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Sleep Paralysis: Awake But Still Asleep
Biology 202
2000 First Web Report
On Serendip
Sleep Paralysis: Awake But Still Asleep
Hiro Takahashi
A person may wake up and find himself unable to move or speak as if he is frozen. He also may hear footsteps, see a ghost-like creature, or feel someone sitting on his chest. Throughout the history, people considered this phenomenon as work done by evil spirits. However, the modern science can explain the terrifying event as a Sleep Paralysis.
A Sleep Paralysis is possibly a hereditary disorder in which one experiences very frightening seconds or minutes of total body paralysis with little respiration and eye movements (1). A victim in this state feels awake, but he cannot move or speak (2). In addition to the immobility, the common symptoms include feeling choked or suffocated, hearing strange noises like footsteps and voices, seeing beings or dark shadows, and feeling an existance of someone in the room (1). Although these symptoms often direct the victims to believe in ghosts, mistransmission of neural signals in the brain causes Sleep Paralysis. When a person sleeps, his brain sends signals to inhibit any muscle contraction (3). If he comes into consciousness before the brain sends signals to activate muscle contraction, he cannot move his body, and consequently, become "paralyzed"(2).
In order to understand how a body becomes paralyzed while the person is awake, it is necessary to understand sleep cycles. In a mammalian sleep, the brain activity undergoes two different states called non-REM (NREM) sleep and REM sleep, which differ very much from wakefulness (3). NREM and REM sleep alternate cyclically through the night; in human, about 80 minutes of NREM sleep starts a night of sleep, about 10 minutes of REM sleep follows, and this 90 minute cycle is repeated about 3 to 6 times during the night (3). During NREM sleep, a body produces few movement, but the body has capability of tossing about in bed and producing some other motor events, such as sleepwalking and sleeptalking (3). The cardiac-muscle contraction and breathing occur at a uniform rate, and the eyes move slowly (2). During REM sleep, on the other hand, heart rate, respiration rate, and blood pressure vary (3). The eyes move rapidly because most dreaming takes place in this period, and the sleeper probably "look" at the moving objects in a dream (2).
The brain's control over muscles during REM sleep points out that in this period, a body is normally in the state of total paralysis, called a "nonreciprocal flaccid paralysis" (3). Probably to prevent a person from "acting out" a dream, the brain sends signals to inhibit any muscle contractions (2). Although some peripheral muscles, such as the muscles of the fingers and face, still twitch, the large skeletal muscles become relaxed, or "paralyzed" as a result (3). Some evidence supports that the motor paralysis of REM sleep protect against the acting out of one's dreams. A patient who suffers from rare syndrome called REM Sleep Behavior Disorder lacks the normal nonreciprocal flaccid paralysis, and he acts out violent dreams during REM sleep, often with injurious consequences (4). For example, a 60-year-old surgeon dreamt that he was attacked "by criminals, terrorists, and monsters who always tried to kill [him]" and fighting against them in the nightmare, he was actually punching and kicking his wife who slept in the same bed (4).
A nonreciprocal flaccid paralysis during REM sleep is accomplished actively by postsynaptic inhibition of motorneurons (3). Although the exact process of motor inhibition is not clear, some neurotransmitters and hormones are known to generate the many components of REM sleep. Aministering physostigmine, an inhibitor of the catabolic enzyme, increases the concentration of acetylcholine within the neurons in the pons, making it possible to artificially generate and start REM sleep in the middle of NREM sleep (3). Carbachol, the cholinergic agonist, produces a period of REM sleep in cat when directly injected into the pontine tegmentum (3). The hormone melatonin, a "master hormone" (5) that mainly controls circadian rhythms, also seems to play an important role in enhancing the REM state; the level of melatonin secretion by the pineal gland reaches its lowest during REM sleep (5). Such neurotransmitters and hormones probably activate or inhibit the activity of second messengers, which then activate or inhibit the third messengers, and so on till the last messenger inhibit the synaptic transmission or cause hyperpolarization of the motorneurons. And if, for some reason, the nervous or endocrine system continues to release the neural inhibitors, a person may experience Sleep Paralysis as he enters awakefully into or awakens directly from REM period (2).
While the modern neuroscience can describe the state of Sleep Paralysis as some errors of the neural transmission in the brain during REM sleep, a person who has seen or heard ghost-like figures/voices may easily believe that eveil spirits fully controlled his entire body. However, the images or noises, which the victim believes that he has seen or heard, are most likely hallucinations; and hallucinations, too, can result from the brain activity. In the 1960's, the Canadian neurologist W. Penfield introduced that electrical stimulation of the temporal lobe can cause the auditory hallucinations in the wake state (5). The buzzing or ringing sounds in the ears and other auditory hallucinations are closely associated with the activity of the auditory cortex and involves the temporal lobe (5). During the early period of sleep paralysis, the activity of the temporal lobe increases significantly, sometimes inducing hallucinatory sense (5). Similarly, the visual cortex generates internal visual stimuli, causing the victim to "see" terrifying figures during the paralysis (5).
How an episode of Sleep Paralysis induces visual or auditory hallucinations is still not clear, but it seems to have a significant relationship with anxiety (5). For anxiety is a neurocognitive event closely related to both psychological and physical processes, the extreme anxiety or panic may cause the release of several different signal molecules that trigger all kinds of physical events (5). A person experiencing Sleep Paralysis feels mortal fear or extreme panic, and hence, the brain generates and releases internal visual or auditory stimuli, producing hallucinations.
