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Sleep Paralysis: Awake But Still Asleep

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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

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 

Comments

Yunlong's picture

PSP

Ive had sleep paralysis (at least i think it is) over 100 times now. (im 18)

It was scary of course at first; i had to somehow give myself a 'strong stimulus' most of the times to force myself awake, and the experience of 'being unable to breathe/move' was rather frightening.

After experiencing about ~40-50 of those episodes, they became almost routine (lol). Since i knew what to expect, any sense of fear basically dissappered.

My episodes are rather different from whats described by many pple here. I cant open my eyes (so i cant really see anything). I cant hear anything. But i can feel the 3-d dimensions of my 'surroundings' as I move around in my 'mentally dormant' state, or in other words, (in my imagination). The 3-d effect is surprisingly accurate lol.. as I try to move around (yes..its kind of hard), I can feel all the objects that were left in place when i went to sleep. Its as if i created a virtual zone.

Of course while all this is happening my body in reality is completely motionless. When the episode ends, i find myself still in bed.
I have not yet explored my 'virtual zone' to much of an extent. I actually had an episode today and when i 'rolled over,' i 'felt the edge of my bed and so i rolled back'. I probably would have fallen off the bed if my body actually was rolling as i imagined it was (speaking in terms of physics). Then I accidentally woke myself up (still in drowsy state). I tried to return to my episode, feeling the heaviness fall on my chest but was unfortunately unsuccessful.

After overcoming the scare of paralysis, all of my SP experiences were positive. I was able to control them to a good extent and there were no illusions since i coudnt see nor hear.
Sometimes i do get sensory stimulus but only through forced imagination :)

april's picture

LOOK some of these people

LOOK some of these people just want help as do I! I DO have SP several times a week or month i have alot of stress dealing with a deployed husband . EVERYONE is different i think its sick that you bash these people. also many people do not know how to clam down and enjoy SP . the first few YEARS i had this it was horrible but recently iv learned if i just wiggle my toes tell myself im fine i can get threw this or think happy thoughts i usually will lay there in pure bliss for a few moments and fall back to sleep. but there are times where i do see stuff but its just my imagination getting the better of me.

Dawn Reul's picture

Your ignorance angers me

I need help email me or face book me I need better answers I have experiences both the positive and the negative I know its more than science

Serendip Visitor's picture

Would you like to trade

Would you like to trade stories? I'm also very interested in this but have less experience
Generally I have nsp experiences and sometimes false awakenings
Or they are really lucid dreams

Clarao2's picture

Peacemaker: If people are so

Peacemaker:
If people are so called ignorant. Why don't you educate them? 
What if some if these people would like answers beyond religion; which I gather you might have so issues with Christianity. See I understand LD completely, because I studied psychology for 3 before obtaining my degree. And after all that research and dealing with so called SP since I was 9; I totally still think it's spiritual. It would have been nice to see someone that so call rights books on LD actually attempt to educate people. Showing up on a website calling people ignorant attention seeking liars without giving a valid reason as to why on feel that way; Is Ignorant. 

amanda's picture

This article makes me feel a

This article makes me feel a lot better. I was actually searching for a article to show my boyfriend because this just happen. It's happen to me several time over my life starting around 8. The first time I saw a black figure but I was convinced it was a dream, even though I knew it wasn't. I screamed and tried to move but nothing came out. The 2nd time happened years later around 19 and snce then once a year, I'm now 24. Just now I was laying down while my bf played video games, next thing I know its happening. I couldn't move, I was screaming, and yelling at hm to wake me up but he wouldn't then it was a scream then he started screaming. Yet h was still conversing with me, I even heard him say "are you having a nightmare but you just fell asleep" I admit I was fighting my sleep to stay awake and tak to him, so perhaps its someting with the sleep but idk wha explains the lost of voice, can't move and the screams. I just thought it was scary because I never happened while someone was in the bed with me and in my trance I was going crazy but on the oustide it was passive movements.

Sammie D's picture

Couldnt talk, move, or open my eyes

im 17 years old and last night was he first time this happen to me. I was having a dream but i kinda knew i was in a dream. Then it felt like ghost or something was chasing me i my house. So in the dream i locked myself in my room and i went to sleep in the dream so i can wake up in reality. When I did, i couldn't move my body, i couldn't open my eyes, and i couldn't speak. And the harder i tried to move the harder it was to breath. It was like something was holding me down. On top of that i felt like something was with me. I took a deep breath and forced myself up. I thought i was dying but wasn't scared. But it felt like if i didn't get up i would of been dead.

paigePhobiaaa's picture

The problem is, I'm only 17

The problem is, I'm only 17 years old. I've been having these "attacks" for a few years now and each time it gets worse and worse. It's never anything "spiritual" with mine. I always dream of natural disasters. For example, today I had it happen to me and it was extremly severe, but I was dreaming of a tornado sprouting out of a cloud and blasting me in the face. weird, I know. But all I know is I felt pain, and I couldn't move. I couldn't . I was so scared that it was actually happening to me and it's never been this bad before. I'm too scared to even go back to sleep and I have no idea what to do.

