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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
its an out of body experience
its an out of body experience lol. so don't panic. to wake up just shake ur head from left 2 right as fast as you can until you wake up. try 2 master it!
When I first started to
When I first started to experience them at young age I had it every day any moment I wanted to sleep because I too fought sleep to the point I became so depressed I felt like I wanted to hurt myself and though I was not into having a full relashionship with God yet I prayed and asked him to help me and when I opened the bible I was taken directly to psalm 91. I've been having them less frequently but the feeling is still the same as the first. all I know I struggle to get up and try to force myself to wake up though I feel like im going to have a heart attack. When I pray in jesus name is when I easily awake. I can give graphic details. I can make stephen king books feel less scary comparing them to my dreams.
I wouldn't let it scare you
I wouldn't let it scare you to much, although i've only had it a few times and not as badly as you. Its not something that can physically hurt you and nothing super natural, i usually get it when im really tired and have had a lack of sleep the night before. Your not going crazy your just unfortunate enough to have this dissorder, there are a lot worse things to be suffering from the more stressed you get about the condition the more problems you are likely to have sleeping and the more anxious you are about the episodes being frightening, your brain will likely be a bastard and present you with horrible experiences. From what i can work out is that because your physically paralysed the brain is forced to thing of frightening things while in this state cause your already in terror... If that makes you feel any better?
Or if that makes any sense... so yeah just... Chill...
my dream
I have had these paralyzing dreams for about 3 years now. Everytime i have the dream i can see my husband lying next to me and i cant talk or move and i have a black shadow who puts its hands around my throat and chokes me, it has also started pulling me off my bed when i am in that state,when i awake the shadow is still there and goes to the ceiling and disappers. This cannot be sceintific
my sister has the same experience as u
i had replied to an earlier post because me and my 3 sisters have this frozen body experience and my one sister who is the only one that had this black shadow of a man give her an ugly feel and she was frozen like a sleep but awaken by the presence of something and her having to see this man or shadow....It's not scientific, i know it isn't after reading a lot of the people that have these experiences.
NOT SCIENTIFIC
this is not scientific at all trust me
Spiritism
I have SP episodes since 2006...
Cience explains much about 'sleep disorder'. But not about how people around the world have almost the same weird symptoms of seeing dark figures felling floating sensations and else.
For me Spiritism explains it much better than everything else.
I hope to help everyone with my message.
Wish you all clarification, light, and logic on our duties.
By a brazilian friend.
It happened to me
I was having a very weird dream that my friend got punched in the face by some gangsters, then my other friend was like ignore them and they won't do anything to the, then I found my self talking to myself saying yeah he would say that in real life I then realized that I was in a dream and normally when that happens I decide to wake up, so I tried to wake up but my eyes were so heavy then I screamed dad and it felt like my mouth opened and I screamed dad but it was only a whisper, but I think that was a hallucination and there was actually no sound, then I had a great sense of bodily awareness in still couldn't move but I knew that I was here and I was awake I could feel every part of my body touching the bed, then I said to myself on the count of three I'm going to jerk I did the countdown and attempted to jerk I felt no movement but was then suddenly awake and my eyes managed pick my eyelids open, I reckon I must have jerked something which caused me to wake up but I'm not sure it could have been something like a finger but I'm not sure. This also happens to my mum and aunt and my mum is able to move her foot and wake up and my aunt can shake her whole leg, I couldn't find anything as I believe all this happened in about 6 or 7 seconds. I'm 16 and would like to no if there's anything which can be done to stop this from occurring.
I have this almost every day
It's funny how this article says people only go through this once or twice in their life, when I go through this at least twice a week. It wasn't always like this. However, ever since I was small I always had it. It honestly pisses me off simply because I do not understand it. When I was small, I slept walked a lot, and a couple times I would have sleep paralysis, and out of nowhere i would have the out of body experience. Now the only thing I have is sleep paralysis. and I feel like it gets worse as I grow. before it only lasted a while and I could easily wake up (i tell myself to wiggle my toes and fingers. it works) and then I swing up in my bed. Now it's hard to do that. Now if i want to wake up i try with screaming and opening my mouth. I do feel pressure on my chest, stomach, or head at times. and sometimes i hear the ringing and buzzing. other times my body starts to tingle A LOT. whenever i have these, i automatically think of bad things like ghosts and stuff and danger. but maybe if i saw this as a good thing and embraced it might me different. I'll try it out and post my results soon.
I know how it feels
Im 15 years old and ive experienced this about 2 or 3 times. I believe in God and the devil and not everything that man tries to provide a reasonable explanation for, but thats my opinion. Like a lot of others who have posted here, my experience is very similar. That feeling of helplessness and fear and not being able to move. What works for me is simply praying in my mind since im not able to talk, it always goes away. Its scary and feels soooo real I KNOW! But dont be so scared atleast thats what im working on. Remember, you have the power through Jesus Christ (for all you believers.) :)
Frequent
Okay, sleep paralysis happens to me quite frequently. I've never really understood what it was, but lately it's been happening a lot so I decided to research. It happens to my dad and sister sometimes too, so I was happy to read it could be hereditary.
So, it usually happens when I take a nap and I don't know why, but it is the scariest feeling in the world. I'll be laying there, wake up, but my body just won't move. I'll try with all my might to move my arms and get up but I just can't. I panic and I can't breathe and I feel like I'm never going to be able to move again.