Also, hallucinations during Sleep Paralysis may happen, for one keeps dreaming even after some parts of his brain wakes up directly from REM sleep. Since the nervous and endocrine systems continue to release the neural inhibitors which sustain the paralysis, it may be possible that those systems keep releasing the neural activators that stimulate dreaming. Thus, a person continues to "see" the images and "hear" the noises produced in the dream that he has just had in REM sleep from which he has awaken.
Understanding more neural concepts of Sleep Paralysis, some researchers now hypothesize that a very rare condition called Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome (SUNDS) may closely relate to Sleep Paralysis (1). Upon the death, a SUNDS victim produces no body movement even though he experiences a myocardial infarction and strong breathing difficulties and should straggle in agony (5). The death may be caused by the extreme muscle atonia during Sleep Paralysis, which is so severe that even the cardiac muscles and the diaghragm paralyze (5).
Until I started researching on this subject, I have believed that the total paralysis of a body is due to an evil taking absolute control over the body. However, the interactions between neurons in the brain can explain this seemingly mysterious phenomenon in a scientific way. Although the explanation is not complete yet, for there are many unclear processes about Sleep Paralysis, the current hypothesis appears to reject the possibility of ghosts on this matter. Of course, it is impossible to completely disprove the existence of "spirits", "minds", or "God" affecting one's behavior. Nevertheless, like Sleep Paralysis and SUNDS, many or the mysterious conditions and behaviors which are only explained in supernatural terms probably result from brain.
WWW Sources
1)The Evil's of Sleep Paralysis
4)REM Sleep Behavior Disorder: A Neurologic Dissociative Sleep Disorder
5)Recurrent Isolated Sleep Paralysis
Comments made prior to 2007
I have been trying to figure out what was going on in my sleep untill i read this.Now i am happy to know what my body was expeiencing. It's quite scary your first couple experiences of sleep paralysis but now i'm gonna stay calm when it is happening to me and try to get my own understanding of the experience ... Jeremy, 21 March 2006
I have had sleep paralyisis at least once per month for the last 8 years. I am 29 as of this writing. I just had the experience about 1 hour ago and thus has caused me to do reasearch about it on the net. I noticed that many Dr.'s contribute this to anxiety, stress and other factors. My question is ... why is there always an evil presence in that concious yet body is still asleep phase? Today I heard a loud static sound, and opened my eyes to a spider crawling all over my arm. When I prayed to God, or said His name (Jehovah) the spider would start to disappear. I finally went thru my mental prayer when I awoke. This leads me to believe that it is more of a spiritual occurence, because I never have positive images while in this paralized state. I know there are many things in which our ancestors thought it was demonic rather than scientific, only to find there was a scientific explanation. However, I think this is different and cannot be simply written off as "scientific". There is not enough proof to show that it is scientific.
About a month ago I had another episode of sleep paralysis and I saw a small presence in the room with me. It was dark, and I could not see it's face (I am getting chills typing about it right now). My question is, why is there always an evil presence not only associated with my episodes, but so many others I have read about? ... Abel, 24 August 2006
i was thinking it is evil who do that during night but now i find out why. I am suffering from sleep paralyze possibly every nigh spicily when i have dinar ... Salah Nasser, 28 January 2007
I used to have this sleeping disorder when I was a child. It has come back once or twice with adulthood, but otherwise, it is in the past. I used to, with great effort, move my hand to my face and pull an eye open, which would wake me up, but sometimes the struggle was too much and I would go on into a deeper sleep.
Since the brain can do this to me, can it also cause me to get migraines just as I am about to wake up?
It seems, as I have discovered, if I get less than 4 hours sleep a night, I do not get migraines. If I get 6 hours or more, it's about a 90% chance I will wake with a migraine. Later in the day, I get an hour or two nap and that is the routine as it works. Doctors just sort of treat the migraine and don't get into the sleep thing I have. I take MaxAult for the migraines when they do get me.
I woke one time, and just as I woke, I felt this white-hot needle going into my head... bingo. A migraine in 5 seconds. That is how they can occur. I wake with them otherwise. I figure it my brain doing things it shouldn't. I have a clean bill of health otherwise.
