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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
trying to understand what causes it
I believe you are right when you say it happens when you forget to pray. I usually don't go to bed until I am pretty sleepy and I will go to sleep without praying. After having a SP I find myself not going to bed until I pray. Maybe you are on to something about forgetting to pray and ask God to protect us and our dreams. I need to always pray for that before I go to sleep. I am so curious on why this happens, I am a Christian too and know demons exist but I have never saw one and want to believe that it is just in my head. Talking about haunted houses, There is this one real old house that my sister used to live in that appears in my dreams a lot, it is always full of evil and in my nightmare I am always buying it. I never saw anyting evil in the house when my sister lived there but she said she saw some shadows and she prayed it away. It gave me the chills when I thought about a house wanting me to buy it. Every dream of the house I am buying it and once I buy it I remember it has evil in it and it chases me. I have never saw anything evil when I am awake, always dreams and nightmares. I wonder if anyone has ever died from SP? Why doesn't it happen all the time, why just on occassions? I will quit thinking about it about a week after no more SP episodes but once it happens I come straight here and see if can get some answers from other people's stories. I can't imagine being a little girl and having that happen to me, I didn't have any real bad dreams until I was 19 and that wasn't too long after I played a witches board, I am sure I welcomed evil after that. I would like to know what the demons would be getting out of SP episodes, how does that help them? The more SP I have the more I pray and the more I turn to God so what good would the demons get out of it unless I am going to bring many to the Lord and they are out to stop me by killing me. Or maybe they just want to torture me when they get the chance. I also have noticed that the more I read my Bible or seek Jesus the more the SP seems to happen. I am not saying I know for sure that the SP is because of Evil because I am like everyone else who doesn't understand the cause, but I am willing to think outside the box if that means getting the answer. Would love to hear more of your veiws on this.
had one last night
Last night it happened again, I went to sleep on the couch and I start to feel it happening so I struggle to get back to my bedroom where my husband is. I start to turn on the lights as I walk through the house and the lights will not come on so I know it is happening again. I crawl into bed with my husband and I am telling the evil that I am a child of God and to leave me alone. I am shaking so bad as I am laying near my husband and I can see a pc monitor in my spare room and I struggle to read what is says and I am finally able to read "never ends" on the monitor. I start to think how awful it is for those who have to sleep alone and how it would be if I was an old lady and living alone, as I am thinking that I wake up on the couch and am shocked that I never did make it to the bedroom because it seemed so real. I went back to sleep on the couch after getting up and getting a drink, this time I had the dog sleep on the couch with me and I tried to hold onto her paw just hoping she would be enough to stop it from happening again, the dog didn't like her paw held so she moved away from me. I was so tired but made sure I prayed this time and slept through the night. My mom told me she had one last night too, she rarely has one and she said she forgot to pray too last night and she always prays before she goes to bed. I guess prayer could be the key to stopping the SP episodes at least for me. I do not have a PC in my spare room so I should of known it was not real but I didn't realize it until I woke up.
Can you please tell me more
Can you please tell me more about this prayer? This has been hapening to mea lot lately and I don't know what to believe... I even afraid to go to sleep!
Maybe your prayer can help me.
Thanx
Am I Crazy?
This thing has been happening to me ever since I can remember. And don't call me crazy, but I really feel like I'm haunted by a ghost. When it happens, I can only shut my eyes and the dream pulls me down,sending a tingly feeling all through me, like when your leg falls asleep. After I'm numb, the dream gets scary and I desperately try to get out. The tingling comes back and it disappears. It seems like 'no big deal', but it's absolutely horrifying. In my earlier years, it seemed awesome because it was something new, then one night. This certain dream I had sent me running like a cowardly dog with the tail in between its legs. All I remember was a beach, and a big fat monster looking thing, but I was very scared. Then whenever it happens, I can't attempt to go back to sleep for about an hour before I can fall asleep normally. Normally for me is conjuring up a dream and thinking of good things that happen in it. Then I drift off into sleep without remembering anything in the morning. In fact, this just happened before I decided to finally research on it. I've never had a feeling of something 'sitting on me', but most other symptoms are correct. But this time, I could only move one muscle, the muscle you use to pee, what, was I supposed to pee in my sleep or something? But it was enough to wake up the rest of my body. It was like only it and my brain were alive. My brain displaying the scene, and my muscle to jerk me awake. And this time it pushed me into a much deep sleep from the start. I felt like writing this because no one believes me when I tell them. Ha, I beg to differ.
