERSON WILL FIND HELP IN DIFFERENT WAYS. Try everything, something will work for you.

Definitivaly, you as they mention, stop being afraid of it. You are afraid of the unknown. Once you realize is there, and will be there, so you better deal with it, it becomes less scary. I recommend you learn to deal because it runs in the family, and if you have a child with it, you can be more helpful to the child.

But, each person is different, try and error, thats how you'll learn. try something, it doesn't work, try something else. from music at nite, t.v. radio. lights, flipping pillow, praying, sleeping in a different place, yoga, exercise, a shot of tequila, a glass of wine.

i understand.

Submitted by Roy (guest) on Sun, 10/02/2011 - 4:46am.

For years I have self with this SP...my story is this .... I was sleep in my bed and I can sense when I'm about to go under. So I fight It. And just when I think I'm not paralyzed I am. So I hear my wife come in the house and place her keys on the table like she always does and I call out for her and she doesn't answer. So I go upstairs to check and she is laying in the tv room with het back to me sleep. So o go back downstairs and see myself sleep on the bed, trying to wake up. Finally I jump into bed forcing myself to get up...mind you everything is blury and not clear. So I get up check on my wife to see she's not there. I call her cell no answer! I call her office and she tells me she had been dealing with purchase orders for 6 hours and don't think she going to make it home by lunch. Them I realized that she never came home in the first place.

Also I notice that this only happens to me when I'm alone.

Stress less

Submitted by Nick brown (guest) on Tue, 09/27/2011 - 11:00am.

Hey:) just woke up from one a couple mins ago...had really crazy loud ringing and beating in my ears and ominous feeling before I could open my eyes and move . Same ol
same ol. I know it sucks when it happens dude but you needa stay ballsy about it, recognize that it's just a screwup in your brain because of stress and your tiredness levels and whatnot. There's not much you can do about the scared feeling while it's happening, no matter how big you are. I'm a kickboxer and I still shake revert back to childhood fear when it happens LOL but it's all good...no more than a shitty dream. Best thing to do I find is when it happens, lights on, tv if you have one in your room, wake up properly and also if you sleep with someone talking is a bonus, because as
you know it can sometimes take a couple mins before you trust that your not still dreaming and calm the fuck down hahaha and yeh, having someone you trust talking really calms you down. Otherwise tv works just fine as well, or books, or your
phone, pretty much anything with so much detail in it that it couldn't possibly be a dream. All tricks of the rhetard sleeper trade my amigo;) anyways I'll stop ranting now, stress
less and for gods sake stop reading about it and thinking bout it if possible lol you know damn well it'll cause you stress/anxiety and make it worse...oh and don't watch Freddy krueger movies...youll know what bloody fear is if you ever have That wanker in SP wake up....sucks balls lol. Anyway if you needa chat bout it, hit me back with a comment:) stay strong little SP sis xo

try exercising after it occurs

Submitted by niceguy 04 (guest) on Tue, 09/27/2011 - 12:23am.

I also have this problem. It went away for a few yrs but now it seems to have come back. I always got up and exercised after the event occurred. I try my best to stretch before bed time. But it never happens after i do a few jumping jacks, toe touches, and neck roles. Stretch your muscles hopefully this helps you as it has helped me.

sleep paralysis

Submitted by Serendip Visitor (guest) on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 9:18pm.

I'm 44 y/o & have been having this on & off since high school. I didn't tell anyone for YEARS (didn't want anyone to think I was certifiable crazy). Finally my two older brothers revealed the same experiences. Genetic...maybe??? I had the experience for about two hours (4am-6am) this morning. I forgot how terrifying it is. I always have a feeling of being "violated". I'm sorry this is happening to you also. I can definitely see my room and am paralyzed, so I don't think it's quite a dream. I have the breathing difficulty also, but I think it's b/c I'm trying so desperately to wake up. It start w/ chills coming up my legs, then my entire body. I also have a feeling of something evil, but I'm not sure. I've not seen a ghost. It's just a very, very scary experience. I'd love for someone to tell me how to avoid this if anyone knows! Thanks! Sherry

I have had the same thing

Submitted by Natacha (guest) on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 7:31pm.