I hallucinate every time. One time I thought someone was tickling my face with their hair. And I remember thinking "why aren't they helping me?" And I always hear people walking around the room. Last time it happened, I hallucinated that my dog was gnawing on my hand but I couldn't move to do anything about it. I always try and scream for help, but no sound comes out. Last time it happened though, I managed to make some sounds. My dad and sister didn't know what was going on and thought it was funny and I could hear them laughing. I got pretty mad at them when I finally jerked awake.
But I really hate when this happens and I wish it would stop.
I think i experienced sleep
I think i experienced sleep paralysis last night. I thought i was dreaming but at the same time i wasn't. I could hear my dog barking. and i was laying exactly how i was in this so called dream but was hearing demonic noises. and it freaked me out really bad. Im hoping it was just a dream and not this cuase honestly i dont think i could go back to sleep after that. I cant explain how real it was. It terrified me.
Not a Dream
I'm 16 and about three months ago, I fell asleep on the couch after school and woke up at around 8. I knew that I was awake because i could hear the tv playing and my dad flipping channels (the remote makes a beeping noise whenever you press a button). I could feel my face pressed against the scratchy pillow that my mom insists on keeping there because it looks good. Also, I could hear her and my brothers in the computer room. I decided to get up and i realized that I couldn't move anything! I tried to call out for help, but my mouth wouldn't open and I started to panic because my breathing was shallow. I immediately thought that I had become paralyzed. I wanted to cry, but I couldn't. I didn't have much time to think about anything else, because apparently i had woken up. I remembered the intense feeling of fear, but i just brushed it off as a dream. I didn't tell anyone. Then I heard about Sleep Paralysis and I recalled the "dream", so I researched it. Now I'm not sure if I feel relieved because I know what really happened, or afraid because it might happen again. I'm also afraid that if I experience this in the future it will be a horror story like so many people have experienced on this site. I don't believe in ghosts, angels, demons, or God, so maybe that's the reason why i didn't have any terrifying visions the first time?
I have had this experience
I have had this experience twice, once about 4 years ago and it happened again last night.
I am 33 years old, my mum treated us to a shopping trip and a night away in a hotel. When it was time to go to sleep I left the lamp on (I'm used to sleeping with a lamp on because of my children) I don't know what time it was or how long i'd been sleeping, but i woke up and immediately felt a presence behind me (i was asleep on my side) I tried to move but was totally paralysed. I looked around the hotel room (my eyes were the only part of me that i could move) and i could see everything in the hotel room as it was. My mum was sleeping next to me with her back to me, i tried calling her but was unable to speak, I dinstinctly remember trying to move my leg and i couldn't. I felt as though a force was paralysing me. My leg was bare, the quilt was off it and i was petrified that this thing i sensed would touch me, all i wanted to do was crawl and hide under the duvet and i prayed it went away. I remember saying a little prayer to myself (i think i said my guardian angel prayer) that this would go away and then in like a very slow-motion i was able to move again. I fell back to sleep again and that was that.
My first incident was exactly the same, i was asleep on my side, the light on the landing was on and i awoke to feel a presense standing in my doorway. I was papalysed in exactly the same manner. I felt the same frightened feeling too.
Up until last night this incident had never really bothered me because i put it down to the fact that i must had been dreaming, but after last night's occurence i am sure i wasn't dreaming, as i was asleep in a hotel and not familiar with the room, but yet i was able to look around and identify everything that was within it.
I told my husband when i returned today and he just said my mind was ready to waken however my body wasn't??? I don't think this was the case. I certainly don't hope i don't have anymore of these episodes, it's strange that i have had 2 approx. 4 years apart. I normally have a good sleep routine, althought it is broken with the kids wakening up, but i never have a problem getting to sleep and i'm not stressed out at the moment or anything. Any sugggestions would be appreciated x
White & Black Figures
Ghosts are white, evil spirits & the grim reaper are black. We see them in movies. I had these 6 or 7x's. They are frightening. 1st time I was choked by a white figure telling me to stop having sex, 2nd time a black figure standing next to my boyfriend (now ex) at that time, 3rd time I saw a spider on my leg and I became possessed. I tried to go to my mom, who in real life suffers from bi-polar depression. Last 2 times I woke up feeling like I was raped by either my mom or father, and my heart was beating out of my chest. They all occurred at a time I was confused, paranoid, judged, betrayed, criticized, depressed, emotionally and mentally abused by my parents and authority figures, sexually active, scared, angry, stressed, and lonely. If they are indeed evil spirits, having negative emotions like that will allow them to enter your dreams. Also, I was pregnant and lost the baby after the 1st one so I believe, what happened along with my mental state prompted these dreams. What plays a big part is sex cuz this was my first sexual relationship.
I found this to be very
I found this to be very interesting as I have had strange feelings just before waking up, which couldn't be explained by any other reason. I found reading this explained what was going on and I could relate to some of the things that were going on, as I couldn't understand why it was happening.
interesting
I am a 24 yr old male, i have experince sleep paralysis i think 3 times in my entire life time. My latest one was last night. I was half awake, couldnt really open my eyes and so my vision was just a blur. I tried extremely hard to sit up but i just couldnt. i think i was able to move my left arm up and over my chest. yes i did. I also felt like something was trying to get inside me, but now that i think about it maybe it was my nervous system or something, going pretty crazy.
I dont remember when it ended or how, but i did wake up and it was 3:45 AM. i went out to the livingroom and lol my mom was still up trying to organize things.
Oh i forgot to mention during the episode i had tried to speak. I swear i gave it all ive got and it sounded like i was yelling but apprently not, since my mother was practically right outside of my room.