My first experience with
My first experience with sleep paralysis was scary. I was really drunk when I passed out that night. I woke up in the middle of the night really thirsty and drank an ice tea because it was all I could find at the time. This caused my body to stay asleep while my mind stayed awake. I would dream while I was "awake" in bed. I too am curious as to why I never hallucinate positive images... such as a nude Jessica Alba or something. Another time I farted to wake myself from sleep paralysis.
sleep paralysis
Wow! When I read all this experiences I felt so relieved for the fact that I know now what's happening to me I experience all the same things, from seeing horrofying things ,hearing noises feeling stactic electricity all over the body n feeling paralyze all over its a very scary feeling eventhough I still can explain wats going on but I know now wat it is
Something Else?
im close to what is in the text, but not exaclty. ive had this experience since i was small, one of my first memories i got was a "living nightmare", or a Sleep Paralysis. But mine are different, i can move. i walk around. im awake, but half asleep, i get a huge feeling of panic, i "see" stuff in my brain, but it appears in front of me, like my brain is working with more then one vision, one is real life, my room, the other one is a nightmare, but its happening at the same time. but the room, in my reality isnt as its suppos to be, the walls are moving, the items are changing, when i tuch my pillow, it feels different in my hand then what i see what it is (it can feel thin as a paper but i know its soft and big). the sound is changed, every little sound gets huge. i gets so terryfied (but at the same time i can hear voices). i had this the first time when i was about 4, i think. it comes back a few times in my lifetime, im 15 atm.
i sleepwalked almost everynight when i was between 5 adn 11(what i know about), but without having these "living nightmares", i could stand in a room with open eyes and stare at a wall.
is this something else than Sleep Paralysis? (my Living Nightmares, i mean)
friend got new house n i have visited before but havnt spent the
night there untill i had to. i slept on the floor and i have normally fell asleep and it was sometime at 3 in the morning that the most unusual thing happened to me that i jus did not kno how to react.. i felt as if something bit or stabbed my foot n right that sec i opened my eyes to the scene of a strange and very dark cave or somethin like that with huge black creatures crawling on the walls my first reaction was i jumped up off the ground making alot of noise and jus stood there in shock actually feeling sharp pain in my foot. it felt as if it has swollen up n hurt massively. i walked around thinking i could walk it off and stopped again and all a sudden my foot felt normal again this all happened in about 30 mins but left me mindless on what the hell jus happened... i thought it couldv been jus a spider that released some of its poisen into me that caused me to hallucinate these things but multiple times checkin over my foot i was left clueless finding nothing no marks of any sort and im not makin it up.
Science and Magic...Like DUH!
well i have a question mr scientist (and im quite the science nerd myself) WHY do the neurons get all messed up to cause this in the first place? spiritual experiences, multitudes of them, have finally been shown to affect the brain, even able to rewire it itself. and the interesting thing is praying gets it to stop. i do have the feeling of something siting on my chest. last night i felt waves, ripples of energy coursing through my body. it was intense.
also another interesting thing is the more psychologically healthy, advanced, and aware i become (i read a lot of books on psychology personal development and spirituality) the more this thing happens.
and also, when i wake up, usually my body is buzzing like crazy. two of my friends who can astral project told me that's what happens when they do that. and theyve been able to extract information from other places and then verify it from the people who've they went to while asleep. so theres something spiritual to this, but it ALWAYS has to have its scientific correlate. spirit affects matter and vice versa. im interested in learning to relax and take this to the next level! ill let u guys know how it goes.
one thing you just said there
one thing you just said there is crazy. I ussually don't read a lot of books, but yesterday I read a book about the exact same topic "personal development", that I could relate a lot to, and had lots of thoughts about that evening. then the same night I had this sleep paralysis, which I haven't had for probably at least a year. In my dreams i didn't see monsters but I heard the voice of my little brother who I haven't seen in a year. I couldn't understand why he was there. but he kept on talking as he entered my room and went up to my paralized body. While he was there, I was in doubt of his existence but I looked at where he "stood" and I could feel an unpleasant circling feeling around my shoulders. maybe it has something to with with this anxiety thing. being scared of not being good enough or something. anyway how can the two have connections, it's quite scary and interesting at the same time.
hello
hi could u tell me what i said u thought was crazy? I know i can say some out there things but i actually got some pretty good logic behind it.
sleep paralysis? orr ghosts?
hi my names cassi.. & ever since i remember ive had a hard time sleeping.theres never been one day i can sleep comfortable. i go to sleep & boom within seconds i feel paralyzed not able to yell or do anything but breathe an move my eyes around in circles. a few nights ago i was laying down n quickly got paralyzed n i looked out my window n a dust of winds came in my room n i saw a few spirits fly into my room. i heard them say wsatchout there going to touch you i was so frightened i didnt know what to do! since then i havent slept for more than 4 hrs a day.. soomeone contact me i dont know whether it has to do with ghost or its just a sleep paralysis. thanks
Two people at the same time
Has anyone had this happen to them and their spouse at the same time. I started having this same dreams. I could not move, felt the evil presence. I had them since I was 19 years old off and on. Im 35 years old now been married for 12 years had a couple of dreams since I been married. I researched the medical definition SP but one night I was having the same dream. Felt an evil force on top of me, could not move could not scream. My husband woke me up shook me until I woke up. I told him it was a nighmare. We felt as sleed seconds latter he started shaking and moaning weird like he was possesed. I woke him up he said he felt an evil presence on top of him he could not breath, he said there was someone on top of him. Till this day he swears it was an evil presence and not SP because what were the chances that we had the same experience at the same time, he thought that was imposible. If anyone had this happen to them please reply. I like to hear your story, I stick with the medical term but my husband thinks it is something else.