I have had the same thing happen to me since as far back in my childhood as I can remember
I'm in my 30s now and go through it enough to disturb me, what's really bothering me is that my oldest daughter
Told me recently it's happen g to her and that really upsets me. I have the same exact feeling that you have described
I m still in my dream but I cab here what is going on around me in real life
And I fight n fight to wake up, when I finally do I m tired and try to go back to sleep
But feel the paralyzing feeling coming back and I try to wake up, this can go on for up to
An hour sometimes and it really is making life hard

Emma, This experience is very

Submitted by Serendip Visitor (guest) on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 1:28pm.

Emma,
This experience is very similar to mine. I just had one about a hour ago. I was laying in my bed and I was "stuck in this state of paralysis" I was able to move, but not my actual body. I saw the outlining of my hand come out of my actual hand. It was a clear outlining and I was able to actually feel my "body" hand with my "spirit" hand. I also heard other voices behind me but did not see anything, but did feel the presence of something else in the room.
I have had similar experiences before and knew that I was just having another one of these episodes. Usually now when this happens I begin to recite a verse that I am confident in and believe helps when in danger. This time when I began to recite I heard my voice in my head at first. Then my voice filled the whole space almost as if I was reciting at the top of a tower through a mega phone. After I finished I heard the other voices mock me. It sounded like they really were making fun of me. The thing is that I am used to this happening once in awhile and now I just pull the "little child move" and try to not be fearful of what is going on. I try to stay strong and say "you can't hurt me" etc.... and I just focus on trying to get out of that "channel" or "state" I always thought it was other spirits in another channel of energy trying to communicate with me and it may be the case. After reading this paper it has somewhat explained some of things but not all. I have asked many people what to do and mostly they advise to just not let it scare you and be strong. Hope this helps.

I'm fourteen and I've had

Submitted by Grateful (guest) on Sun, 09/25/2011 - 5:39am.

I'm fourteen and I've had this occured twice in a year or two. Once I saw and heard strange things and couldn't move. The second one frieghtened me more. It happened just a few minutes ago! I fell asleep while reading a book and had a dream. Then I heard children laughing. Straight into my ears. As if recently fallen asleep and they were just laughing away. My ears felt like they were poping one ear after the other and the laughing began to fade into a deep poping sound with my ears. I was slowly waking up at the point and could hardly open my eyes. I finally opened them and couldn't move anything. Thinking I was being posessed, I started to panic and shaking. I was prying my hand to move. And I looked something up and noticed this. I'm so glad. Thank you for this article and these comments! I am greatly relieved. (:

Had to explain to my GF what Sleep Paralysis was today....

Submitted by Rich2713 (guest) on Sat, 09/24/2011 - 3:36pm.

Last night I went through yet another SP episode for the 3rd time this month. This was the first time my girlfriend was in bed with me when it happened and she was genuinely terrified when I woke up. I remember the whole episode and knew exactly what had happened and it wasnt until she forced it out of me that I explained to her what happened.

This was however one of the first times I was able to kick and yell my way out of SP which is how she woke up. According to her I was "convulsing uncontrollably and making a sort of moaning/ grunting sound which freaked her out and she shook my face which immediately put me back into full consciousness.

What had happened was similarly like all other accounts of SP, but she left the bedroom door open and I sleep on the side that faces the door. I was in the awake-but-not-movable state when I saw a figure approaching me from the hallway. I couldn't move or make a noise to alert my gf which made me even more worried something might happen. This has happened before as well but the last 2 times this month I have experienced the floating sensation, like I can feel my body being lifted off the bed and i can see the ceiling inches from my head and could probably touch it but since I cannot move my efforts are pointless.

The only way can seem to escape is to try my best to get away from whatever is coming at me.

Your Ignorance Angers Me.

Submitted by Peacemaker (guest) on Sat, 09/24/2011 - 7:56am.

It's really sad to see that some pathetic people come here and lie about daily episodes of SP etc.