Anyway, i woke up this morning determined to find some answers n wallah, sleep paralysis. Funny thing is, this is a new apartment. well my family had it over 4 years but i had just moved back in last month. for a whole month i was sleeping in the livingroom on the sofa until we changed one of the rooms to my room. and last night was the first night i slept there. and now that i think about it, my other episode had happened also at an unfamilair enviorment. but my first ever SP happened in my own home, own room, i think i was around 12.
I have this every few months.
I have this every few months. The latest was after a day out at a fun park. My adrenaline was pretty high from the rides but I was exhausted so came home and had an afternoon nap. What I felt initially this day was something sit to my right hand side on the bed. I knew it wasn't my dog cause I could feel her lying to my left. I instantly knew what was about to happen. Although they are scary I now immediately try to wake myself up by trying to scream and banging the wooden bed head. It feels like you're not asleep when it starts because you can see around you. It doesn't feel like something sitting on me, more like a strong evil force around me.
This Morning (SP First Timer)
First of all, I have to thank everyone for sharing their stories. They have been very reassuring to me. I had my very first episode of SP this morning. I have to say it was pretty crazy. First I think I should describe who I am to give you a better idea of how I rationalized it while it was happening. I am in the Army going on eleven years now. I have deployed to Iraq twice, been in firefights, blown up, lost friends and fellow soldiers to acts of violence. I have been hit with shrapnel to my face and legs from a mortar round and an IED. What I am trying to say is that I have been through quite a lot and seen some horrific crap. Throughout these situations I never felt powerless, my muscle memory always kicked in, and I would remember my training and immediately react to the situation at hand. This morning was totally different from anything I have ever been through. I am currently attending some training in Fort Lee, VA. I am staying in a hotel off the local economy. I woke up this morning around 4 a.m. to go for a run, but the weather wasn’t cooperating. So I came back in to my room and locked the door, and pulled that metal catch bar shut to prevent the door from being open. Then I decided to take a little powernap before I had to be in class. I had just lain down, and then I suddenly started hearing footsteps at the far end of the hotel room. I told myself that is impossible; if someone had broken in, they would have had to break through the door due to the metal catch bar and the deadbolt. (That would have made a very distinctive sound) As I was writing that off in my head the footsteps suddenly came quickly in my direction towards the bed and a “presence” jumped on my back. I felt hands on the back of my head pushing my face into the pillow. In my mind my “macho testosterone driven ego” said loudly, “you broke into the wrong hotel room this time buddy”. I tried to push myself up and nothing happened, my arms felt dead and motionless. I was struggling with this guy, I could feel him shift his weight, I could feel his legs wrapped around my hips, I could feel his grip tighten around my head, but there was nothing I could do. I was powerless and at his mercy. This went on for several seconds but felt like an eternity. I was ready to cash it in, I was going to be smothered, that is how it was going to end, it was only then that my strength finally came back; I pushed myself with a quick jerk, up and off the bed. I felt my attacker slide off my back and get thrown to the ground. Then I spun around to face him a give him a beating he would not soon forget. But there was no one there. The room was empty. This shook me up pretty bad, I was puzzled. What the heck had just happened? Was I just assaulted by a ghost? Then I looked at the time, it had been a couple of hours since I had initially lain down. In my head I had just laid down maybe a minute ago, and was still trying to fall asleep. That’s what prompted me to look up this type of phenomenon. I have to say I had no idea that this type of craziness was even out there. Thanks to this website, I have some answers.
I have had Sleep Paralysis
I have had Sleep Paralysis off and on for many years. I know when it is going to happen, because I get a ringing or buzzing sound in my ears. When I hear the ringing sound, I try my best to wake up. Sometimes I can wake up, but other times, I can't wake up and the nightmares start to happen. I usually will have a nightmare which last a few minutes and then I will wake up. Then when I fall back to sleep, I will have another nightmare. I call it,"The Night of a Thousand Nightmares," because it seems like I have hundreds of nightmares before I get tired of having nightmares and I finally get up. Many times, I try to wake up, but I can't move. It is like I am paralized. I can't move or speak. Every once in a while, I get enough strength to open my mouth and "cast out the demons in the name of the Almighty God." It is very frustrating at times, but what can you do? I don't know of any medicine or any other ways of stopping the nightmares. If anyone has a cure for this, please let me know. Thanks.
i'am experiencing the same
i'am experiencing the same thing. this is scaring me. have you found something to get rid off this SP.
its not a big problem anymore
I have this problem from my around 7th grade. it become very serious and scary problem when i was 17,18. now i am 32, i still have it often, but i am not as afraid as i use to, i know clearly it is not because of any devil or ghost.
In my teens i discovered a temporary solution to prevent it in scary lonely nights,
If i sleep with my leg folded(up direction), i never had sleep paralysis.
The reason I believe is i am in semi awake state all night to balance my leg not to unfold.
If anyone doing research on sleep paralysis, and need a volunteer for research purpose (gmail at prakis).
Krishna
lucid dream and sleep paralysis
hi im 21 and have been a lucid dreamer since i can remember, i just didn't realise it, i thought everyonr dreamt like it, i probably have a lucid dream,where i can decide what is i do, or where i go in my dream, about once a month.
which i dnt mind its fun and as long as i dont think of anything nasty, its quite fun. i like the floating dreams too i had one two days ago.
but the problem, is with im conscience of my body being paralysis,(most recently last night) i cant seem to calm myself down when it happens. ill try and call out but of cause nothing comes out and try to move but cant, i don't see anything when this happens, just in inside of my eyelids,i try to open them, but never work. I think its because i cant see that scares me most.Like most the sensation of not being able to move, often manifests as, someone one being there holding me down, with me its always hands holding my arms holding me down.
only thing i dont understand is why the position you sleep in affects the sleep you have. its true once i wake and able to move, i am always facing the celing.