The first time it happened to
The first time it happened to me I crawled into bed with my parents and it happened again. My mother told me the next day that it happened to her that night too after I got into bed with her. She doesn't get them very often but I do. My mom said she never had one until she married my dad, my dad had a lot of weird things happen to him when he slept. I would have to say it comes from my dad's side of the family. My husband who I have been married to almost 12 years has never had one and makes fun of me when I have one and I want to talk about it. My husband doesn't read his Bible, pray and I can't help but wonder if Jesus even enters his mind since he will not talk about him. It seems like most of us that have SP are Christians.
I broke free of sleep paralysis
So, I'm a 16 year old who has been under a lot of stress because of my commitments recently. I had sleep paralysis last week after weeks of not sleeping enough and a night or two after I stayed up 48 hours. The reason as to why I didn't sleep enough was that I was up doing homework. I also stopped taking care of my body properly, such as not eating enough, and have begun having health problems. I have too much anxiety, and sometimes it leads to some kind of depression...thoughts of suicide have entered my mind even though I know I'll never do it. I'm actually a person passionate about life and doing good in this world-that's why I'm pushing myself so hard now, so that I can become a better person and make a bigger difference.
Anyway, I started lying in bed, waiting to fall asleep. All of a sudden, my body locked up as though there was something pushing against my body...pressure. I also heard whispering.
I want to be a scientist, so I don't believe that it was a ghost or a spirit. I realized that my body isn't healthy, and that this is occurring as a result of not taking care of myself properly. I've heard stories about experiences as these, and I didn't want to be one of those people telling stories of how they were scared and such.
So, I thought "I'm NOT going to let this happen to ME!" I pushed against this force with all my might, and I finally broke out of it. It was a relief. I also told my mom about this right after it happened. I'm not scared, and I'm actually relieved that i broke out of it. However, I'm going to try taking better care of myself from now on.
I just woke up about an hour
I just woke up about an hour ago sooo tired because i had about four or five sleep paralysis. I been having this for about two years now, it just happens randomly, i have no control of it. But last night was the most terrifying, i don't see spirits or hear them, i sense that they're right by me. I wanted to cry out for my mom but i didn't because i knew she had to work in the morning (im 18 btw). at one point i thought i was awake and my mom came in to check on me and said everything was going to be ok and i was crying holding her hand, just to wake up and be stilll lying down on my bed. than another sleep paralysis took over. I usually stay calm, but there was so many and it was the scariest one ever. I thought i was going to die just because my heart was beating so fast, i felt so much anxiety, but than i invisioned my best friend telling me that i have to really calm down or i'll die. so i tried calming down and went back to sleep. i woke up so tired and i feel as though all my energy was drained out of me. i do feel as though there is a presence in my room, because i get scared at night and i feel as though i see shadows. It just feels as though there is something watching me. it is not a fun experience at all.
How can we stop this
Hello. My story is that like 4 minutes ago a had this experience man, is crazy to see that im not the only one that is going throu this my ? Is .if theres any way that we can stop this when ever is happening.
Not always frightening.
I'm 20 years old and when I was 19 I had sleep paralysis frequently for a while. I've been reading some of these comments about the evils of sleep paralysis, and I felt this presence of something evil myself, but to regain my sleep I decided I would "defeat" the illusion, and so I did. I thought I'd share how I did this, because it might help some of you get rid of it.
I never got the visions as my eyes stayed shut, but I had the feeling of the sheets moving, something sitting on my chest, and a few times being lifted out of bed by "someone". The first times this happened I was terrified. But then I got to the conclusion that since this is a dream, if I wake up scared it's only natural that my brain will show me a nightmare and try to scare me awake. And so I found two methods to end sleep paralysis.
The first is to react with anger instead of fear. It had caused me lack of sleep for a while since I had it several nights in a row. And I’m the type who gets rather irritated when I don’t sleep enough. So when I finally fall asleep I find myself slipping into sleep paralysis. It starts with this dreadful feeling before the weight starts to sink down on me as if someone is sitting there. And of course, I can’t scream because my voice won’t work, but in my mind I screamed “Get off me and let me sleep”. The burst of rage ceased my fear and my body relaxed so I fell back asleep.
The second is to relax and change the illusion. I know it’s awfully hard to relax in such a state, but you have to believe you have the power to change the presence into something pleasant. I love cats very much so instead of a demon I imagined the weight on me was a big, fat cat sleeping on my chest. And I felt the most amazing sensation. All my fears just faded away and I got so incredibly relaxed I just fell back into a peaceful sleep.
In other words it doesn’t have to feel like evil. The last times I had it, I kept on imagining pleasant things, and I would feel this rush of loving emotions, as if rather than wanting to hurt me there was someone there comforting me.
So, try this. Because it worked really well for me!
thanks
omilord thank you so much. i will tyr this if this happens to me again ^^ omilord di love you for this i hope it helps!!!
Good luck! :) let me know if
Good luck! :) let me know if it works.