Thanks for your time. Have a good day ... Jay, 11 February 2007
I have a question, and hope someone out there has an answer, it has been months and I have thus far failed to find one. Has there ever been a record of anyone receiving the effects of sleep paralysis without having been asleep? The reason I ask this, is a while ago, having not slept in a few hours, I was sitting at my computer, and it seemed to have happened to me. Within seconds I was too tired to hold up my own head, and my breathing got very difficult. Then I began to feel a sort of dizziness as my limbs lost feeling, and dropped to my side. after this, the dizziness turned to near blindness. I could see, but nothing would focus, and everything I tried to look at seemed to dart around like a mosquito. By this time I had no feeling in my entire body, could move nothing without quite a bit of concentration, and I could barely breath. My mother heard me try and make out some kind of cry for help, and found me there spilled into my computer chair. She rolled me to my bed, and poured me into it. Within about 10-15 minutes I had regained everything I once had, but my sea legs did not ware off for another ten or so minutes. I went to the emergency soon after. I had an E.K.G. and a C.A.T. scan, with no results, and I piss less in a week then the amount of blood they took that night. After basically telling me I was lying, the doctor told me that my symptoms did not fit anything at all. What I do know, is I have been researching the issue ever since, and can only base my problem on Sleep Paralysis. All the symptoms match. And again, my question....Has there ever been a record of someone under the effects of sleep paralysis without ever having gone to sleep? I hope you can shed some sort of light on this subject, as it,...well, it freaked me the hell out, and no one has been able to answer me! Thank you for your time ... Mitchel Henderson, 7 December 2007
I used get this "evil paralysed me" feeling when i was paralysed and usually saw a ghost. i tried to shout or move but no sound escaped my mouth and couldn't move at all. it happened again yesterday and was almost convinced that ghosts/evil spirits were getting the better of me. But, me being a practical and logical guy, erjected this theory and started researching on this phenomenon. I came across this research paper on Sleep Paralysis. This greatly helped me in alleviating my fears. And next time i "see" a ghost during sleep paralyses, ill just laugh at it ;-) Thanks for the research ... Siddarth, 10 December 2007
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| 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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Comments
SP
I was just sleeping in the bed with my 1 yr old son, and I couldn't wake up. Usually, it would go away in a matter of minutes, but this felt like forever. I could here my boyfriend knocking on the door, and my son running to the door crying, but I couldn't move. In my mind i Had got up, and it looked like someone had broken in. They had kicked the closet doors open, and my sons bedroom window was smashed in. My body felt like someone had lit it on fire, and I could hear someone whispering in my ear. I don't know how long it actually was as I just laid there, I couldn't open my eyes, call out for help or anything, as I felt my body over heating on an extreme temperature. Finally I woke up, and my son was lying beside me still asleep, and my boyfrined was never at the door. My house was the same as I left it when I went to sleep. So I wanted to know what this state was called, while I was asleep. Still, I beleive my Gma when she says 'oh thats just the devil riding your back'
beth
happened twice last night. moved my feet and fingers, and could see my door. fail! will post more later, im at school. xoxo
I used to have SP when I was
I used to have SP when I was in my early 20s, I'm now in my late 20's.First episode was when I was around 6 and I had taken a nap. Then for many years I didn't have it. So when it started after my teens I was scared, as I didn't understand it. So I researched it and found out from someone else that sleeping on your back tends to trigger it. At least when you first fall asleep, so the key is to NOT fall asleep laying on your back try your side or even your stomach. You can however sleep on your back but after you have fallen asleep and maybe you toss and turn and end up on your back. Its just when you first enter REM sleep that you do not want to be on your back. Try it out it might help some of you. Worked for me.
Hope this helps some of you.
hi guys, i am 19 years old.
hi guys, i am 19 years old. on a couple different medications and have a few ailments.
i experience sleep paralysis a lot lately and sometimes get confused and convince myself it wqs a dream or didn't happen but this time about an hr ago it really did.
i was taking a nap, was asleep for about an hr and a half or less.. i remembered suddenly in full awareness that i had heard an email go off on my phone, somehow i knew exactly who sent it and the gist of their message. this may just be because i know my friend very well but lately i have had a lot of other eerie predictions that seem like coincidences, almost since the SP began happening a lot.
anyway back to what happened tonight. i tried to sit up, my eyes were open, my room was dark. thanking my late grandmother & uncle for protection usually calms me down and ive never seen anything horrific or scary, i am usually just in darkness with my eyes open and i can hear the sounds around me in the waking world. when i pushed my head up, i fell like a ragdoll back onto my pillow and then i panicked a bit becausr that was new and scary. thought of moving my fingers as they say thats the best way to wake but instead i felt my body "rolling" and the fear of being about to fall off the bed. i didnt thank god but i finally twitched my fingers and awoke. very scary, though i am convinced relaxing and believing that its just a strange body function is the only way to be ok.
REM while awake
I was sitting with my eyes closed this afternoon. Meditating if you will. And after about 5-10 minutes, while feeling very relaxed and loose, my eyes started going crazy. Like what I would think is REM. But I was awake. Conscious. I don't get SP. Maybe once or twice i've had something like it. Minor cases. But yeah. This has happened before though. A number of years ago. And it was while I had been worshipping in church, feeling the warmth and power of the Holy Spirit. Eyes went super fast, uncontrollable. But this time I was just relaxing. My mind was blank. So it was pretty damn exciting! Just wanted to share this. I'm quite certain this is something on a spiritual level. Or something from the recesses of the subconscious. Anyway if anyone has any thoughts on this, or similar experiences, let me know :)
HELP!
When I'm trying to fall asleep and drifting in and out of sleep something terrifying happens to me. I actually feel a force pulling my covers off me and I start to get pulled off my bed and onto the carpet. I can physically feel the texture of the carpet. I recently moved and my old carpet was a rough texture and my new carpet is a softer texture and I can feel the difference between the two when I get pulled. If I shake my body enough, I can make it stop. But after a few seconds it will just start happening again. A few times I've just let it happen to see what will happen and I get pulled under my bed. I often try to scream for my mom and I can hear myself screaming very loud but no sound is actually coming out. It really is terrifying and I was wondering if anyone else experiences this. PLEASE HELP.
sleep
sleep with a light on
Sleep Paralysis
I've had episodes where I was lying on my stomach on my bed and then all of a sudden I'm drifting off my bed onto the floor and then back onto my bed. I've also had episode while trying to fall asleep I'll slip into SP and my bed trembles and starts to lift upwards and I can feel myself and the bed moving upward. I thought it was an earthquake. It's really frustrating because I can't tell if what is happening is real or not until my body has gotten out of the paralysis.