Serendip Visitor's picture

Im young too it tends to

Im young too it tends to happen more to teenagers/young adults then any one else. I have heard that you usually grow out of it. A lot of times for me there will be no "Presence" or anything spiritual i will just wake up with my face in my bed and a uncomfortable weird buzzing feeling going through me, about a year ago they got really bad but sense then they have not been as bad, it seems to happen in waves, or phases. The biggest advice to give you is to do your best to relax, i have found that when i panic it only last longer and gets more uncomfortable. As far as preventing it, it seems to happen most when i sleep on my back or end up waking up fast and in a panic. The times with my face in the bed may have been because i covered my face, making breathing more challenging, which caused me to wake up faster than the rest of my body.

I hope this helped at least a little

answersplz's picture

what more like evil bullshit...

OK so I've had my share of waking up unable to move or speak..I couldn't even turn my head. ALL I could do was move my eyes..but I'm a 20yr old male n at no time did I feel like a evil was in the room. Until I read online that people think demons n shit r the cause for ymy sleeping disorder.. so in my option the evil or demon u all talk about is in ur head..it's the best answer ur brain had to offer. For a reason to why u cant move.

Serendip Visitor's picture

just scared me

Its 7am n my 21yr old bf was laying on his back shaking his leg and breathing wierd i was calling his name then i tapped him a few time n he woke up. He said he was trying to call my name. ..Idk it scared the mess outta me...i just prayed immediately afterwards...now i Google it n see its sp

Michael Rivas's picture

No control of my body - who is?

I experience this every night. The terror that I feel is unexplainable, I feel like someone is one top of me and the only way to gain control of my body is to yell. This has been happening since I was a kid, I’ve come to realize that the only way to avoid this is covering your face and sleeping on your stomach. It happened to me last night worse than I’ve ever experienced my entire childhood and adult life, i hope this is something that doesn’t gets worse as I age because I’m only 23. Finding this website has put me somewhat at ease knowing that I’m not the only person going through this. I’ve ALWAYS thought it was something demonic and evil before ever doing research on this, why has it taken me so long to look up this “disorder”? well… that’s a great question.

-Mike

Max's picture

reply to "no control of my body - who is?"

Hello Mike

Sorry to hear that you have experienced this for so long. I have experienced this before and the only thing that works %100 of the times is when i tell it to go in the name of Jesus. Many Christians do experience this same thing, but you will find out that the method we use are the same and have %100 victory every time. In the name of Jesus we tell it it has to leave, rebuke it, or tell it to go and it does. A prerequisite for this to work is to be a Believer in Jesus Christ. When one accepts Jesus into their heart He places His Holy Spirit in them, this is the power that Christians use to overcome these types of attacks.

No doubt you will continue to do research on this, but I do encourage you, try Jesus and ask Him to set you free from this and He will. Guarenteed. I pray even now that you will be free from the years of terror you have been experiencing. Max

paola's picture

paralisis del sueño

hola soy paola de chile llevo mas de 3 años luchando contra esto esto hasta hoy confirmo que se trata de algo abslutamente maligno,desde la primera vez que me sucedio lo primero que hice fue rezar a DIUOS Y LA VIRGEN MARIA estoy en una etapa en donde puedo controlar mi cuerpo casi por completo pero la preciencia del demonio es cada vez mas fuerte y claramente mi oracion y fe en DIOS tambien...quisiera si ayuda por que la necesito..

Mya's picture

hola

Analiza tu vida, para encontrar que desperto estos episodios .
Llevas mas de 3 años con esto, vives en el mismo lugar que cuando no te pasaba?
tienes mas problemas mas estress ?
Lo que pasa en tu vida tiene mucho que ver con estos episodios.
Yo tengo toda mi vida luchando con esto. Lo mio es de nacimiento y por herencia.
Si a ti apenas te empezo, quiere decir que apenas desperto. Y cuando encuentres que los desperto, encontraras muchas respuestas.
No le tengas tanto miedo, le tienes miedo a lo desconocido, eso es por naturaleza humana tenerle miedo a lo desconocido.

No importa si el problema es clinico o espiritual, la fe ayuda mucho. Tu tienes fe en Dios, eso te ayuda mucho. Aprende a controlarlo con esa misma fe. El cerebro es muy fuerte y poderoso, lo puedes entrenar a que no te de tanto miedo, o a controlar los episodios.

freakyone's picture

paralyse sleep/deamons

HII AM A 18 YEAR OLD FROM OXNARD CALI. IVE READ EVERYBODY COMMENTS...... IVE HAD THIS EXPERIENCE BEFORE WELL A FEW TIME S SHOULD SAY AND BELIEVE MEE IT AINT FUN ITS SCARY AS F**K.. ALL YOU HAVE TO TO IS WHENEVER YOU FEEL YOU CANNOT MOVE OR SCREAM FOR HELP IS CLOSE YOUR EYES PICTURE YOURSELF OUTSIDE LOOKING IN THROUGH YOUR WINDOW N YOU WILL SEE A DEAMON ON YOU HOLDING YOU DOWN LAUGHING AT YOU ITS REALLY SCARY BUT YOULL BELIEVE IT WHEN YOU SEE IT ALSO ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PRAY............... 'IN THE NAME OF JESUS NAME I REBUKE YOU'

Mzgothiic's picture

sleep paralysis

i suffer with sleep paralysis. often it only manifests as being completely unable to move while feein that something completely evil is in the room & i can only make it stop by forcing myself to move. other times its like im being dragged terrified from my bed by a monster or i may just simpy seem to float until im bobbin against the ceiin. but with every episode i feel like i am wide awake the whole time.weird or what!! and strangely my 20yo daughter seems to have inherited the phenomena.