Im going to see if lying on left side, brings about a lucid dream, hopefully no nasties!
is it at all odd that...?
Is it odd for me if I say that in my experience, I was only ever "paralyzed" once, the other times I could "wake up" or while being half asleep open my eyes and look around? also this has happened 4 times for me, but each time it only happens in the morning in bright daylight where i can see everything around me. I figured it had to be something with my mind because, I NEVER had an eerie feeling, actually even when I would "feel" things like the bed move, or something brush over my face, I'd "wake up" and feel the same groggy feeling and able to brush off any slight creeped out feeling without any effort.
this latest time where i actually experienced the paralysis, my eyes were open and so i knew there wasn't anything there i just felt this heavy weight over my whole body, i couldn't talk and i didn't notice my breathing until i attempted to breathe in and yell, then i found i couldn't breathe. when i finally got out of it, i was just lazily laying in bed, i didn't feel weird at all until later when i would think about what happened.
the other times i had these dreams i wasn't paralyzed though, my breathing was fine, my eyes could open, i was just half asleep, and dreaming sounds.
This is something else!something evil!
Well I also had this happendend 2 me but the weird thing is that it happend 2 my boyfriend at the same time.so I know by fact this is not sleeping paraliysiom its something else and evil.
It's happened to me
Hiya Stephanie and Victor, I wanted to let you know that me and my boyfriend both suffer from sleep paralysis. I have been having it quite a lot in the past two weeks. it usually happens in the first 10 minutes of trying to get to sleep, especially when I'm really tired. the presence I can feel in the room at the moment can be quite frightening, though I now that it's not really there and just my brain 'messing about'. I often feel things touching my face and leaning on me. sometimes the bed will shake violently and it wakes me up. the fear is really great at the time but I talk myself down in my head and tell myself to go back to sleep.
anyway, my boyfriend works nights and so we don't get to sleep at the same time. he will have it at different times, but once we had it at the same time. i think that was sometime 2 years ago. it didn't worry me as I don't believe there's anything evil in the room. it's a strange sensation and it's frightening but because I know what it is and I can feeling it coming on, I can try and control the outcome. sometimes when I wake up, I can see a black form of a person stood watching me, but when I continue to stare at it, it disappears.
I hope you're experiences don't trouble you and your boyfriend too much.
Jemma
It seems to be evil, because
It seems to be evil, because all I ever have is nightmares when it happens to me.
Same thing
So i have been having the same thing... the same experiences since i was 14 or 15 not every night but some nights i have. I done think in any way, shape or form find this cool that i experience this. Its a very scary experience that i hate when it happens. I find it interesting tho that im not the only one that experience this. What is it? Thats what i want to know , but the most important question is how do you stop it? I suffer from anxiety severe and i have many panic attacks, do u think this is a cause of it? i dont know i had one this morning and for the first time i researched this and came across this website. I'm scared, im just going to pray to god and i know he will help me... TO all the people that read this blog, i suggest the same... if you cant find the answer on how to stop this than pray to god, even if you dont believe in god, give him a chance, seriously, i find the he will soon give me the answer to everything. Until than i hope there is more research in this fieled of study...
It was great to finally come
It was great to finally come by this site, A buddy asked me at work what was the strangest thing to ever happen. I told him about the time I was laying in bed. I was awake but couldn't move. I heard low mumbling and I was really hot, sweating a lot. At one time I remember hearing like i was going over railroad tracks. He had stated that just recently he had the same issue of being awake but not moving. I haven't had this problem in years but it has happened well over 15+ times. I finally have an explanation of what it is. Thank you for the article!
I've had the same problem for
I've had the same problem for almost 2 years now... I usually experiance sleep paralysis when i take a nap in the afternoon, or in the morning on weekends when i can sleep longer, not so much during the week, becouse then i usually wake up as my cell rings. Anyways, it used to be frightening, but i got "used to it" cause i have to deal with it on a weekly basis. Its still really uncomfortable tough, and i wonder if there is a treatment for it. Anybody has any idea?
okay well im 13 years old and
okay well im 13 years old and i have this dream almost every night. i dont really tell anyone becuase it scares me a lot. and i've only told one person and thats my grandma. she said she used to have these dreams a lot too. So yeah.
THE DREAM: when i go to sleep i dont really think im asleep because it feels so real. ill be laying on my bed with my arms to my side (sometimes over my head) and my legs spread apart, and it will feel like something evil is pushing my chest down hard like it doesnt want me to get up. i wont be able to move or talk but in my head ill be screaming for help but it wont come out my mouth. the only thing i can do is move my eyes but i dont ever want to because i think that if i open them their will be something in front of me and i dont want to see it. ill keep on trying to move and scream but i just cant so i tell myself to wake up. when i do wake up i usually wake up making a weird noise like i just been screaming non stop. after i wake up i usually dont go to sleep after that because i dont want to have the dream agan.
Another time i fell asleep on my couch and i couldnt move or talk. i started to float up and move towards the front door. when i got to the door it opend and i heard all these weird noises and then i woke up. after that i just went back to sleep and had the same exact dream.
These dreams really scare me and i dont want to tell my friends or family because im scared thell think im crazy. plus since i have these nightmares almost every night and i dont go back to sleep after, i only get about 3 hours of sleep each night. is there anyway to stop these dreams??