Sleep Paralysis cured!
I USED to suffer from SP. It was so bad, I was afraid to go to sleep. I heard noises, voices, doors opening and closing and footsteps. This happened every day, day and night. I tried everything. The only thing that helped was the anti-depressant CELEXA. I take half a pill before bed every night. haven't had an episode in 5 years. If you want to be free of this, ask your doc about it. All the best!
Uhmm..?
Heyy, i read about how durring the sleep thing you feel your being pulled of the bed &nd i wanted to say this has happend to me. I feel it grabs me by my ankles and drags me to the edge/bottom of my bed &nd when i awake, that is exactly where i am.... I knnow i'm probably not helping, i justt didnt want you to thinkk you were the only one..
SP
hey im 18 and this recently happened to me. It was the weirdest thing ever who would of thought that your brain can think up such horrible thoughts. Last night I dremp about someone strangling me and beating down on my chest it was the scariest thing ever it is so frustrating trying to sleep under these conditions. being paralyzed is so uncomfortable because your not sure when u are going to wake up from this i remember one time i stayed paralyzed for over 30 minutes and other cases as little as 10 seconds.
Death
I always thought it was the Grim Reaper and that I had to fight him sometimes to stay alive. Just the other night I heard like huge foot steps on my roof and felt someone there and finally after about 6 minutes I am guessing I was able to move again. I really wish this would go away because it really scares me. Also a long time ago maybe 30 years ago I was living in Penn. with my aunt I was about 14 I woke up and someone was standing in the hallway with red hair and a head band with blood all over them I couldn't move then I looked back and he was gone. The next day I had heard from home that a guy I liked *rusty* had died in a car accident. He had red hair and always wore a headband.
Don't be afraid.
I have suffer from it for years, in my life time probably I had this over 30 times, if it happens to you, you need to know that everything you see is created by your brain. I used to force my eyes to open, and find myself on a room, but it wasn't the real one, but still would believe for a moment it was the real one, it's very painful, I could feel my body heavy, desperate. I would somethings keep on dreaming while paralyzed. but to wake up, I needed to calm down, even praying is very good. the worst case would be having an asthma attack while paralysed. it happened to me once and was able to survive it.
rule # 1, nothing is real, everything is product of your brain's imagination, so CALM DOWN
rule # 2, always keep on mind that no matter if you are paralysed, you are still dreaming. it's not reality.
rule # 3, Always remember that you are not alone, somebody always loves you no matter what. keep that on mind so you don't feel alone. I say that because brain sometimes is your worst enemy, be in peace so you can take over your toughs, and don't let your imagination manipulate you.
Don't be afraid
Thank you sooo much for this. I experienced this 2 nights ago and managed to wake myself up. Scared the living daylights out of me though. I thought I had a 'dark energy' on top of me.
stay calm
Hey, this is a responso to Paco. I have this syndrome for over 20 years, never known what it was until now. However, for the last 2 years I realized that I could " wake myself up" by staying calm, take a few deep breaths, then when I feel I have enough oxygen, I could jerk my head and become slowly awake. All of these years it was terrifying not to know what cause this syndrome, only knowing that something was really wrong. It was also hard to explain to people in the most clear way, often I described it as a lapse between my brain being awake and my body still asleep. All your rules above work for me too. Somehow we are able to figure out what works for us. And never ever let yourself panicked, that's when you have no control whatsoever to wake yourself up.
Thanks
Thanks for the tips. I am 18 years old and been experiencing sleep paralysis twice already and it was starting to freak me out until I read tour comment. And really i wanna thanks you cuz now i can juss relax and breath better because i now know for sure that im not crazy. haha but yeah thanks!
Sleep paralysis
I have had several experiences in my life with my brain being awake and my body unable to move and I can not speak. Last night I had the worst ever! I was dreaming and new I was it was like my brain said hey your are dreaming wake up. But I could not! I tried to get up and it was like I was having a cunvulision.I tried to lift my head only to have it almost forced back down onto my pillow.I was scared to death.I finally sit straight up in the bed.My stomach was in knots the left side of my head hurt and my heart was racing!..I have not seen things or felt as if it were something evil but more like something else is wrong with me.If anyone can please let me know if you too have experienced things like this and what you have done to end then please let me know.I am afraid to go to sleep sometimes after I have had a spell because I am so afraid it will happen again.I am 38 and a female if that matters.I am desperate to find an end to these horrible episodes!
For the first time yesterday
For the first time yesterday morning I felt a relief in my SP experience.I felt scared and helpless as you did all my times going through SP. Yesterday I fell asleep after using the bathroom during the morning, a laid on my side where as though I can see both my hands. So I drift into a sleep where I was interrupted by an irritated noise during my dream. So I come out of my dream to be in SP, but it feels different. Now I know I'm in the SP state so I try the usual and move my legs and sit up or either roll on my back. But to no prevail. But like I said earlier I can see my hands because I'm on my side. So I decided to try and move my right hand which laying flat on the bed back hand down. I felt myself moving the hand back and forth, but since I was so coherent in the sleep state I noticed my hand wasn't moving @ all. So instead of feeling and being scared I focused on moving both my hands. And again physically my hands weren't moving at all. They stayed in the same spot where I fell asleep. So when I finally awakened I had a new revelation of my SP. Just be calm and understand your surroundings and know that you can over come this. Its a mind and body thing.