Khurram's picture

It's caused by a combination

It's caused by a combination of sleep apnea and the fact that your arms are numb "asleep" because of weak valves in your body which restrict flow of blood

Nima Dantea's picture

This research is far fetched.

I started laughing when I read this. Specially the part where you said "How an episode of Sleep Paralysis induces visual or auditory hallucinations is still not clear" . How can even 1% of the explanations mentioned above be true if you dont know even this?

I've had "sleep paralysis" experience only once that I can remember of. But I've also had out of body experience etc.

In my sleep paralysis: I was sleeping, then somehow "woke up", except that I wasnt awake as usual. I couldnt move or speak, I had little control over my eyes. When I looked around, it was very dark and beside me there was a old lady wearing all black and a veil so I couldnt see her face well. Im not sure if she was on her knees or if she was two feet tall. She was chanting something non-stop from a book she was holding in one hand. And in the other hand she was holding some sorts of medieval lantern. And behind her was this huge black entity or shadow. It lasted few minutes then I was able to regain full control over my body, I was covered in sweat though.

I did a research immediately after this happened last year. And found out that there are many who have experienced the same thing around the world. People that have never even seen a TV before claims to have experienced what me and countless other people have.

scared father's picture

My son is 6 and 10 mins ago I

My son is 6 and 10 mins ago I heard him screaming in his room I ran in and he freaking out scared confused calm crying scared over and over this continues....im scared now I grab him and hold him. Does anyone have any relieving suggestion into what might ne causing these episodes please I need help

Toddler's picture

night terrors

Hi. What your son may be experiencing is night terrors. It occurs in some children more often than others. It isn't a nightmare,but the child often wakes up screaming and covered in sweat. It can be frightening for the parent and child,but it is nothing to worry about. If it concerns you that much,speak with your child's physician. Hope this helped.

Joshua Chestang's picture

When I'm ready to get out of a dream...

So, this so called 'SP' has happened to me on numerous occasions, but overall randomly through the years. I am currently 21 and about 30 minutes ago I decided to take a quick nap. I dreamed a little bit, but because I'm so busy(in college) I realized I needed to wake up. Once I realized that I had waken up but was in 'SP', I took a deep breath and forced myself to awaken. Recently, I have been exploring consciousness and how the brain works. This includes anything from imagination to reality. I have always believed that I have the power to stop any nightmares by believing I possess 'special' abilities in my dreams. An example would be...I recently had a dream(nightmare) I was battling an evil. I then proceeded to believe I possessed wings made of fire from a phoenix and ended up defeating and/or getting out of that particular dream. I say this because I wonder if there is a connection between believing you have complete control in your dreams and over your body and thus being able to wake up whenever you desire. Is this some type of mind mastery? More recently, I have been building my own web start up business and have really been concerned with not having enough time to balance school and what I really want to do which maybe a factor in 'SP'. Well, is there some possibility that you can do whatever you desire in your dreams too?...I guess what I'm getting at is, the brain needs sleep, but can we still have consciousness while the brain is getting what it needs? Even deeper, is increased consciousness a form of evolution of the brain? And for the religious out there, seeing that God gave us free will, are we exercising free will by pushing our limits of consciousness,,,thus evolving? I know these questions are random, but I don't believe every 'disorder' has to be bad....just not the norm. - Josh

Traumatic ER Meth Scare's picture

Sleep paralysis

2 days ago, I stupidly indulged in Methamphetimine, which turned out to be manufactured too quickly or the wrong way, because I had to walk to the ER. By the time I got there, I nearly fell down as I lost use of my legs momentarily as most of the blood in my body was being furiously pumped to my heart which was beating 190 bpm. I experienced the most fear I've ever had for my life. They were able to give me something to stabilize my heart rate and put me to sleep. 3 days later, I'm sleeping soundly for the first time. It wasn't a planned sleep, I just sort of quickly drifted off. I thought I had awoke, because I could see the room. But I couldn't move. I heard like weird shit all over the place, thought something kept peeking in at me. Tried to call out, I believe I heard myself, but it came out more like someone who was just forcing air through their vocal cords rather than using their facial muscles to form words. It seemed like forever, but I finally woke up. happened again today, but not as bad. Im thinking it might be traumatically induced, because for some reason, the doctor at the ER, told me after he gave me the sedative to slow my heart rate, to not go to sleep.

Serendip Visitor's picture

Crazy i have had the exact

Crazy i have had the exact same experience as in the first and second paragraph.
Last night was the second time i've had SP but this time i had the hallucinations and man it was scary.
First i woke in my dream and saw my girlfriend sitting next to me smiling calmly, all of a sudden someone walks in the room and i can't see them at first but then it turns out to be my real girlfriend, when i try to look at the one sitting next to me all i could see was a dark figgure with no face.
I had to throw my head sideways to move and wake up.
Reading this reassured me a little bit and i hope that if it does happen again i'll know what's going on and be able to control it.