SP
well you are not crazy as you can see many people like you and me suffer from this, i think you should tell your family, i think if it happens try to just let it happen and it goes away .... good luck :)
Have these dreams in the morning..
I have these dreams too, they happen to me every couple of months. My grandma told me the same that she used to have them. In my dreams I hear things that aren't there like water running or a fan hitting a bag. Oddly enough I hear family members talking to me even though I know I'm alone. I learned to just ignore it at first, then it got worse. The last dream I had I was held down by a strong pressure, and same as you I tried my hardest to yell, only to have it come out only in my head. when I tried to breathe I found I couldn't. I'd like to believe that it is sleep Paralysis as this article suggests, however I don't hallucinate other than feeling the bed around me move. The other thing I'm not sure is normal from this article is that these "dreams" only ever happen to me in the morning. in broad daylight and my eyes are wide open. don't worry I never see anything besides the room around me.
Personally, I don't know if you are religious but I say a prayer every night, it doesn't hurt to try, and I haven't had a dream like that since. My grandmother told me that that was what she did, and she "fought it off" Don't worry, you're not the only one, and you aren't crazy :) if someone thinks you're crazy then I am too. A crazy 19 year old.
The other reason I'm slightly skeptical about the sleep paralysis for my situation is because, only once was I ever paralyzed. The other times I was able to move and look around, and "wake up" if necessary.
You just need to be more active! and better the sleeping cycle!
I used to hace such type of dream, but now not as often, now I have a part time job and so some work outs, I also take very long walks because I don't have a car :P
When I go to bed, and if I'm really tired, I love how get a deep non-dreams sleep.
I believe one experiences these Sleep Paralizys due to the lack of a good sleep, the lack of a good sleep is due to the lack of day activities.
Be more active, it'll solve it! I experienced a Sleep Paralizys 2 days ago, because I've been waking up as late as 11:00am or even later, which I later regret, for I later at night I get a hard time sleeping.
If you want to stop these routine. Just be more active, get really tired, and give it a good use to what sleeping is meant for.
Greetigs!!! :D
Trust me guy, im an active
Trust me guy, im an active hockey player and work out fanatic, my sisters are opposite and we all had this so called sleep paralysis, but we believe other words, its something else. Not sure but we are against the scientific explaination. For god sakes this happened to my sister when she was wide awake. But if the active, and getting real tired and getting into a special normal sleep routine is gonna fix it for you then cheers :)
OMG! ME TOO! Im also 13 and
OMG! ME TOO! Im also 13 and its freakin scary! Scroll down and you can read my story its labeled "scared to death". Ive told my mom and EVERYONE. no one seemed to believe me step for my sis.She said it also happens to her.Its part of life it may happen to you or it may not.Okay anyway the day after it happened to me i went online and came across this website i read everyone story and its just like mine. And ummm ive noticed that its not a DEMON or a DEVIL or anything.Its just your body.Its because your stressed or dont get enough sleep.It hasnt to me this WHOLE week. I usually sleep on my back and so do most of these people ALL you have to do is sleep on your sides. i prefer the RIGHT side.And it WONT happen to you i promise if i does email me @ . I can totally talk you.i no how you feel. =)
on your back????
after finding this site i checked some others for more opinions all about the it happens when you sleep on your back maybe usually but not always i usually dont sleep on my back but the first time i had an sp experience i was on my bback and when i started having them more often and more scary i was also pregnant i had to sleep on my back but today i clearly remember being on my left side something kept poking me really hard and mean in my right ear and it felt so exposed i forced my self to eventually wake up and turned to my right side
head trauma?pineal gland??hope this helps the research
iv been sufeering all the same symptoms on and off since i was 13 the more stories i read on hear of people just like me the more small connections im starting to make that i simply never thought of before on the scientific side i was hit in the head with a brick at about the same time i had my first episode the first one was just omg im paralyzed scary no evil presence but i thought i heard n felt my siblings walking around me i remember thinking im in the middle of the liv rm floor paralized n no ones concerned i hope they dont step on me
i didnt have one that i remember after that til i was almost 18 its the only episode i had where i saw someone and the only positive episode i had i was scared to wake up and see a lady peeking at me in my aunts heavily locked and secure apt but the prescence herself wasnt scary in fact she seemed a little worried about me she said my name then hid around the doorway peeking out like she wasnt sure if she wanted to see me iran after her and found nothing
after that i dont remember having them for a long time until a few years ago it was around the time i hit my head again pretty bad on the corner of the curb it left a huge knot
im not sure if i hit my head before or after the episodes came back but they have been preety frequent and way more intense the past few years i use to think i was being drugged in my sleep i could feel someone ine the room sometimes i hear stuff but mostly i just feel them getinh closer and closer and it takes all of my energy and what seems like an eternity to finally open my eyes and it hurts to open them once i actually got myself up and freaked my boyfriend out i felt someone next to mei knew our daughter was in in the room with us that night and i heard this nasty voice whisper directly in my ear"im in the room" i used all my will to jump up but all my boyfriend saw and heard was my actions in slow motion i half moaned half yelled something he couldnt make out as i slowly sat up blanket still over my head he said it lasted a long time and eventually woke up my daughterand my stepdad down stairs in the living room it really freaked them out and i didnt know what to say i was so embarrassed
today i had an episode that makes me wonder about a spiritual aspect to it i was wide awoke this afternoon on the phone with my sister i swore i heard someone snap thier finger directly in my right ear i looked saw nothing and ignored it it happend several more times during the phone call i told my self its an old noisy house after i got off the phone i thought id at least get a tiny nap in before my daughter woke up and my boyfriend got home again the coma feeling comes over me and i feel a presence so angry way by far te scariest presence iv felt since they started then i feel someone poking my ear really hard and really pissed off jus thinkinh bout it it took reading stories on here looking for a pattern that i noticed the patterns in my experiences was someone trying to get my attention it seemed pissed off really pissed off