SPEECHLESS
Honestly, I never thought I would be one to write on a site like this, cause dreams are just what they are, dreams. Here's my story.
About a year ago this same time I had taken a nap, only to find myself waking up from someone crawling on my bed, but when I woke up, no one was there. Then I realized i couldnt move anymore, so I closed my eyes again to find the same movement going on...The next time I opened my eyes, I was fully awake.
I'm 25 now, and about 3 days ago, I had another more intense experience of SP. I again was taking a nap. I remember having a strange dream about a cousin of mine, we aren't on speaking terms. It surprised me that she was in my home, cause I remembered telling her my doors were locked, and she shouldn't be there, cause we don't even get along. She was mumbling something so I told her to leave again and turned my head. I remember opening my eyes, looking out the window, then I could feel my cover lifting and someone or something positioning itself on my back. I tried to move and couldn't. My airway was blocked and kept feeling up with saliva. Now this thing felt like it was trying to rip through my back, and it giggled each time. I tried talking shiit to it at first, but it only seemed to intensify the pain. I begin to pray, and it would stop... but when I stopped praying it would start back up. I begged GOD to give me the strength to overcome this ting, and after about 5 mins, and I was taking what seemed liked my last breath, I jumped out of it.. Gasping for air nonetheless.
This frightened me so bad I ran out of my house. Literally! I live alone, and I enjoy sleeping alone, but for the past few nights I've been sleeping with all lights on, I've been hearing noises coming from downstairs... I've wanted friends to talk to me on the phone while I fell asleep. I didn't know what was happening to me, until a friend sent this site to me. Not to mention, and it could just be a mental thing...My back felt extrememly hot the rest of that day. This ever happened to anyone? I honestly thought something was trying to possess my body.
Hmmmm
Terrified dreamer
So I had a similar experience but I don't believe I was even asleep yet. It was right when I was falling asleep I felt movement on my bed. Though I have had terrifying dreams before and this was one hundred percent calm compared to them. I didn't let the experience freak me out. Instead I kept my eyes closed. I was curious. I wanted to see what would happen next and I think I told myself if I stirred that it would all stop. I entertained this idea for prob 5 minutes and continued to feel movement. It always seemed like it was getting more pronounced like it was getting closer but I'm not sure. After a little bit I started to get a little bored cuz nothing else was happening. Finally I peeked to see if maybe I would see something. Everything stopped..........
I have had very simiilar
I have had very simiilar experiences to yours. Praying for the demon to go away, the feeling and being able to see a man crawling over me when I was alone. I have had more than ten of these kinds of dreams. It has gotten to the point where I can tell hours before bed that it's going to happen tonight. I have been having these dreams since I was 11 years old. I hallucinated a demon chanted words at me, In every dream I can see the room around me, even hear my family if I am taking a nap and they are in the house. I can hear myself mumble in a soft voice when I am trying to scream help. It is the scariest thing. I tell my boyfriend and family about it but no one takes me seriously. Sometimes I can't tell if it's a spirit or demon or if it is explained science.
being paralyzed by a girl?
when i was 10 years old i sleep that night and i saw a girl standing in front of me, i cant see her face cuz its dark and she stare at me... then i tried to move but i cant and i used my whole energy to move and i can feel my ''other body'' rise and try to touched the girl and i saw the girl rise up in the air and screaming loudly.suddenly i woke up on my bed.... when i read your article.. i understand of all of it... tq.. so its a fake halucinating ghost... but i want to know if is there any solution to break up the sleep paralysis???
another SP story
He everyone. I've been experiencing this phenomenon for around the past 8 years. It's on and off. I'm 26 now. There were times in my early 20's when it was the worst and i would get it 5 nights a week and there have been periods, specifically between when I was 24 and now, where i have gone months to close to a year without ever experiencing an episode. It's June 2, 2011 as I'm writing this; 3:30 in the morning. You can probably guess why. For the past 4 hours i have been trying to fall asleep but this keeps happening. Probably around 7 times in the past 4 hrs. It also happened once this afternoon when I was waking up from a nap.
Still can be scary at times. Not quite as much as it used to be, but a little off-putting none the less. I have researched this condition for years and when I was a teenager I almost had my parents take me to see a specialist because I was so frightened. Nothing makes sense. I will be watching a movie on netflix on my computer or something and turn away from it to try to fall asleep but leave the volume on. Within a minute I won't be able to move, but I will still be able to hear and see the screen. Since this has been happening for so long I have gotten used to struggling to come out of it. I have found something that I feel works and I'll share it, but by no means am I saying it will work for you.