IT WORKS!!
hey i believe you are right because i used to like going into paralysis because i was always relaxed and if it was a nightmare e.g something was attacking me i would always never be scared and try n fight back because its just a dream right? but my last one was me just hoovering in my room when i was having a nap in the day and i actually was getting sick of it and wanted to wake up and i couldnt also i could just only open my left eye which freaked me out. this caused me to panic and scared making it very very hard to wake up on command until i finally woke up but blinking my one eye real hard.
thank you so much! this might
thank you so much! this might help me too. it has been happening to me all of my life. i really dont know why i didnt think of this too. see it started back in grade school. i am now 22. i finally told my aunt about it and she said i was apparently a natural at astral traveling. i have never done this though. the paralyzed feeling is tooo intense and scary for me. it makes sense though to simly change your outlook. i would also have very scary nightmares when i was a child. my dad simply told me that "melissa, you know vampire arent real, so when they are chasing you in a forest, you must know it is a dream and only a dream. pray to god to make it stop, and it will." we are not a church going family by any means, but it worked. i prayed and this blue light broke through the night and stood between me and my attackers. i never had another nightmare. i used to feel out of control and i would panik when this "s.p." would happen. but the weird thing is, i can induse the feeling myself. i can make my body paralyzed intentially. all i do is simply meditate being paralyzed as i fall asleep, then i would "wake" without waking. not all of my experiences were bad, and i wanted to explore the idea of astral projecting... the fear always wins... but for some reason you posting this made the light bulb click. its my brain, i can control the actions thoughts and feelings. its mine and no one elses. sooo i hope you were able to follow this little speech. it was very hard for me to tell about events that i am still trying to unravel. so i appologize for the "skatter brained" thoughts. cheers! merry christmas! and thank you for this little enlightenment.
I get these constantly
it happens upto about 10 tens in a night one after the other... i have an unbearably loud screaming in my ears that feels like it will pop my eardrums, i cannot breathe or move my body if i am somtimes able to shout for help but i cannot hear myself emitting any sound! would love to know how to stop this from happening and would appreciate any advice anyone has to do so.... sweet dreams from the uk!
Had these for awhile now
I think these are more than just scientific theorys I think it's a paranormal thing Idk why though Because the first time it happened to me I wasn't trying to fall asleep I was clearly wide awake watching tv and then I started thinking of ghosts and thought in my mind "I don't believe in ghosts" and it felt like somebody pressed me into my bed and a coldness slowly came over me and I tried to move and scream but to no avail just a weird sound that came from my throat o.O and then I started praying and it stopped..
ur right
Listen, it happens to me all the time and i have had about enough of it,,it is the most scariest thing that could ever happen..
Exact same as you in one situation,trying to sleep when it happens,, praying gets me out of it..
I hate it and wish it would never happen again..
I have these a lot more
I have these a lot more lately. Just a few days ago I kept falling asleep and waking up not being able to move. When ever this happens to me though, I start to try to move my toes first, then the rest of my body soon becomes movable. Though, I've never experienced anything scary, or a loss of breath before. Kinda makes me scared thinking about it.
It happened to me today!
This same exact thing happened to me today. I was taking a late afternoon nap on the living room couch suddenly I feel awake yet I cannot move or talk even open my eyes, I first thought I was dreaming, but I could hear my family in the other room and feel my body in the same position I feel asleep in and could move my left foot. I went back to sleep. This happened about three times, I don't know what the time frame was, on third time I was trying to use my movable left foot to move my leg off the couch in hopes to move my leg over the edge and it pulling my body to the floor and waking me up fully but at same time was afraid I would not wake up fully and just hit my head or something. So I simply calmed down and thought I'd leave it to chance to see what would happen if I just went back to sleep which was the easiest way out and I woke up some time later just fine. I researched and came across this site. I really hope it only happened now that I am tired and not a recurring event. Hope all is well, Tashi Delek.
If this is happening to you...
Honestly if this is happening to you DO NOT watch the movie The 4th Kind. It will scare the living SH!T out of you. I'm glad I read this I thought I was going to die.
Sleeping and the Supernatural
I'm a 40 year old man with a wife, married over 17 years.
My first experience was about 20 years ago. I awoke from a sleep to feel a presence, a force upon me and I was in total paralized panick. I was able to turn my head to the left and my covers next to me looked as though someone had picked them up by thumb and forfinger and started shaking them rapidly from a distance of the top of my head to my neck and about 10 inches in from of my face, as if the perfect distance for a clear undistored consience few. For my impact no doubt. It shook me to the core!!!! Couldn't believe it!!!!!!!! Remember it as if it were last night.
Then about 10 years later had another half paralized shock. I awoke to see a man sized mini tornato moving extremely fast moving around my bed from my nightstand to my wifes nightstand, over and over. It was unreal but I watched it as clear as day.
And now for the past 4 days in a row I've experienced an unbelievable force. My wife is finally pregnant with our twin babies (7 months) and she has to get up frequently so I've decided to sleep upstairs in the guest room. I've had more than one relative tell me they've experienced unusual feelings while sleeping in that room, as if someone was watching them. They said it was creapy!