I have been practicing LD (lucid dreaming) for 7 years now. and during those 7 years I experienced SP about 5 times each year.
This year I've gone through 3 SP so far. I can tell you that SP isnt just horrific events/nightmares, sometimes SP is positive.
So there is two types of SP and I call them PSP (Positive Sleep Paralysis), and NSP (Negative Sleep Paralysis). And after experiencing both of them I feel somewhat enlightened.

I've experienced PSP only 3 times, so from my personal experience I can tell you that NSP is definitely more common than PSP.

I felt fear only in my first NSP, I knew of it before when I studied LD, then I actually got excited and wanted to learn more.
I've experienced SP exactly 37 times and I have written down every single one. I have also written 5 books of my LD.
I dont feel like writing all the details because there is just too much of it.

After reading every comment here I'd say 90% are lies from sick people that needs attention.

It doesn't really matter which religion you believe in. As long as your mentally strong and have strong faith it shouldnt bother you that much. I personally dont pray, during SP I only try to look for info.
I know very much of this. So if you need specific help, then ask.

Your ignorance makes me laugh

Submitted by Serendip Visitor (guest) on Sun, 10/02/2011 - 11:15pm.

"I've experienced SP exactly 37 times and I have written down every single one. I have also written 5 books of my LD."

wow, I can't believe you have had enough information to write 5 books, with the experience of only 37 SP experiences.... PEACEMAKER, that is so silly. When in reality there are people who is capable of experimenting that kind of episodes about 6 to 10 times in one night, about 25 days per month, you do the math. I am 30 yrs old; I have had these experiences since I can remember which is since I was 3 yrs old. I have moved about 29 times in my life, from different houses, different cities, different states, and even different countries. And I have learned that I get SP moments more in some places than others. This is the reason I find myself reading this blog. I wanted to know about the history of Chicago, because the place where I have gotten the most SP moments have been in Chicago. I was getting about 10 a night, about 20 to 25 days per month. I lived in about 6 different places in Chicago, and got them more in some places than in others, the closer I was to downtown Chicago, the more SP experiences I had. Currently I am living about and hr from Chicago, and for a yr. I've only gotten about 2 or 3 experiences in total. "BIG DIFFERENCE".My conclusion after THOUSANDS of SP experiences, (not 37 like you, seriously that is so silly) is that, it’s something you inherit from family, because this happens to all my family members and to most of my relatives. That its frequency is affected by where you’re at. That it can be block, I have family members who are so afraid of it that they can't handle it and they learned to block it, not 100% but at least to up to 90%.

After of more than a couple thousand SP episodes and about 27 yrs of experience, (not 37 SP experiences, seriously, I'm still laughing of your ignorance) I have passed from being confused, being afraid, being curious, being controlled by, being treated as weirdo, to being able to control them, being able to not be afraid of them anymore, and being able to have fun with them. In my last SP experiences I was even able to control the time I'm experiencing them. If it happens during the week, when I have to wake up very early, I just say to whatever is producing the episode, my imagination, SP, ghost, etc, whatever it is, I just decide for how long I'm going to go through that, for instance until I count to 30. I start counting and as soon as get to 30, it stops. I also have fun with it, and ask questions, and I then I do research about the house I'm at. I have found very interesting information. I used to have many SP moments in a house, located in south Chicago, and the voices would be of children talking in German, and a couple fighting in German too. I was about 17 yrs old, and I was wondering if my imagination was that creative. So I went to talked to neighbors, a very old couple, and I learned that many years ago, the owners used to be from Germany, and two kids died in that house. It creped me out.

Anyways, you must think all these are lies, but I still mention it hoping it can help someone else. AND SERIOUSLY PEACEMAKER, five books? wow, I wonder how many I could write after thousands of SP experiences. LOL.

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This paper reflects the research and thoughts of a student at the time the paper was written for a course at Bryn Mawr College. Like other materials on Serendip, it is not intended to be "authoritative" but rather to help others further develop their own explorations. Web links were active as of the time the paper was posted but are not updated.

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