Christie's picture

Relieved but yet EXTREMELY SCARED to go to sleep!!!

Edited...I failed to mention I live alone...

I am a 40 year old female who been under extreme stress due to a horrible car accident 3 1/2 years ago and slowly my life has literally fallen apart in front of my eyes. I have experienced nightmares and SP several times over the last few months...I remember as a child have a recurring nightmare for years...as I got older it went away and rarely ever remember my dreams anymore until the last several months. I had never experienced PS until a few months ago.

I sleep on my stomach and thought I was awake...could more...couldn't scream....I was soooo scared....After this happening several times...I started wondering what may be contributing to this....

I was taking melatonin occasionally for help me sleep as I have trouble sleeping due to pain from the accident and did not want to take any pain medication any more than absolutely necessary and once asleep....I could not feel the pain. When I awoke and realized I had taken the melatonin the might before to help me sleep the night before...I thought I would ask the pharmacist if it could cause night mares....He said yes...I have not taken it since and that has been several weeks ago...last night...It happened again.

Something made me think to google it..and this is the first linked that popped up. As I began to read...I was shocked and mortified to hear the stories of demons and evil spirits....That had never entered my mind...now I am SCARED to DEATH to go to sleep tonight....Someone ...PLEASE HELP ME!!!!

Rachel Davenport's picture

I'm scared to sleep

I read this, and I too have had this happen to me. I'm only 17 but i'm stressed out a lot for many reasons. SP has happened to me thrice. I didn't know what it was but I know it happened. They all happened last year in the later part of the year. Today I was looking up slender man things out of boredom and because I love slender man and other silly stuff like so. Upon reading stories(fictional) about the old german myth that slender man was based on (some being newer stories) I came across one that mentioned him but wasn't directly about slender man. The girl in it mentioned something called SP that she had another experience with. I realized that was what had happened to me. Now that I've read this, I am scared to go back to sleep, fearing another night of sp....but with the hallucinations. If the paralysis alone was the most terrifying thing that's ever happened to me, I'm scared for my sanity when/if I hallucinate. I already have sleeping issues. What if this drives me to insomnia? Not to brag but I'm a very good artist. However the things I draw are very dark. What if I see one of them if this happens again? At first I thought that it was a relief to find all of this out.... Now I'm terrified.

Josephine Gaasvig's picture

Just keep our Faith to our Father almigthy God!

I have been trapped nearly 3 years, but now I am free. After reading the Bible and listen to our God Jesus Christ words. I listen to him and I am now devoted to him, I pray everyday as much as posible. When I am feeling down all I have to do is to call him and all the Heavenly host. Without Jesus Christ in our life, our life is NOTHING. This is all I can do to help you Christie talk to our GOD Jesus Christ if you are not feeling well he will listen to you as long as you mean it from the deep of your heart. We cannot see him but he knows every thing before you ask....I promise you this is worth. Keep your faith on him! Pray our Father holly be your name 3x, Hall Mary Full of Grace 3x and 3x Glory be to the Father. Good luck Christie!

Clarao2's picture

You will be ok. Get a bible

You will be ok. Get a bible and before you go to sleep read Ephesians 6:10-20. The next time you feel trapped... Just call Jesus. As if you're call out for a lot child. You will not hear yourself still but just focus. And you will wake up. I will pray that your nightmare dissipate. Gods bless you

Serendip Visitor's picture

First Timee Experience

Today has been my first experience to this & it sure seem's like I aint the only one , but now I just dont wanna go to sleep because I dont wanna go thru it again , im only 16 & ive never experienced something like this in life I just wonder why it happend now . . It's strange & pretty insane . .

karen's picture

haunted all my life

I am 33 years old . I experienced these so called hauntings all my life since i am 4 . First everybody presumes as a child nightmares, than the episodes become more rapid by the time I , reached 13 I saw all possible haunted characters sitting on me, holding me weird sensations like my body is burning from inside wierd thing was that i can see my self sleeping like out of body experience, sometimes I tried to see the hauntings from above while asleep but the experience is not explainable as a result i stop sleeping at night. Than some experiences start happening in the morning hours. I got married at age of 21 my husband was very supportive but i cannot sleep in dark and cant sleep more than 3-4 hours.
I took psychological test and went to bunch of psychologists. thing is that I have a great childhood. I have no traumas I cant explain how the hauntings began. I have a very good I.Q. I was good in my class. I am good in my job . I do not know what is wrong with my brain. No body seems to know as this condition is associative with brain function. Now i can only sleep with all the lights on . After my divorce it was harder to cope with the situation. because of lack of sleep i become angry and agitated through out the day. My dad till he was alive tried to help me gave me herbs and homeopathic medicines but cant say that they help much , my dad practiced alternative medicine.
If i write my experiences than i have to write a book full of scary ghost experiences.
I just slept for hardly 22 hours in 8 days. sometimes I take sleeping pills they are okay but when i experience sleep paralysis phenomenon under influence of pills it is much worse iIwake up ravenous, shaky,disoriented hard to explain .I think some people have to live with their curses