then i started to think about the actual dreams i have theyv alwyas fascinated me because they were more like long clear detailed movies and sometimes i knew i was in them and could manipulate little bits of it but it would take all my concentration to do the smallest movement just like my sp episodes but less scary nd alot cooler italso made think of a paticular dream i had justlast year i woke up in this beutiful modern day rome and my mom and daughter was there and some guy whos not my boyfriend acting like he was i asked my mom whats goin on where am i and her face turned so mean and her tone was like damn why do you have to ask that why cant you just enjoy the beuty and happines her toned was like someone else using her body she said "a place to rest a time of travesty" i will never forget it long as i live the feeling i felt when she said that she tryed to walk awat with my daughter the phoney boyfriend knew the jig was up and simply wasnt there no more i caugt up to my mom took my daughter and walked to the end of the beutiful street before please dont let this ruin my theory i know its strange but anyway i got to the end of the st and this huge ufo sucks us up and i feel that same feeling as i do during sp but i woke up immedietly after that i dont know if somethings wrong with our brains or if we somehow damaged the parts normal ppl use and our brains are compensating by using the other parts most ppl dont useknida like being blind and hearing better if your still reading this and understand the point in the madness i read some ppl think the pineal gland is like our third eye r sixth sense is that possible i dont know who else to talk to about this please respond
Head Injury
I had a similar experience on this issue. I have injured my head in several occasions including in early child hood. I was knocked out, as I was hit in the back of the head of some object. I dont remember anything but waking up after few hours. I never got checked up or complained about pain. My first experience with sleeping paralysis occurred when I was actually awake. I had a high fever because of a cold, and started to hallucinate like all the walls were closing in on me. I couldn't move or breathe..and soon fell down and tried to ask for help. However, nothing came out. All I remember from that is waking up in my dad's hands. Long after that incident at around age 17-18 I have suffered another injury to the head. I was skiing down a hill and couldn't control myself and fell head first off a ramp into the snow. I was in shock for a few seconds, and then it stopped. I didn't feel any pain, so again I have ignored the incident. So one night I was sleeping and suddenly woke up to find myself completely paralyzed and in the middle of some great force strangling me. I felt physical hands around my neck chocking me to what seemed my fate. An evil laugh started and a heavy object/person was on my chest preventing me from breathing. I tried to yell or scream for help, but nothing prevailed. It had to be for a few seconds, but it seemed like it was happening for minutes or even hours. When I finally regained control of my mind and body, I saw a shadow or a dark presence escape my room. I don't believe in ghosts, and reading the symptoms of paralysis does not explain why when I regain my full control of the body i still see a physical presence getting away. I thought that I was possessed by some force. I quickly researched on this phenomenon and couldn't connect on why this scientific phenomenon can't answer why every experience is of an evil one. Through the years I tried to concentrate on controlling my dreams. The more I practiced the more control I possessed over my dreams. When I was around 20 years old I had to study for exams. I was very stressed and had this phenomenon happen to me every night. Even though I knew it was sleep paralysis I still felt and experience something paranormal. That state always ended with a large shadow figure escaping to the ceiling or opening and escaping through the door. One night when I had gained control I followed that presence down the hall into my parents room. I stood in the middle of their room and yelled some swear word. I realized it wasn't me yelling, but something possessing my body and making me yell. I saw my own body collapse in the middle of my parents bedroom...as I quickly regained control of my body. When I woke up I was back in my room, and I was too afraid to ask my parents if I slept walked into their room. I think this is the first time I ever told my story. I do not believe there is a scientific explanation about this phenomenon. Because, scientists cannot recreate the same symptoms and feelings since our technology is not that advanced. Simply, put we can not recreate the same dream or same experience as another person has had. This is because all of our dreams are based on who we are and how we have grown to be. Again, the only thing I haven't found an answer to, is why do we all experience an "Evil" presence, instead of a pleasant one?
Same
I realize that im dreaming and i can hear voices if someone is talking while im atsleep. Im not only paralyzed but i can come out of my body and move around and there is this presence of a small girl writing on a chalkboard. This happens very often, best advice is to try to move a thumb or make a small movement to wake up. next time just try to control it, its called lucid dreaming and can become an awsome experience.
lucid dreaming and sleep paralysis
With the exception of the small girl, I too start out with sleep paralysis in the morning while I'm between waking and sleeping..at first it scared me because in the sleep paralysis stage the first few times I felt like a cat (I have 2) was jumping on my bed and sometimes purring in my ear. I tried to wake up and pet him but when I finally managed to wake myself up there was no cat. I didn't get scared until it felt like a person was getting in bed with me, which totally freaked me out and I couldn't move and get away from that person. I even heard voices and vibrations. Then I read about sleep paralysis and it still happens to me quite often but now I understand what it is and I realize I'm asleep and that I can turn this into a lucid dream..so with a bit of effort (less each time) I can calm down the initial panic of the sleep paralysis and decide I want to fly (literally) somewhere and can glide through glass and over oceans..sometimes I see random crowds of people. I still hate the initial panic stage but at least I can turn it into something sort of fun now. Takes practice however.
My Experience
So, I was telling my girlfriend about this crazy experience I had when I was 13 (I'm 23 now) and I decided to look it up and this is where I ended up. It's kinda cool to read about these experiences and I thought I would share my sleep paralysis experience.
I was getting tired one afternoon and I decided I would lay down on the couch in my family's living room to take a nap. So I layed down on my side with my face facing out toward the room looking directly at a large entertainment center in front of the couch. Then pretty much out of nowhere (I hadn't even closed my eyes yet) the entire entertainment center burst into intense flames. Not some small fire that grew and progressed, no, instant, raging fire. Obviously I was pretty freaked out and at first because I thought it was real. So I tried to move but I couldn't.
That's when I thought about it for a second, wait, fires don't start like this, they grow out of something small, and there isn't any smoke. That's when I concluded that this must be some sort of weird dream I'm having here. Except the only part of me that seemed to be asleep was my body. So, wanting this weird/frightening experience to end, I started to try really hard to move my leg. After concentrating very hard on this task for about ten seconds I jerked my leg and in that instant the flames dissapeared as suddenly as they appeared and I was back to normal.
Now, I know I was not truly asleep. I never closed my eyes and I was concious of what was occuring to the point where I could conclude that what I was seeing wasn't real. But I was having a very vivid, visual dream/hallucination and my body was fully paralyzed. I only ever had this experience once and, although it was scary at the time, I can look back on it now and appreciate how amazing the human brain really is.
An AWESOME experience - my first!!
My first experience happened night before last. I've discussed it with some close friends and family members, almost all of who believe it was a Spiritual experience. Only a few believe there's a logical/scientific explanation for it. In trying to research the experience, I found this site. I don't know if it was a dream or if it was real, but it sure seemed as real as I'm sitting here in front of this keyboard now, documenting it all for the whole world to read.
We had some severe thunderstorms roll through the Central Florida area night before last, waking me up at 2:30 am. My dogs were scared, panting and pacing due to the severe thunder and lightning. I got up with them for a while, trying to keep them calm. Eventually, the storms died down, the dogs calmed down, and I was able to go back to sleep.
Around 4am, I was sound asleep, but seemed to be waking up inside my brain, because I was very aware that someone was touching my eyelids. My initial thought was that my husband (dangit) was trying to wake me up. (I was a little annoyed because my sleep had already been disturbed by the storms & the dogs). So I opened my eyes to see what he wanted.
But it wasn't my husband.
As I opened my eyes, I saw a man's hands pulling away from my face, and I saw him turn away to start walking away from my bedside. It was SO real - It was dark, but I could see the bookcase to the left of my bed and the curtains on my sliding glass door behind this man - and the total figure (nondescript because he was dark/shadowed) of a normal sized man walking away from my bedside. And I knew it was a man, just not in a human man's body - just a man's Spirit. I had no idea who it was, but I wasn't the least bit afraid, which is really the most bizarre part about it...to me, at least.
Keep in mind, this all happened in a matter of seconds.
So I was acutely aware of this "presence" in my room, which I could SEE with my own two eyes, and knew that it was NOT a normal thing (to see a Spirit). I had to quickly think about what to do.
I remembered being told as a child (around 6 yrs old) that whenever you're afraid, no matter how old you are, you seek protection from God. Then I remember being told to picture myself in Jesus's lap, and imagine his arms around me - and the song, "Jesus loves me, this I know...for the bible tells me so." Again, I was NOT afraid, just aware that what was taking place was of a Spiritual nature, so I had better utilize Spiritual protection. It was the only thing I could think of to do. And I do "not" practice religion...I'm the type that says prayers maybe once a year. I consider myself to be more of a Spiritual, rather than religious, person.
So I decided I had better use that advice I had been given 32 years ago, and I called out loud, "GOD!" But what actually came out of my mouth was, "GAAAAHHHH." And I immediately realized I was in sleep paralysis. (Oh crap, what do I do now???!!??).
Well, I got mad because I knew that either my brain had me paralyzed or I was paralyzed by something/someone that was out of my control. And I didn't like not being in control of my body.
Here's the really neat part about it all: As soon as I yelled out "GAAAAHHH," the man STOPPED, quickly turned to look at me and I AUDIBLY heard him (in his own moment of shock) say, "What?" (In all honesty, it could have been "Huh?" that he said). I can't remember if it was "what" or "huh" because I was in a moment of shock too because he acknowledged me. His reaction seemed to be like, "Oh crap, how does she know I'm here?"
If you can follow this, I was shocked that HE was shocked that I had been able to see, sense and hear him. We were both in a moment of shock.
So I forced my eyes open as wide as I could and I yelled "Jesus loves me!" (From the song). And with opening my eyes that wide, my eyes had fully focused on the room & my surroundings, and the man dissipated before my eyes.
The whole even happened in a matter of seconds. So I laid there in bed, just blinking, in amazement at what had just taken place, trying to rationalize it - was it a dream or was it real? I "know" that I just "saw" and "heard" a man's Spirit.....and actually interacted with him for a moment. A brief & shocking moment for us both, but again, not scary.
I reached out to touch my dog, who was curled up beside me and then thought, "It had to be a dream/hallucination because if it really "was" a Spirit, wouldn't my dogs have acknowledged another person's presence? But then again, maybe dogs are used to seeing Spirits. Maybe they "knew" this Spirit, so there was no need for them to react in any strange way. Who knows.
Regardless, it was a GREAT experience, one that has me in awe. And right now, I'm a little bit obsessed with trying to understand/research what actually took place. All I know is that I hope to experience it again. If it truly was a Spirit, it wasn't a scary Spirit! I want to interact and know more! Who wouldn't love to have proof that life actually exists beyond our physical body?!?