Well the first night I felt a strong presense but a light paralysis. I found that I wasn't scared but more of a peaceful entity. But the next night I awoke to something like a pet in the bed, I thought it was our dog but all of a sudden realized he was with my wife and I was paralized with fear and then an awesome presence was upon me just holding me down as if to show the power. No pain just brunt force.
The next night I was aware and tried not to think of it but then started feeling the force, just a paralizing control; then, I had visions of demons and the knowledge of the men who tortured and killed Jesus were consistantly reborn by demon spirits. I cannot explain how but the knowledge was thrust into my consience. Then, I realized I could move again and started to raise thinking that the force had relieved me and I started to sit up and the moment I was half way up the force siezed me in mid motion!!!!!! I couldn't believe the power, a soft force upon me, holding me in that postion!! Then, it realeased me and I turned on the light scared like a child. In fact I've never been scared like that since I can remember.
So last night I say to myself "you're a 40 year old man, be a man and admit that this is somekind of illution, not possible" Then I go into the room again and the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and the adrinaline starts to flow. I know for a fact that there is something in there looking at me with a smile, knowing that I know. And sure enough again this time with pulsating blue light with reverse blasts like a bright blue light that is circular blast that descends to a point. I watched in amazement and felt the presence / force but lighter throughout the night!!! It has consumed me I'm in shock and can't think of anything else.
That's my story as of today.
Wow...
I was intrigued by your story. I also experience something similar. There is a certain room in my house I cannot sleep in because I experience intense sleep paralysis almost every time. It always feels evil to me... like there is a presence waiting for me to sleep so it can enter my subconscious. It happens to me in other places as well but never as vivid or as often as in that room. My family thinks I'm crazy but I still refuse to sleep in there. I did find out that my brother kept a ouiji board in there and also had some strange experiences with that. I don't really know how I feel about all that but I do believe in spirits and the spiritual world. its fascinating to me that most people who have these experiences never really seem to have positive ones, only frightening or very spiritual ones.
Yes But
A doctor friend of mine never believed in hocus pokus. He was once pronounced dead on an operating table. He told me this tale as he knew of my interest in these matters. Jim when I was out I was floating all over the hospital. I told people what they were saying and what some family members were wearing. He was sure at this point that life was not as it appeared. He committed suicide a short time after. Once I overcame the fear I with full awareness float as if I am a solid mass. I know it's hard to believe and I don't blame you but it is true. I've seen and talked to entities in my travel. I wish I could do it at will.
This Happens To Me.
This happens to me a lot.
i don't even wanna go to sleep anymore... and one time i felt like someone was pulling me off my bed from my feet.
and i see shadows too!
but oh well its so scary and i tried to scream but codent and i almost cried once this lady was like coming towards me. and i couldnt see her face she had a white dress..
scary
Hey there ,
wow I didn't know there are soo many who've experienced this just like me. This is soo scary and your story about this lady in a white dress ... you know I've seen a lady too when I had this sleep paralizes... My bedroom door is always open and from my bed I can see the staircase and the light outside my room where the stairs are, is on always, just a habbit XD I'm 17 btw, well anyway the first time I had this was about 2 years ago..man that was freaking me out. It was night and I was sleeping and was kinda awake and then just for a few seconds I saw someone walking down the stairs and she was wearing like brown clothes, it was just within seconds, I couldn't really see her properly and couldn't see her face and actually I should not be sure if it's a woman or a man, but somehow I don't know why, I think it was a woman ... well but I didn't have any sleep paralizes at that night..but then another night, after that, I experienced this sleep paralizes, I was sleeping and again also awake, and then I felt like something was lying next to me, as if somebody has come in and lay down next to me in bed and I heard the sound as if someone was putting his head or something else on the pillow and when I wanted to turn and see what it was I couldn't move, I wanted to scream and I couldn't make any noise nothing, that was like I said about two years ago...I was soo terrified and today night just 3 hours ago the same thing again...I was awake and I realized I still have 1 hour or so until I have to get up to get ready for school, and just then when I turn to the side and closed my eyes, within these few seconds, I heared footsteps and it was so fast I couldn't even react, then something was on top of me pushing my head down, putting my hear back and pushing and pushing my head down and I wanted to scream, do something ...AND I just COULDN'T and it's just freaking me out to experience something like this often enough to scare me to death AND when I check the Internet, I read something about science and it's nothing like ghosts and bla bla!! I mean REALLY??? I don't believe that this what is happening is just a normal and logical explanation...because dammit I saw something, I heard something , ever since then I just can't really sleep anymore and I only can sleep nicely if I really had a bad day and am tired!! So I do think this is some kind of ghost or demon or something and I want to know how to get rid of this evil presence in my room !!