Clarao2's picture

You will be ok. Get a bible

You will be ok. Get a bible and before you go to sleep read Ephesians 6:10-20. The next time you feel trapped... Just call Jesus. As if you're call out for a lot child. You will not hear yourself still but just focus. And you will wake up. This is the one way I have ever been able to free myself. One time I was sleeping and I saw myself sleep. I felt this rush of wind and I couldnt breath or speak. I thought I was crazy and went to church to tell someone. I think found out that it is spirits that are tying to hold you back from you destiny. I'm not sure of your faith. But regardless of what it is ... Try the above. I've been able to feel my self for over 2 year and the time that I feel trapped get less and less. Good luck and God bless

serendip visitor's picture

I have a question

I'm eighteen years old and i've had sleep paralysis since as long as i've had memories. It's never been scary for me though i've never hallucinated with it until recently. But it's never scary things. For instance all i saw were little stick figures acting out those funny/cheesy stick figure fighting comic things. Only thing was when i came out of the paralysis everything i had seen as stick figures were just deviations of what was on the wall e.g. i saw a stick figure with what looked like a helmet on when it was just a chip in the wall. Is this still sleep paralysis even though there are rarely hallucinations? I'd appreciate if someone could let me know if this the same occurance.

Kevin 's picture

My Experience

I just had an experience like this half an hour ago when I took a nap alone in my house. and decided to research, luckily I did. I have had times before where I felt like I was awake but could not wakeup, but this was different. This was more evil. I felt anxiety an evil presence around me, i felt lie i was being surounde by negative energy. In this state, I felt like I was out of my body, in a different dimension but in the same room.The computer was on like I left it and everything was in place. In this out of body state, I got up from my bed trying to contact someone but my phone was working in a backwards way and couldnt get in touch with anyone. Then I was basically walking around my house trying to figure what is going on. and my living room and kitchen looked different, mostly everything was made of glass, dunno why. I felt like I was suffocating the whole time trying to wake up. I felt this pulling on my face, like my facial muscles were being extremely tightened, and could not breath well. Then I decided to ask..."God please help, please help, God please" and a few seconds later I felt like I got zapped, or went through a tunnel or something, and woke up back to the normal dimension breathing heavily. In my opinion from what happened and what I just researched, I believe there was something paranormal invading my body, which then paralyzed my brain making me unable to move.

Serendip Visitor's picture

I have had sleep paralysis

I have had sleep paralysis since I was 17. It started with footsteps and now I hear conversations, feel presences, and yesterday I saw my friends. However, my sleep paralysis has never been "evil", except for the fear I feel when I panic. Perhaps because I was not raised with religion or with fear of the experience, it has never been a part of my psyche? Or perhaps I have not yet tuned into these forces? It is funny you mention panic being something that *creates* hallucinations because my experiences actually are more pronounced when I *don't* panic, the experiences last a long time in the absence of fear.

For me, sleep paralysis is more than just hallucinations. I believe the voices I hear are produced by my brain, but there is more going on. It is a gateway to astral projection, or out of body experiences (OBEs). Now when I get sleep paralysis, yes my physical body does not move, but I feel my arms waving around (even though I see that my body isn't moving) and I can turn my "head" and see around my room, even though my physical head does not move. I see perfectly clearly, although it is a little different, because *I am not seeing without my eyes*. I am in my astral body. It feels so light and free. It is a truly amazing experience. I hope to soon fully be able to leave my body during these experiences. I have once before and this was the time that I knew that there was more to sleep paralysis than vague explanations that our western science offers us.

Serendip Visitor's picture

IT'S JUST A DREAM

i think it's a combination of your visualizations, sounds in your dream and the outer environment you see during awake-state of sleep paralysis. Maybe we feel fear because it's something strange for us, being unable to move make us to feel fear. Now if you know the science behind it, it seems that the fear is lessen or totally removed.

It's like a photograph that overlapped each other thus making apperance of objects around you.

Serendip Visitor's picture

I have also had these

I have also had these experiences on and off for years and I'm noticing that it happens when I sleep with my eyes open. Last night I could see my room but these dark shadows appeared.

I could feel that my mouth was open and I was gasping for air. In my mind, I was begging it(the being) not to do anything and I started to hear several voices, one which stated, "we'll be back tomorrow". I tried my best to move but I couldn't and that's when I forced myself to say, "Allah", and instantly, I awoke. The time on my phone read: 3:02 a.m.

I don't think it matters what religion you are, but as I read, I see that people have been able to break free of this state when calling on their deity. Maybe the paralysis part is scientific, but the other half may be spiritual. Especially since strong feelings of negativity and demonic presences seem to coincide with this. In the meantime, I will continue to research this along with the history of the witching hour.

Mark's picture

An Answer... Thank you!

All I had to do was read the first paragraph, and it was exactly what I had experiencing. I kept telling my wife that we had ghosts/evil spirits and I couldn't move, and I was screaming for her, but I was awake. It's a freighting experience. I feel a little better now. 8)Thanks for sharing.