When this first started happening I would panic and struggle against myself and in the end i would "wake up," if you can even call it that since I was already awake gasping for breath and in complete fear. As it continued my fear subsided a bit but I would still have to struggle to come out of it. Obviously if you believe in God or what-have-you praying helps to stay calm. Recently I have been trying to experience just how paralyzed I am and I found that I can't control anything (with great, great effort I can sometimes move my hand or arm a few centimeters, but really it isn't even worth it because it is so frustrating and painful) except my breathing (to an extent). I say to an extent because obviously the not being able to breath is exactly what makes this so frightening. However, lately I've found that while I can not expand my chest and lungs like I normally do when I breath when I'm fully awake and can only take in the most minimal amount of air, i can still breath if I try to expand below my chest in my abdomen region. I don't know if it's actually doing anything, I just know that it feels like I can breath at least better, and usually after I take a few "breaths" that way my chest loosens up and I wake up. This has just worked for me and I was wondering if anyone has had any luck controlling this with any other techniques.
I have had a few OBE's while in this state which is frightening/awesome at the same time. I'm a big believer in God, (not like wacko religious, but I believe in God) and while I from time to time experience the voices, dark figures, stuff like that while in SP I don't really contribute it to something necessarily other-worldly. However, I can say with certainty, and I'mm sure many will find this to be true, that I'm not satisfied with any of the scientific explanations out there. They just can't explain everything I've experienced.
The reason i'm saying this is because if anyone has found a way to come out of this with ease then I want to know. if there were a way to stay in SP and explore the space it would be awesome. Right now I can't really do it because whenever i'm in it I feel like if I don't force myself to breathe and wake up I am going to die.
Anyways, this is a great site and I'm really glad I found it. Hope to read other's experience in the future and maybe learn more. If anyone has had any profound out of body experiences while experiencing sleep paralysis please post.
Aaron
Dont Panic !!!
Sleep paralysis can be causes by quite a lot of factor. It might be a symptom of narcolepsy as I sated above or as a result of the shortage of proper sleep. You may also experience sleep paralysis when you change your sleeping schedule. First year students are the ones falling in this group. When they move to the colleges or universities, their sleeping schedules usually change result in sleep paralysis.
Another possible cause of sleep paralysis is stress. When you have a lot of stress, sleep paralysis can happen quite often. Some people have sleep paralysis when they sleep alone but don’t have when there is someone sleeps with them. Why so? The reason is originally this person has the fear of sleeping alone (or fear of ghost). Sleeping alone causes him/her a lot of stress so he/she can easily suffer from sleep paralysis. When there is someone sleeps with this person, the fear is no longer the case so the possibility of sleep paralysis is almost eliminated. If you fall into this group, having a roommate will be a great help.
There are some medication can cause sleep paralysis too. If you are using medications to treat other health problem, check out with your doctor for the possible side effects.
SP
Hello, how are you ? I'm a 27 year old male from Ottawa Ontario and last night I experienced SP. I usally go to bed around midnight. Last night I went to bed at 10:30pm and I couldn't fall asleep right away so I decided to play with the iphone... Anyhow, around 11:30-midnight I putted the iphone away and tried to fall asleep and next thing I knew around 1 am I felt like my head was moving up and down and then I tried to move my body but I just couldn't move it, then I'm assuming I started to panic and tried talking but I felt helpless it seemed like no sound was coming out of my mouth, so I tried to scream to my girlfriend who was sleeping beside me, I tried to move my arms or legs to wake my girlfriend up, but couldnt!! Maybe couple of minutes later I started to gain back control of my body and was then able to move and speak, and then woke my girlfriend up for some comfort... I usally dont get scared, but to be honest I kinda did last night...
Everything happened so fast, and like I said, I knew I was awake, I was able to think, I was able to try to move my body or speak or scream... I can't remember if my eyes were open or not but over all I know I was consious. I'm just happy I was able to read on this subject and read other people comments, experiences...
=)
Sleep Paralysis
Finding out about this was a Godsend. When I was a child I would get this most nights and when I did my room would fill up with old dead people. Yeah fun for a kid. I still do get it but normally when sleeping somewhere out of the ordinary ie couch or reclyner. Now I don't get scared I get pissed..lol. I have came out of it struggling so hard to move I end up punching something.
with me its diff
It just happened to me an hour ago, I fell asleep but my eyes were open I was watching a show while I was sleeping and I could see out of my left eye just my right eye. I was completely paralyzed but forced myself to come out of it. I wasnt scared but thought it was just very strange. It has happened to me before in the past probably 10 times my whole life and Im 31.
Very frightening
I just had an episode of sp twice lastnight, i've had sp for about a couple years now. Its really terrifying and I wish it would stop, the first time I experienced it was the worst one ever. Me and my husband just went to bed and I felt like I woke up but I felt a little bit elevated and moving towards my closet, I tried to scream my husbands name but I nothing was coming out and tried moving but could not move. But I eventually woke myself up to the real world and quickly hugged my husband and told him what just happend. He told me he heard me trying to say his name and he too was pretty creeped out. I asked him why he did not wake me and he said he knew I was just dreaming. Now when I experience sp I see shadows moving and it just freaks me out. I am so glad that I found this website and glad that I am not the only one.
not sure what's going on
I have had these episodes where I am completely awake and all of a sudden I start spacing off but I can't move or speak. I can hear what is going on in the background and remember it happening, but I can't do anything about it. Last night it got REALLY bad. I was laying on the bed talking to my fiance and I started having an episode, he wasn't concerned at first but I didn't budge. He tried lightly shaking me, rubbing my arms, moving his hand in front of my face and all sorts of things to get me to snap out of it and nothing worked. I can remember thinking to myself that I can't speak and I can't move and then all I could do was just concentrate on breathing, to make sure I could continue to do that. I think I was in that state for several minutes and I just came out of it. I had several more before we went to bed, so many that he stayed home from work today to make sure I was ok. I haven't had any bad ones since then, but still spacey and wore out. I have been trying to find something online that would have the symptoms like what I have been experiencing, and this is the closest I have found except I wasn't asleep prior to this. Any ideas? I can't go to the doctor thanks to no insurance.