Im On 17 Years Old And Ill be
Im On 17 Years Old And Ill be 18 Feb 5 But i been experincing this for a very long time.please help me. i think something is out to get me..i dont know why i have this problem but i thanks u for showing me this
SP, not too scary
I had a SP experience once but it was not too scary. I was 13 back then but I remember it like yesterday because it was really vivid. I remember I wake up one morning and realized that I couldn't move at all, I couldn't move a muscle in my body. I thought to myself "Great, I have paralysis now" and started wondering how my life was gonna be from now on. A few minutes into that and then I started worrying if they were gonna bury me alive thinking I was dead. While I was pondering over this, I regained control of my body and thanked God for not giving me pralysis.
I didn't see any malicious figures or hear any strange noises but thats probably just because I am extremely logical and rational even in my subconscious, I guess.
SAME DEAL
WOW I JUST BUMBED INTO THIS WEBSITE JUST SURFING THE WEB. AND I GOT TO ADMIT IF HAD 3 ENCOUNTERS LIKE THIS. I HAVE FIRST FALLED INTO A DEEP SLEEP WELL ALL OF THEM. MY FIRST ONE WAS WERE I SEE THIS LITTLE BOY STANDING NEXT TO MY CLOSET. THEN I WAKE UP AFTER TRYING TO SCREAM AND MOVE WHICH I CANT. MY SECOND THE SAME BOY STANDING NEXT TO MY BED WITH THE SAME EFFORT I TRY TO SCREAM AND MOVE FOR WHICH I FAIL TO DO AGAIN. NOW I AM 23 AND I HAD MY LAST AND THIRD ENCOUNTER WITH HIM AGAIN THIS TIME HE IS ONTOP OF ME HOLDING AND PINING ME DOWN. GIGGLING. NOW I FINALLY BREAK AND RELEASE FROM IT. I HAVENT HAD ANY MORE BUT I FEEL IF I DO IT WONT BE GOOD.... ANY COMMENTS ???
I'm afraid to sleep
last week i felt a very dark grey cat with alot of fur and scary eyes with long claws. He crawled on my bed and I could feel him i was very scared and could not move. I felt half awake and half asleep although I knew I was dreaming when i tried to move or wake up the cat would claw my feet and it was very painful. I felt it was evil and did not know how to get myself awake - finally after being clawed for several minutes I finally woke up.
It's nice to know I'm not crazy!
I don't know what's going on
Ok I don't dream of spirits or anything. But when I sleep on my back my breath shorten and it feels like something is sitting on me or laying on me or just holding me and I can't move I'll have to force myself to move like I'll have to force my neck to turn or make my body move.Or like when sleep on my back it feels like someone is on it.It only happens in my room though and sometimes in my moms but not when Im at other peoples house and it only happened once with people around other than that its been in my room when I'm by myself. I don't know if its this because I don't see spirits or anything. The other night for the first time I stop breathing like my throat closed up. I stay tired even when I sleep for along time and even when I don't. I don't know what's going on. It been happening for at least 3 years now can someone please help me out.
Sleep Paralysis
I've been experiencing this phenomenon more frequently since I've been working rotating shifts. All of the times it's happened lately is when I come home after working a midnight shift and go to bed. When I'm really tired, the onset is pretty rapid, sometimes seconds or just a couple minutes after laying down. The first few times, it was really scary. The scariest ones were when I became aware but hadn't tried to move yet. Having my eyes open and able to see my surroundings and having a dream at the same time. I've seen imaginary objects moving, crisp ringing and buzzing sounds in my ears. I once looked at my clock and watched the digital numbers float across the room. I thought there was something wrong with me and started doing some research online. I was relieved to find this is a common occurrence in some people. Although I still sometimes feel that sense of fear, lately I've been able to recognize that I'm in a hypnagogic state and able to wake up. I've been reading a lot about this lately and found out that a lot of people are using this "sleep disorder" as a means of lucid dreaming. If you can realize that you are dreaming and able to remain in that state without waking up, you can control your dreams. Neat huh? So for all of you that are frightened by this, relax , try and recognize when your in this state and try and tell yourself that your dreaming, it works for me.
I don't want to scare anyone but there's one last thing for anyone who has severe cases. 99.99% of the time this is harmless but I'll tell you about the other .01% One time about ten years ago, I was hanging out and partying a lot with friends from the local college. This usually involved a lot of drinking and no sleep. After a long weekend of no sleep, I went to bed on a Sunday night EXTREMELY tired. I had sleep paralysis all night long accompanied with extreme nightmares and hallucinations. It was so scary, I woke up in a panic attack with chest pains and went to the hospital thinking I was having a heart attack. All the tests the gave me were negative. I didn't know what it was at the time but I now know it was sleep paralysis because of lack of sleep. So, if anyone experiences severe cases not related to abnormal sleep patterns, I'd recommend seeing a specialist.
The prayer
I am 26 and I have suffered with this scince I was about 8. When I 1st started getting this it was scary and would come right after a religious dream that an evil is trying to take over me or make a deal with me...I would try to scream and no one would hear then I try small movements and then I would come out. It stopped when I had my 1st child now after dealing with a lot of death and having a spiritual battle with myself it has come back...but for some strange reason when I pray the Our Father prayer I dont have to do anything I come out...and I give the Lord thanks cause this usualy happen when I break a promise to God or after a bad dream...so surrender unto the Lord pleed the blood of Jesus and you will be okay.