Serendip Visitor's picture

Returning SP

I am so happy that i found this website! I had the SP experience earlier this morning. I heard footsteps on my bed. Then all of a sudden I feel heat running through my body and i feel a heavy presence pressing on my back. I struggle to get up but i can not. Then I also heard growling noise and that is when I starting calling on the name of Jesus. Finally I woke up. The first time i experience this it was back in 2008 (three times at year). Now it is starting again. I was scared to share this with anyone besides my mother. I am relieve to hear that I am not alone dealing with this. :)

Suraj Nayak's picture

Sleep paralysed

Hello there,
I was really glad when i found out what i was expiriencing was "POST DORMITAL SLEEP DISORDER". :D
M sooo happy now :D

My first expirience happened when i was in my 10th grade. I was in a half-sleep state on my bed with my face down when suddenly something gripped me hard!. I could'nt move a thing except my eyes. I rolled my eyes in every direction i could but saw nothing. Still reeling frm the fact tht i might have been possesed, i began hearing a strange buzzing noise in my ear. It grew louder every second. When i tried listening to it, it seemed like someone was talking in a Demon language....it went like this : haiiinnnna Woooohahaah, Krumbbaaa peeeyata." I got very scared and tried to get up, but the force was still holding me down. I was awake/dreaming at the same time. After a few seconds, everything just went blank, and i could my arms now, i quickly turned around to see if there was "Demon". There wasn't. I never told this to anyone.

I have been expiriencing this thing for over 5 years now. The latest being yday morning around 5 AM. This one was trying to lift me up frm the bed!.

So i went around and researched abt it and learned tht it was "SLEEP PARALYSIS".....chk it out in Wikipedi

Serendip Visitor's picture

Hey, those are demons. Pray

Hey, those are demons. Pray to god in your dreams and in real life. These demons can take over your body.

Serendip Visitor's picture

Is it really explained by science???

I have been dealing with this since I was little, I have two sisters and was born in Trinidad, neither of them have ever had to deal with it. I have been in the States since I was 12, I've dealt with it all through Junior high, High school, I'm in the Army and have been deployed and it happened to me while I was in the Middle East as well. I havn't had an issue in over a year until today which brought me here. My family is very spiritual, and religious so when I tell them about it they tell me spiritual things to do but this time was different and extremely scary. I woke up took my son to his bus and went back to sleep, woke up from a dream, in the dream I was happy extremely happy about something good that just happened to me and was with three people who I cannot recall but one of the three was a man who sat in front of me and said he had something to tell me, he said "you have demons on your side"...I laughed it off and said he's crazy, he said it again and started saying things I didn't understand and all of a sudden it was like I was possessed, a voice came out of me but it wasn't mine, the voice said "what"? then I woke up, not being able to move, could hardly breath, I could see everything in my room, my door that was cracked to barely see the hallway, and was screaming for help, terrified I was yelling out for my sister in the room right next to mine, I thought I was awake, eyes were open, I was screaming but my mouth wasn't moving, then I saw my sister come to my door and was just standing there, she seemed terrified, didn't know what to do to help me, I kept screaming out for help and it was like she was just frozen in fear but I felt like there was an evil presence over me. I managed to wake myself up for real and headed to my sisters room where she was still asleep. So she was never in my room. What is this condition really? Although I've dealt with this for years it's never been that bad and I'm concerned.....any answers???

Peggy's picture

What is this?

Hello everyone
I am 21 years old and have been experiencing "sleep paraylsis" for years. It started to affect me when I first got into my teens I believe. When it first started it was always when I was at my very most tired. I would be mentally awake but have no power to move or speak. I would feel as if I were falling or being pulled down and hear a buzzing that got louder and louder until I was able to snap myself out of it. And then I heard voices speaking to me, just one older lady at first and then many voices all talking at the same time instead of the buzzing. When I was 20 I started having these episodes mostly when I slept in my living room while taking a nap. Instead of feeling or hearing an evil presence it began being dark and terrifying dreams where I was in darkness and something evil would harass me.
As with a lot of other people on here I noticed that praying and asking God for help has always helped me escape these episodes and they have become less frequent since I've began praying more. I say the 23rd Psalms before bed and sleep with a Bible on my nightstand. I had not had problems with it for a few months until early this morning. My boyfriend had stayed the night and we were both sleeping when I felt him wrap me in a bear hug. I tried to move a bit and couldn't. That's when I realized I wasn't actually awake. This has happened a few times before where he was sleeping in the bed and I found myself in this state. I tried to poke him and pinch him to make him shake me awake but he simply poked and pinched me back. I finally woke up and asked why he didn't wake me up when I was desperately trying to get him to and he said I hadn't touched him and he hadn't felt me move at all. So instead of me just feeling this pressing whatever I am experiencing was actually touching me. FREAKY.
So back to what happened this morning. I felt what I thought was my guy wrap his arms around me. I tried to move and realized I wasn't awake and also realized that this wasn't my boyfriend. I felt it close to my ear whispering. It sounded slightly like my boyfriend but it's voice was deeper, scarier. I don't remember what it said but it grabbed me and rolled me on top of it where I was face up. I could feel it moving and I honestly was worried I was going to get raped or something. It kept whispering and I flung out my arms and reached upwards but I knew I was moving through empty space like very other time I tried to move while in this situation. I cried out to God to help me, I asked the Lord to rebuke it in his name. And as time went on I actually got upset with God. Sometimes when I'm in this situation and I don't get immediate relief I wonder "why are you doing this to me? why won't you help me? why are you letting this happen?"
3 things are disturbing to me about what happened. 1. Is this negatively affecting my relationship with God? It worries me that I pretty much blamed God for experiencing this and then got upset with him for not delivering me from it sooner. I'm wondering if this is a test of my faith.
2. does this meant that whatever is doing this is growing in strength? At first it started out just as a pressing feeling and a buzz and now it is talking directly to me and poking me back when I try to poke it.
3. does this actually have anything to do with my boyfriend? This is at least the 2nd time that he has actually been asleep next to me and I've experienced this sensation and mistaken whatever it is for him. I am very certain that it is not him messing with me or anything.
I do not think that science can explain this. I know that in the past it has always been practice to proclaim anything we didn't understand as demonic but I don't think that this is simply a case of misunderstood brain functions. If that was it, why are people feeling an unfamiliar and/or evil presence? Why are people experiencing whatever this is with almost every one of their senses? I honestly don't know. All I do know is that I'm going to hold fast to my faith and keep researching.