SP
Hi there,
I often get the feeling there is somone or other people in the room as i am trying to go to sleep or sometimes i wake up feeling a presence. Sometimes its very scary sometimes its not so bad. My heart rate will speed up and my eyes often shake too. Sometimes i feel like people are trying to tell me things and i have even almost made out letters in the darkness as if it is trying to message me. This all sounds totally nuts and it often stops me sleeping properly and i have to haqe light in the room or the curtains open with steet light outside. can someone tell me whet this id and if anyonme has any suggestions as to how to stop it distrupting my sleep so much!
mant thanks
Emmy
It is most likely a deceased
It is most likely a deceased presence. You need to talk to it as if it is a real human being and ask what it wants. Usually it will not bother you. It is best to talk to the deceased presence from 1am-3am because it is most active around that time. Your heart rate going up is due to the presence being close to you. Hope this helps.
what is this?
Hello everybody,
I hope here i ll get the answer so im trying to you. Whenever i sleep with my face closed with blanket or any cloth, and my hands upwards, i end waking up with bad dreams, it may about accidents of dear ones or of some thieves, or terrorists attacking the public where i too presented and wondering how to escape from there,etc., why I get these dreams?
Not all are evil
I have always had these type of encounters as far back as I could remember. I am mexican american and it's what we call "pesadillas" in spanish which means "weights." I always knew they couldn't hurt me and just started rebuking them when I got them. They happened to me at any time of day, once on lunch when i fell asleep in my car. They stopped after my last one which was my mom. My mom passed away on September 17 2009 and she was the most sweetest spiritual person. The night before she passed (keep in mind she wasn't dead yet) I was at the hospital and she was in a little bit of a coma. I was telling her to let go if she had to and I would take care of my dad and my son (she was his mom too) and she kept trying to respond but I couldn't understand what she was saying. I came home fell asleep and started to get that scared feeling I always got with a pesadilla but then in my dream? I don't know yet but I saw a figure walk into my room. I looked and saw it was mama. I immediately panicked saying "mom? are you dead? wait no your not dead? what?" then all of a sudden her and I were in a dark room. I could feel what was wrong she didn't have to say one thing to me. she didn't say anything to me. she just looked and i knew what she felt. I did the talking and told her not to be scared. never in all my life did i think my mom was scared to die. but she was. she kept pulling me with her telling me with her looks that she wanted me to go with her and she was scared. i just kept repeating "no mama your gonna be with god i can't go, i have to stay for ray and dad." so since she was pulling me with her i woke up and told my boyfriend to hug me cause she was trying to take me with her. so without thinking he hugged me and we fell back to sleep. then me and her were alone again in the dark room but this time a window was between us. i looked it up later and it meant abandonment in the dream dictionary. so the next day at the hospital my mom died taking her last breaths in front of us. about a week later i cried myself to sleep hugging the pillow and started getting that scared feeling again and next thing you know i was crying on my moms lap. she was rubbing her hands through my hair and although i didn't see her face just knew it was my mom I said "but mom it hurts so much" and she replied "i know baby i know." so that was the last time i talked with her. since then i know i haven't got any pesadillas because my momma is protecting me. she wouldn't let anyone or anything hurt me when she was here so i know she won't let anyone or anything now.
Sleep Paralysis maybe? Maybe not?
I was actually serfing the internet for some other concerns I've been experiencing, happen to come across this page and made me think of my most recent time of this. I'll start by saying several years ago, my first memorable experience, was a few weeks after reading some books about getting to know your inner-self, your spirit, your life's meaning, and there was a part stating that in flying dreams your able to have the ability to control them and make way to see your life charts. Well I wanted to try weeks later I had the flying dream, as I started to fly around the house I remembered to ask to see my charts, as I was halfway through a lit tunnel flying I heard voices telling me to go back, to wake up, That I shouldn't be there, I ignored them until I was awaken by my deceased grandmother, I was laying in bed eyes wide open, realizing what had just happened, I was a little frightened, I went to roll over to wake my husband up to tell him this and well I couldn't move, then shortly after realized I couldn't talk, I was fully alert and it took 10 minutes or so to be able to have full control of my body again. My most recent time, was a few weeks ago, I went to bed, fell asleep I'm assuming had woken up to probably a sound, as I laid in bed, I seen a storm outside, I had huge picture windows over looking my tree filled yard and as I laid there seeing the storm and shadows of the tree branches bouncing around on my walls, I laid there staring at the walls in an attempt to go back to sleep, as I stared I seen a human figure shadow, on the wall, I went to turn and realized I couldn't move I went to scream out for someone to hear me, and well nothing came out of my mouth, So I started reciting some prayers in my head, hoping for GOD to help me, the shadow got closer and closer and looked as if it was crawling across my bed, all this was happening fairly quickly, even though I had no account of the time, but as the shadow got so close I realized it was myself, it came to my body and next thing I know is I woke up at 8 am, remembering this horrible experience. I did some research on these events mainly my most recent, and seen that sometimes are souls (spirits) leave our bodies while we sleep and if we are awaken before they return we are left in a paralyzed state. So with that being said, I would like to know why either happens....