RE: not sure whats going on
Well I'm not sure if I have to right to even say anything, but I'm learning about SP right now, and I don't think u HAVE to be asleep... its happened to me 3 times in the past week and I've never had it before, it always happens when I'm really tired and getting ready for bed, so all that stuff about comming out of your REM cycle, may not apply to us?? I don't know just tryin to be helpful, but if u find out why it happens while were still awake, plz let me know! Hope u find what ur looking for...oh I do know its brought on by stress and or not getting enough sleep or changing ur sleep cycle..
Mine was different from the rest of the stories
So I'm just wondering if someone has spiritual beliefs or maybe a diagnosise related to my story.
(im a 15 year old girl now and at the time i was 14)So I woke up one afternoon after taking a nap. I just had a fight with my mother and decided to sleep all the anger off. After reading all these stories of sp I guess I have it to but I don't see any "evil presences" I usually just try hard to move again . Anyway I was sleeping then I suddenly woke up my breathing was Very Unusual. It hurt and I tried to control it then I decided to get up and go for help but I was unable to move. I was panicking because I thought great I'm gonna die right after fighting with my mom then I suddenly felt I was being dragged away. Not my body but "my other body" or "spirit" it was frightening. I was trying hard to fight off the dragging an get back into my body . Then I was completely away from my body I watched as my body jumped (like lying down on a trampoline as someone else jumps)and struggled for life.my arms were jerking around and was astonished of what was happening. I knew I wasn't asleep but I knew I wasn't awake either,there's a difference. Suddenly i overcame the dragging and went back to my body and got up Right away with a big gasp of air I cried .i am half native from the area of British Columbia and a quarter Chilean and a quarter Mapuche . If someone could help please do or if you've had the same experience.
I have it to
I'm a 16 year old girl and I'm from Europe. I've been having SP episodes for about two years and they happen every 3 months or so. The first one i had was right after i saw the Paranormal Activity movie and it was really scary because I saw something grab my ancle (just like in the movie)and pull me of my bed and down the stairs (I have a sort of bunk bed with stairs)and I felt like I was falling down the stairs but i couldn't scream or move and I thought I was going to die. Then one other time the 'thing' pulled me off my bed and was already pulling me through the door of our apartment when I finally pulled out of it's grasp and fell on on the floor and I imediately woke up in my bed lying in the same position as on the floor in my 'dreams'. This episodes are really scary and alwas dark and full of shadows and I always hear and feel some sort of buzzing that only gets worse if I try to just let go to the dream. And the pulling is so scary because I'm so afraid that once I'm going to get pulled to a place where I can't come back from. I really wish that this is not connected with evil spirits and is completely scientific (i don't beleive in God and I am sort of sceptic about spirits and stuff like that), but the felling in those episodes just feels like this cannot be just my brain. So to whake it really helps me to be aware of what is going on and not panic, than i try to move my fingers and open my eyes and slowly I wake up (and than I get my pllow and blanket and run into my mum's bed because I'm just so terryfied) It works almost every time, you just have to concentrate really hard on trying to move. Also I daydream a lot and sometimes I do it because I can't sleep and when I finally fall asleep I'm sort of half lucid dreaming and I think that sometimes my brain throws me into SP because I try to consciously change my dream. So I hope my experience helped you because I'm just so happy I'm not the only one with this scary problem.
!
This happened to me just lastnite. It was soo weird I'm half native . it felt like I was fighting for my soul.
sp
I have had similar experiences. Get a dog, because everytime that happened to me I had my k9 lay next to me and I slept just fine. That's what I'm doing tonight cause it just happened again.
I've experienced this twice...
It starts with a nightmare... i fell asleep at 6am, i dreamed about a mud and a tsunami,, I can't scape .. then i suddenly woke up.. but my eyes are only responsive... my hands, and the other parts of my bodies are paralyze... I cant speak at all..
Is this fatal?
someone dies because of this,, in my place...
I have had this too
many time i have woken up to my body in this way too but i feel that it is bad like some one is trying to push you out and I had to fight for my breath and freedom.
me 2
like 2 hr ago i had it so i looked around a lil and cant move my hands were not movin.i wasnt scared but i just waited so i woke up and my eyes were tired lay back on the couch and left one eye open and watch tv so with one eye open i had than sleep parl.woke back again and somehow i went layin down on the couch goin back to sleep i felt my body all numb...when you open your eyes it like twitches or something so if any1 is having dis...
at 16
I'm 17 years old actually i only got these in the house i lived in last year. The first time i got it i just opened my eyes looked over at my little sister [who i shared a room with]and there was a dark hand reaching for her. i tried to get up i tried to scream out for my mom i tried everything and i just woke up on the morning not remembering falling asleep. From then on i kept my tv on but when it happened my tv would be on. Anyways i would sometimes wake up completely backwards on my bed . i had this little desk with a mirror and i would always hear it moving like crazy i couldn't look at it though. I actually never said anything because i knew nobody would believe me. The last time i got this i just woke up and there was a red lazer pointing at me and a high pitch beep that just increased in sound i don't even know how ... i mean it would've woke everyone up if it was real... anyways i think it probably reached it's loudest point then i fell asleep. It's the most helpless feeling. Fortunately after we moved i haven't had this at all but i developed severe anxiety my hands are constantly shaking, it's horrible. I really hope it stops for every one of you..
every singal day
first iam 19 just less then 2 min i had a sp it just keep happing and happing only if thier was a way like as soon as i close my eyes boom in sp and iam the only one living in ma house like every time and when i do wake up i be awake but like cant move i still see everything i cant breath and even cant open my eyes its like something is holding my eyes shut all iam saying IAM SCARED AND HOW DO U FIX THIS PLZ IF U HAVE ANSWER
I get this and now my 14 year
I get this and now my 14 year old daughter does too. She gets the voices while falling asleep. Everyone on here should do a search on Narcolepsy. My daughter is going to get a sleep study done to get a diagnosis.
something that helps.
I'm not sure if it's 'legit' but what has helped me before is to stay calm and breathe deep for what would feel like a few seconds. That's happened to me before and the first thing i did was panic, which is normal because it's a weird and scary feeling haha. but just remind yourself that you're still asleep and your body is stuck in that dream state where it's not supposed to move. like if you're having a dream about running, your body is most likely not to do the same, sometimes it does but that's like sleepwalking or sleeprunning or sleepjogging, whatever you prefer, or night terrors and stuff which is not too preferable but that also happens. IF ANYTHING, it's like waking up too early from a dream. your mind is awake but your body is still knocked out. it's not some demon or anything, its just bodies acting weird. Just don't be scared and stay calm, it'll go away. hope that helps.
Night Tremors
Thankyou for the information on how to act during these episodes.I have dealt with them all my life and I am 38.I had the worst one yet last night. I will try to remember to stay calm and hopefully my body will awake its self.
something that helps.
I'm not sure if it's 'legit' but what has helped me before is to stay calm and breathe deep for what would feel like a few seconds. That's happened to me before and the first thing i did was panic, which is normal because it's a weird and scary feeling haha. but just remind yourself that you're still asleep and your body is stuck in that dream state where it's not supposed to move. like if you're having a dream about running, your body is most likely not to do the same, sometimes it does but that's like sleepwalking or sleeprunning or sleepjogging, whatever you prefer, or night terrors and stuff which is not too preferable but that also happens. IF ANYTHING, it's like waking up too early from a dream. your mind is awake but your body is still knocked out. it's not some demon or anything, its just bodies acting weird. Just don't be scared and stay calm, it'll go away. hope that helps.
spirits trapped in a haunted room
One night i was sleeping with my hands across my chest.I started to awake it was between 3-4am.as my eyes slowly strated opening i tried to move my hands it felt like someone was holding me down and covering my mouth but there was no one there.i pushed really hard and yelled ''get off of me'' and then that feeling was gone.at the time i was in the atlantic county jail in there medical ward and later on i found out that a young female killed herself in that same room by hanging herself from the vent.what do you think that feeling was that i felt coming out of my sleep? If anyone know please feel free to give me your opinons on my experience.
whats the truth
im vicky im 19 and have experienced sp a good few times wat is the truth about wat it really is when it happens to me i dont feel or see any evil but my eyes are wide open and i cannot move but then i must just fall back to sleep as i cannot remeber anything else i have messes about with weegee board and if this has something to do with it what can i do to get rid of it
This thing is Scary
well guys this started to happen for me since i start sleeping abnormal before 6-7 years
it happens from time to time but always it is scary (a lot)
and i am a guy 23 years old
it always has to do with daemons and stuff which are always try to hard me
today at afternoon i felt tired and i slept for 3 hours (by the way i sleep only once in 24 hours so i will sleep late now)
when i try to wake up i paralyzed but just this. no bad presence - (at least i didn't feel it).
why do we always watching bad things? it couldn't be something good?
maybe it exist something beyond our knowledge
the worst thing that i am doing is that i am watching porn
does anyone knows if this thing in connected with any other neurological diseases ?
for sure this happens for a reason
regards
I want to experience this!
I don't dream or if I do I can't remember anything at all. I want to experience a dream even if it is a nightmare. How can I iniciate sleep paralysis?
Fun...
Actually, if you can control your thoughts and maintain you calm, Sleep paralysis is fun. Just make sure confine your thoughts in a manner as if you were to climb a rope, and you'll see that its actually a step towards having an Out of body experience. (which is fuuunnn)
Hell no!
You don't want this to happen to you; Trust me it just happen to me this morning. I don't want to sleep alone tonight! You fall asleep, you open your eyes but you can't move or talk. You get an eerie feeling, it's like you see your room and surroundings but your not in the "real world". It looks hazy-like. You hear strange things, spirits touch you. Some people have outer body experiences (astral projection). I hope I never get to that. I always fight my way out of it by trying to move my limbs and praying. I got up this morning in tears and goose bumps.
noooooo
Trust me, you DO NOT want to experience this...its beyond "scientific studies" its evilness. And it scare the shit out of you. This has happened to me off and on ever since I can remember. It hasn't happened to me in a few years. But it happened last night.... now ok to scared to sleep. Why is it that we always see evil things never happy? Why are we all " hallucinating" the same things? Please I just want it to never happen again....