Ted's picture

I am now 49 years old and

I am now 49 years old and your exact experiences have been happening to me since my teen years. I swear on my mom's grave that someone is hovering over me, holding me down and trying to kill me. Scariest experience of my life. I use to say that the devil is trying to kill me and that's what I still believe. Whispering, holding me down, choking me, a shadowing figure, I have experienced it all. As I have gotten closer to God, it goes away but there are still times (though very few now) it still happens. I remember sleeping with a light, TV and a bible next to me. The bible next to me also helped a lot. Just wanted to share a little of this with you and others.

anna's picture

THIS IS A SPIRITUAL ATTACK..

when this happens when you feel that you cannot move or speak and you feel as if someone or force is holding you down making you feel paralyzed SAY IN YOUR MIND IF YO CANNOT SPEAK OUT LOUD IN THE NAME OS JESUS I REBUKE YOU and the demonic spirits will have no choice but to release you... this has been happening to me for yrs !!! and every time I rebuke the spirit/demon in the name of Jesus and I say The Blood of Jesus over me it releases me and I feel normal again ! This happening to you mean you are being attacked by the enemy/Satan/Devil I don't know why but my guess is he is trying to torment you since you have a calling from God the Father and Jesus Christ.

andrea toepfer's picture

spiritual attack

Hi. I enjoyed reading what you had to say. I agree with you 100%. Did you read about it, research it?
I ask, because my mother and I both, are victims of this.

Can you tell me more?

Suzi-J's picture

Its been happening to me for years!

Iv been suffering with Sleep Paralysis for years now. It started when a close friend of mine died 8 years ago, I was 16.
At first it would happen maybe once or twice a month now It can happen 4 or 5 times a night every day. Dont get me wrong, sometimes a can go a week or so without it happening. What i have noticed is that if iam under alot of stress, 9 times out 10 will occure.

Everyones encounter is different but i dont believe its spiritual in any way.

When SP occures with me its usually the same as many times before. I start dreaming that i can hear someone opening the door at the bottom of my stairs, slowly start to climb the stairs, getting faster and lounder, closer and closer to me!!!... I wake up and i cant move. I can open my eyes and iam in my own bedroom, everything is in its right place. Pins and needles rush though my body, its painful, its hurting me. I try to call out, Nothing!
I try and sit up, pins and needles hitting harder. Iam now in more pain.
It feels like someone is sitting on my cheast, i think my ribs are going to crack!
Panic is setting in... Suddenly a realise im not even breathing!!! I gasps for air and finally i take in a big deep breath.
The pains, panic and terror continues for a few more moments before i finally come too

Even though i know what is happening to me and have from, more or less the second it started happning i cant help being terrified!
If i dont make sure iam fully awake by getting out of bed and walk around, i will fall back to sleep and black into SP where it can return, up to as much as 8 times in one night!

Iv come to terms with the fact i will most likely suffer with SP for the rest of my life. Its not nice but at least i know there is people that understand what im going through.

J.B's picture

A passage...

Been reading all of your stories, & there is no denying the
common denominators are the same at the most basic of levels.
Just now all of your words inspired me to open the Bible to somewhere
randomly close to the 4 Gospels.... and flipped to this:
"I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills
to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the
inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring.
against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to
the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that
I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God
----through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with
the flesh the law of sin.
(Romans 7: 21-25)
As I was typing this, outside all sorts of noises ramped up in sound..
sounded like workers.. heard loud engine running, then gradually
louder sounds of labor ( banging, etc) but a few highrr pitched
sounds my ears detected as never quite heard b4... not those exact
vibrations.... was very strange, but not unexpected. One startled
me being so unfamiliar I literally dropped my Bible , and pages flipped
away from what I was reading because it fell face down. Glory be to Jesus!