I have wondered that too
I have wondered the same thing about my spirit leaving my body during a SP nightmare. I see the house as it is and the only way I know that I am not awake is that I can't turn on the lights in the house. Once I realize I am steal a sleep I run to where my kids are and try to wake them up so they can wake me up, I know how stupid that sounds. I had a SP nightmare sunday, I usually wake up out of it around 5am for some reason. The one I had sunday I ran to my kids room and pulled my daughter out of bed by her feet trying to wake her up. I never can wake my kids up before I wake up. Well she was on the couch that night so if my spirit was out of my body, it didn't know that my child was on the couch. I asked God to explain it to me why this happens to me so hopefully he will tell me soon. I have never seen anything except one time I saw a hooded shadow that pushed me down and a little shadow of a girl coming out of my kids room but that was while I was still awake. I wonder if it could of been my daughters spirit:) I still don't know if it was just my imagination or what, I was pretty tired that night. Just about everyone in my family has experienced it once or twice in their life but for some reason I have them more frequently. I would love to think it is just a chemical imbalance or a brain thing but anyone who has these will think there is something more "real" to it. I was a little scared to go to sleep last night after having one sunday but before I went to sleep I asked God to protect us and our dreams from any evil and I slept okay and don't even remember any dreams. I am one to have a dream every night and remember most of it. I would like to see what happens if I just went with it and didn't fight it but once it starts to happen I start to freak out and all I know to do is to try to get someone in the house to wake me up.
Im glad I know what this is now! SP
My first experience was when I was 18. I am now 27. I havent experienced SP in a while but I did today. I layed down around 9:35am to tap a nap. Next thing I remember is feeling like I couldnt move. "Oh no, not again" (I say in my head because I can not speak). I feel a "presence" behind me, looking over my shoulders. I even feel someone tapping me on my shoulders as if to get my attention. I was so scared. I then felt the "presense" go to the front of my house when I heard cereal being poured. I also heard voices but couldnt make out what was being said. I said Jesus and I felt it go away and I was able to move. My 1st experience (or the one Im most aware of) I would hear a whirling sound and immediately feel as if I cant move or speak. I see a dark figure coming towards me, not gliding but like come stop come stop come stop, then it would repeat it. I remember just being so scared, trying to scream out for help but nothing would come out, I couldnt even move my lips. I said Jesus and it went away. I've heard, saying Jesus when having bad dreams makes it go away. It seems to always work. Im not a religious person, but I would consider myself spiritual. I wonder what all of us have in common to where we feel a "presense" and its always evil. Are we sensitive to the spiritual world and thats they way they come to us? Is it because thats what we think as the most fearful thing so we dream it to be that. Are you a night owl? I am! Its 12:13am as I am writing this now. I am glad to have an explanation as to what I experience and am glad to know Im not the only one!!
When i wake up
So.. usually everymorning i wake up around 7am or so cause i have to use the bathroom. im in college so its usually a little befor i have to go to class. but when i come bak from the bathroom ill lay in bed forever before i even start to fall asleep a little bit. but sure enough before i fall asleep, "sp" comes. before i read this i thought i was gonna die! its so scary. ill be laying there and i know im getting sleepy once i start getting the paralysis. like most of the stories ive read, i cant speak or move, but seem to be able to hear things around me and sometimes see. even if i think my eyes are closed. the only thing i can do is breath. i try and say god help me if im not too scared to remember. but i forget alot. this stuff happens to me every week. but what i do to stop it, since i cant talk or move, i take the biggest breath possible, and push it bak out as hard as i can. this obviously makes a sounds and causes body movement. and wen i can manage to move or make a sound is wen it stops. so that is what i do to get out of it. lol btw im not goin to sleep tonight lol im jus gonna do my homework and go to breakfast and class. im gonna sleep for a long time tomorrow night! :) God Bless you all!
help me please what can i do,
help me please what can i do, this is insane!im not crazy!
Relax when it happens and
Relax when it happens and tell yourself to calm down. Everything will be fine. The more your mind worries the harder it is for the situation to cease. Ask yourself how do you feel? Why can't I move my body? Am I hurting anywhere? Was I stressing out through out the day? Am i bothered by something thats keeping my mind from sleeping? Why is my mind awake but my body asleep? Key word relax. The more u panic the scarier the experience is.
It Happens to Everyone
Just woke up from this nightmare few minutes ago. It's really bad i thought i should read further about it. It wasnt the first time it happened to me--bad dreams, difficult to breathe and move--like i'm struggling for my life real bad. Im sure everyone gets to experience this, but is often dub as a nightmare since it's associated with bad dreams most of the time. And what's really worse is experiencing it one after the other and after the other. HERE ARE SOME TIPS i just thought from experiencing it through the years: Try to change your sleeping position, put one pillow over the other in slanting position and rest your head slightly elevated. This way it is easier to breathe and your blood circulation will be a lil normal than when your lying flat and stagnant. I always associate this problem with breathing disorder. I suggest make sure youre lying comfortably in your bed and make some few inhale exhales before sleeping. And lastly don't forget to PRAY for another wonderful day like Jesus thaught us to pray for our daily bread. I hope this helps...ahhhh i want to sleep sound after this. Sweet dreams!
demons
I had sleep paralysis twice last night. The first one feeling like an alien encounter. I was lying on my back and I could not move at all. I was awake and a bright light illuminated my entire bedroom and then a figure appeared standing in front of my bed. I had just finished watching the X-files so I don't know if that attributed to my experience. I jerked myself up and then the second time a woman I could not see mounted me on my bed. I felt the bed drop from the weight of the woman. It was so eery because I could feel her sitting on me. For a second I thought it was gonna be an erotic dream which I would not have minded at all. But, some feeling I had told me she was an evil presence. She was whispering something to me, which I can't remember what she was saying. She was hurting me though, because she was crushing me. I was wishing her to go away but she wouldn't. I don't remember how long it lasted, but it felt like several minutes. I was lying on my back and after reading about sleep paralysis it is stated that it commonly happens when you sleep in that position. It was terrifying, but upon waking I found it to be intriquing and hope that it might happen again so I can log it in a journal.
Sleep paralysis
Look all of your stories seem similar. So my question is do u believe in a higher being? I'm not that religious bi LOVE Bill Maher! He's my fav, but I do believe we have spirits. You can call me vest but the same thing happen to me. I was on my back as well I opened my eyes and it was a bright light so I closed then and I talked myself to calm down. I kept saying take a deep breath relax and the next time I opened my eyes I was dine. I couldn't sleep but I was okay. Have u ever thought that that person standing next to u was ur spirit trying to get back into ur body? Don't be afraid. Lots of people have them. And I embrace cause fighting it makes you feel worse. I also notice it happens more when I get stressed out. Like I have finals this past week. Psychologist have to solve it with proof that can't prove spirits.
Hello, I just woke up and I
Hello, I just woke up and I experience this sleep paralysis. I thought I was the only one when i tried to explain to people they didn't understand. But this has helped me, I find if i try to lay on my back rather then my stomach It will be a little easier to breath when i become paralyzed. When I'm sleep I see my room even though im pretty sure my eyes are closed, In my mind im yelling and screaming and trying to force my eyes open.However it doesn't appear to be anyone in the room with me but i might hear things. And when I finally wake up its like coming up from under water and you take that first breath. It scares me and I never understood why it happens and why it occurred so often. I don't have a watch when it happens but it can last i believe sometimes 10 to 20mins.
sleep paralysis
yours sounds just about the same as mine.. i get so scared. mine only last as long as i allow it to. because i always try so hard to move or talk and if i can somehow manage to move then it will stop. i usually breath as loud as i can. and it will wake me up. but i asked my brother if he ever hears me do it and he said no. and i always feel like im in a different position than wat i am actually in.. scary stuff.
Does anyone else have this happen during "SP"
I am 20 years old and have had sleep paralysis episodes about once every month or every other month for the past 5 years or so. With me, it always happens when I'm on my stomach. After researching I have found out that people can usually open their eyes during this terrifying experience but I can never open my eyes until I regain movement in my body. Also, I cannot move my fingers or toes, it's more like I am paralyzed from the neck down. When this happens I am wide awake in my mind and can hear everything around me but my eyes will not open so I use all my might to move my head back and forth on my pillow until I finally wake up, sometimes it takes maybe 30 seconds and other times it can last for minutes of feeling a presence of someone in the room wanting to harm me but I cannot see them. It is truly a scary experience and I usually force myself to stay awake in fear of slipping back into it. I have never seen any hallucinations because my eyes are stuck shut but for those brief moments (which feel like forever) my brain tricks me into thinking that if I do not wake up then the presence in the room will harm me, which leads to the panic attacks. The last episode happened last night around 1:30a.m. So hopefully I will have at least another month without one. Good luck to all of you out there dealing with this.
dred going to sleep
im just like u i sleep on my stomach.I,ve had these experiences since i was 18, I`m now 32 im sat here with so much relief knowing im not the only 1 going through this i thought i was being haunted by something evil my 1st experience was 3 days b4 my grandad died i felt a presence sat at the side of my bed it was cuddling so tight i was petrified i tried telling it 2 get off me but i cudnt move or speak. i put it down 2 sum1 was trying let me know that my garandad was going 2 die. i get these experiences atleast twice a week i can b having a normal dream then the dream will b interrupted i cant move at all i c a dark shawdow at 1st hes at the bottom of my bed then ends up at the side of me i feel wide awake at the time its happening but frightened his presence seems so evil like 1 day he will hurt me. i cant move or speak.other times when sp happens 2 me its like sum1 laid behind me my neck n my back feels like their so tickly.when the black shadow comes im so so frightened its gona show its face thats the scariest part of it all 2 me.my most recent experience was 2day abt 11ish on the sofa i cud hear breathing down my ears i cn get 2 the point now were i get angry n manage 2 shout stuff at it and it sounded like it shouted 2 me back.I so frightened 2 go 2 bed especially on a nite 1 time over i used 2 sleep with my bedroom light on it worked 4 a while then it started 2 happen again it used 2 b only on a nite now i cn get sp anytime now .I swear it so frightening i wouldnt wish this upon my worst enemy i,ll try n remember 2 pray 2 god nxt time it happens 2 me it seems work 4 most of u .god bless u all xxxx