NOT Morpheus's picture

Confront your fear

Most of these. SP events are simulations,
designed in a closed (safe) environment
allowing us to face the ROOT of our fear.
Yes, very similar to flight simulators.
combat training simulations etc.
Most of us have a calling for a higher
purpose that may or may not be revealed
to you yet. This is the best way we can think
of to prepare you later in life, and we
hope by then you will have gotten used to the
spirit of fear, & be able to recognize its varuous
forms. Yes, calling on Jesus has worked each
time for me too. Be Aware- each time you
successfully withstand the session on your
own, each subsequent simulation will ferl more
real, the fear more deep, & the session harder
to complete. Transmissions await those brave
enough to symbolically take the red pill
and persevere. Transmissions will be known
by it feeling like a radio station playing
in the deepest part of your head. Do not
fear this either. This all is here to help
us, and my guess is most of you have
asked for a deeper meaning, guidance,
or direction in life. So when it comes,
please do not reject it. All the best...

Josee's picture

WOW..Me too!!

Hello,

I have been experIencIng thIs phenomenon for several years now. My fIrst recollectIon was when I was about 20 years old and what I can remember was the feelIng of beIng held down and I trIed to call out and I could not speak or move. I struggled for what seemed lIke an eternIty and somethIng InsIde of me saId to pray, like many of the comments before me the moment I began to recIte the Father's prayer "It" left and I awaken. I remember beIng very afraId and lIke most, belIeved a spIrIt was after me or sent for me.

ThIs occurred for several nIghts untIl one day I actually felt a hand reach out for me and trIed to pull my hand. I told my parents and after realIzIng It wasn't my dad (he lIked to play pranks) my parents took me serIously and my mom and dad left a bIble verse under my mattress. SuprIsenly, thIs stop for many months..only thIng Is rIght after my sIster gave bIrth and dIed after delIvery. After mournIng I would over hear my parents say that someone put an evIl spIrIt or voodoo whIch took her (she was a completely healthy 21 year old) I would always wonder if that was the same spirits that was not able to get me manage to get her during the process of giving birth which is known to be one of the most vunerable states to be in.

Nevertheless, the dreams dId occur agaIn however, I've found as I've gotten older you have a lot of control over whether It manIfast Into a fearful experIence or just one of those "what the hell was that" type of expeiences. I've gotten angry durIng that state mostly because "It" was dIsturbIng my sleep and "It" has left but most of all what ever thIs expereInce Is If you call to God It quIckly leaves. Perhaps because your body goes Into a very calm state.

Last nIght after HurrIcane Irene I expeIerenceed somethIng dIfferent. ThIs tIme I had the same feelIng of beIng paralyze, I would try to put my hand up to my face only to look down and see my body was stIll layIng there only thIs tIme I was In a dream..lookIng at my self go through thIs .. knowIng I'm asleep but alert tryIng to get back Into the dream. I know "huh??"

ThIs lead me to thIs sIte and I really love GOGGLE cause I was ready to commItte myself somewhere. I must also add I'm a vIvId, colorful dreamer and dream every nIght. I am also able to recall most of my dreams..never mInd the fact that sometImes I swear some of them come to pass..that's another forum lol:)

Thank you for writing this. I take comfort in knowing there is a scientific explanation for this experience that occurs while sleeping.

Visitor's picture

helpfull and weird.

I have been having these events since I was 4 its nothing to worrie about I knew what it was but I didn't know enough about it and It just happened like 20 minutes ago so I researched it and saw all the people worrying so I decided to write a comment. I see stuff , hear stuff to when it happens, I used to not be able to move or speak when it happened but then I started to calm myself and I learned how to wriggle my toe's and fingers then I learned to toss myself on my side but now if I have it I can easily wake myself up without having the horrible feelings or sights.I can always tell if its about to happen when I'm sleeping or if I'm away to go to sleep I can tell if its going to happen. Being worried just makes it worse, I used to worrie about it and I noticed the more I worried the longer it went on and I wouldn't be able to breath so do not worrie because being feared makes it worse , you'll see all these other comments of people worrying but seriously don't! all you need to do is stay calm relax your hole body and then try and move yourself I usually try and move myself on my side then everything calms down and all of a sudden I'm awake , I always do that when I get sleep paralysis or I just force myself to wake up by moving my hole torso up . If its happening to you my advice would be to do as I said or stay calm , relax your hole body and if your body is going to make you go back to sleep don't fight it go along with it .

One strange thing though . I moved to this new house and about 1 month of living there 1 night I had it 7 times each time it happened I just went back to sleep because I didn't care I was tired but on the 8th time I couldn't move but my eyes were open and I remember trying to stay calm looking about and there was a lady standing at the end of my bed and she was there for about 5 minutes then all of a sudden she was right up at my face with an evil/angry face she was looking at me in the eyes grunting and griting her teeth then all of a sudden my arm shot up to my throat and my hand was at my throat but it wasn't touching my throat it was just like 1 inch away from it but it was staying still and I couldn't breath it was like I was being choked, I was trying to put it down but the force was to strong and the lady disappeared but my arm stayed in the same place and then I heard a voice saying your not welcome here then I went floppy and something rolled me of the bed , and after that I ran to my mum hahahaha! I've seen this lady around my old house quite alot during the day aswell
I also see shadows and people during the day and they talk to me and I talk back ,I've always thought that I have been seeing ghosts and talking to them but I have heard about people with sleep paralysis who have had it during the day so I'm thinking if I might have this? Or I can see ghosts or I'm insane ?haha

Sleep paralysis ? Or spirits? Please someone reply ? (: