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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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Comments
"bad dreams"
I could remember having these dreams so young...kindergarten. What all of you describe are vary similar to mine. Images, timing, body position, etc. The way I get through it or prevent it is to not allow myself to entertain my scary thoughts, sleep early enough to get 8 hours in before your work day, and if it just so happens I wake up near 3, I stay up till 430 or just deal with the bad dream. when I am stuck in one, I do everything I can to make sudden movements and wake up. I do believe their spirits. I try not to scare myself cause I learned if I stay calm the dream finishes faster.
My Sleep Paralysis
Hi, I'm Kym. I've been dealing with SP for 17 years of my 28 years on earth. It all started when my mom and my two siblings moved to an old house in Isle of Wight County in Virginia. I always gotten an eery vibe from the place. It was old and not too mention our next door neighbor, elderly lady named Mrs. Driver was running a make shift convalescent home in the second part of our house. I know it sounds weird but next to the kitchen there was a little brown door that would lead down some steps into another living room and 3 other bedrooms where the elderly stayed. I believe she (Mrs. D.) may have had some tragedies there (deaths). I was deeply affected. At night, when trying to sleep I would hear things. I use to see shadowy figures in the hall. Then my attitude started to change. I was cursing out my mom, aunt, & siblings. My mom had to get me help because it was out of control. So she puts me on anti depressants -- big mistake. It felt like something was twisting my arms & prying open my jaws when I took it (side effects). We moved from that house..within a year. At the age of 14, that's when SP started to happen frequently. I would hear buzzing sounds, footsteps, shadowy figures, and feel hands touching me. I remember this one episode in which I was sleeping next to a guy friend of mines--(was 23 yrs old), he was sleep -- I was experiencing SP and his mouth started to move. It was some foreign language accompanied with laughter. I'm frozen.. Can't move any limbs. I usually have to roll my eyes into the back of my head to break free. I've said prayers which fixes SP temporarily. And it doesn't matter which side I sleep on.. I experience SP still. I just had another episode last night. It was just sounds like a ticking clock. Last week I experienced SP back to back which caused me to wake up at 3:15am and return to bed @ 8:00am. I was so terrified! I can recall another SP encounter I was sleeping and out of no where this shadowy cloudy figure started to move closer. I tried to move but of course I'm frozen. I let out a yelp & my boyfriend heard it. He shook me and held me close to me. Now this other SP episode wasn't so scary I felt something jump on the bed like an animal--. I usually try to keep my mind blank. Hey even sometimes it feels like something is touching mr inappropriate in my sleep. Yikes. I come from a fam that practiced the baptist faith. There was a time when I lost it but I regained it back this year. I want to know why all of us experience the evil episodes. What does it mean?
Sp episode again
It's me again,kym.. I decided that this site is going to be therapeutic for me. Today at around 4:30 pm I experienced SP again. It was brief. I was sleeping on my stomach & heard a raspy growling sound. I shook myself out of that state and went downstairs. I can't even take a nap in peace. My eyes are achy from tiredness. If this is caused by stress (anxiety) then why can't it be things that won't freak me out?! I look at 20 years from now & I know I won't be able to deal with this when I'm elderly. The SP episodes are getting stronger, too. When I explained it to my boyfriend he says " stop watching scary movies" and I replied with, "no I have been dealing with this disorder ever since I was a kid". He had one SP episode & it never happened to him again. What is this? Are we being chosen for something? Is this a neurological disorder? There are too many questions. We are all different ages, ethnicities, backgrounds & livelihoods.. Yet we are linked by SP. I use to think I was going insane. I'm so afraid to sleep ..can't live this way because I need sleep to live! I pray and pray-- but it only puts a bandaid on it. I want it gone.
Hi Kym.My name is Cris and I
Hi Kym.My name is Cris and I also have had this happening to me since I was very small.Im 29 now and sometimes it is an all night thing.Last night was one of those nights.I can talk myself out of it sometimes but not last night.There is always something evil in the room.I cant swollow,scream,move and sometimes breath.I know that my mom and grandmother have had this happen to them from time to time and now pray my son doesnt have to experience this.I would not wish this on my worse enemy!Have you talked to a dr.??I have not but Im like you...Im scared to go to sleep.
Hi, Chris It's Kym (SP)
Hi, Chris. I never talked to a doctor about these episodes. I always confided in my mother but she is of baptist faith and only told me to pray. I've started to use a sleep aid to help me rest at night but I still feel like some eery presence is watching me when I am actually awake. I blame my nerves. I think it is odd that we all are experiencing the same exact occurrences. Why can't we have pleasant experiences? I remember one episode where I tried so hard to think of something very tranquil but it did not work.
I can say that Monday night 6/12/10.. I slept well because I am using a sleep aid. My boyfriend says that maybe my brain becomes to active at night.. but it just seems like it is much more than that.
Using a sleeping aid is a temporary fix.
Interesting!!!
Hello Kym and Chris,
I wrote something down about my experiences with SP, the comment title if I remember is "A Good Hint" in last week.
If you stop and think for a while about this whole thing it´s fantastic. I say that because I once have a good "SP": A white and purple ball of light entered the hotel room I was sleeping and flied above me, a very very good experience like taking a hot shower in a cold day.
It is fantastic due too many people around the world say almost the same thing about the terror.
I´m from Brazil and I know about 5 persons who had this same experiences.
I also had some bad experiences, actually the most of them are.
My sister refused to belive me until she once woke up in middle of night paralysed and watching an old man leaving her room!!!!!!! She couldn´t sleep anymore that night.
My dad, listening to our stories saying that it is from our imagination, our dreams BUT he told that once he woke up with somebody trying tro touch his chest!! I told him that "chest" is the most commun body point where people here say being touched with pressure.
I think science should REALLY study this unconscious FACT. But how? It´s a good question.
Perhaps by everybody saying with details every experience should be the inicial step.
@Gustavo from Kym
I think the mind is the most powerful thing. It's able to play tricks on us. Yes, majority of my SP episodes have been terrifying. I didn't think of anything scary before sleeping. It must be a subconscious thing with my mind. I've Been having trouble sleeping lately -- like mild insomnia. Those sleeping aids have been working but now as you can see .. It's 4:54am and I'm still awake. I've become immune to the sleep aid (frowns). I do not like the way the sleeping disorder makes me feel. It gives me a feeling like the hairs standing on my arms or maybe the equivalent of goosebumps. And I find it rather weird that I can sense when SP happens. I would love for scientists to research this further. @Gustavo , I'm glad your experience has been pleasant.
Update: SP
Kym, again... My boyfriend decided that enough was enough. His theory is that he felt I watched scary movies too much. On Saturday night, I was laying on the carpeted floor downstairs. My eyes grew heavy and I attempted to fall asleep.. I had no such luck because I felt something neare again. I blamed my nerves but it was enough for me to fight sleep till 4 am. My boyfriend decided to buy me sleeping aids. I never relied on them before but I needed sleep. To my surprise they worked! I had a full night's rest. Last night, I took the aid again ..as I was dozing off I heard one cackling laugh .. But it disappeared and I slept like a baby. Even before I took the aid I said my prayers and also recited the 23rd psalm. People, our sleeping disorders are scary but we can manage them. I will be updating you all on my progress. Btw.. I am 28 years old female.. I have no children and live a simple life.. Last year I lost my faith in God... This year I regained my faith back.. I am more deeply spiritual and religious. Just wanted to share a tidbit about myself. I will be praying for us all.
question for you kym
i've experienced sleep paralysis for about 3 years off and on now. it usually only happens to me when i take naps in the middle of the day, which is why i refuse to take them anymore because i am terrified of SP-being highly claustrophobic is no help either. the reason i never experience SP at night is because for about 5 years i have been falling to sleep with the help of a generic brand of sleeping pills called acetaminophen PM, yet one night i realized that the excess acetaminophen is doing irreversible damage to my liver so i tried to sleep with 2 tablets of melatonin and because it barely worked, i had a horrifying sleep paralysis episode which caused me to "relapse" back into taking the acetaminophen. my question to you is, which sleep aid do you use? although i'd like to be completely rid of sleeping pills, the sleep paralysis just won't allow me to sleep a natural sleep/ i want something safe that won't compromise the health of my liver. any help will..well, it will help!<3
Is this real?????
IF YOU ASK ME THEN YOU WILL GET A DEFINATE "YESSS!!!" I WOULD LOVE TO BELIEVE THAT WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING TO ME THROUGHOUT THE YEARS IS SOMETHING SCIENCE CAN EXPLAIN,THAT SCIENCE HAS AN ANSWER FOR EVERYTHING...NOT THIS TIME. THIS IS SOMETHING VERY SUPERNATURAL.
It started when i was about 10 years old, the not being able to move/breathe/talk while being fully concious and able to see. No evil deities/spirits or anything of that nature. This part of it i will say could possibly be SP. There's no way after reading all these comments you will ever be able to tell me that it's just some projection the brain produced. I mean the likelyhood of that. Many of the same things occur with different individuals. Anyways, mine started with just what i said above and continued over my teenage years randomly. It wasn't until I turned 17 this SP took a turn for the worse.
I remember my boyfriend leaving for work one morning around 5am. After he left I turned off all the lights. I went back to bed as a usually did and soon after I found myself not being able to breathe. When this happened before it was usually when I slept on my stomach, this time I was on my back so im thinking to myself what's going on? This time is different because I feel pressure on my chest. I open my eyes there is darkness of course but I see these shadowy looking beings surrounding my bed whispering and laughing. The next thing I notice is my frozen body along with the comforter being lifted into the air. I called on Jesus and just like I read in the other comments it ended. The only difference though is that all of the lights in the house were off when I got back into bed when my boyfriend left. During my little visit the closet light in my bedroom was on along with the bathroom light which is connected to the closet in my bedroom. The water in the bathtub was running and the toilet was refilling as if someone had flushed it.
This incident has affected me deeply. I have to sleep with a lamp/light on all the time now. I would like to add that I don't think it matters what faith you are. At the time I was a Christian and now I Muslim convert. In Islam the Quran speaks about these evil beings. They're called Jinns.(read about them if you get some time)
What i do at night before I go to bed is make sure that I recite the 4 Quls basically asking to seek refuge in Allah(God) from the accursed Shaytan(Satan)
Assalaamualaikum sister, I
Assalaamualaikum sister,
I also have SP sometimes. I quite well remember it happened to me first time when I was 18 yrs old. Me and my friend had rented a flat and she made me believe that there is something ghosltly about this place. That was the first time I had SP. I also started feeling that some kind of evil spirit is getting hold of me and I was terribly scared so we shifted the place and then it stopped. Again when I was back at my home with my family I experienced it. I discussed it with my Mom and she told me that it was because I would have placed my hands on my chest due to which the blood would have not been able to circulate properly. I didn't believe her I thought surely there is something evil to it. After I used to experience SPs but not very frequently say four five times in a year.
I have been married now and have one daughter. Before two days I again experience SP. But I didn't got scared as my daughter was by my side and I didn't discussed it with my husband. But today I was alone in my room and was in deep asleep and woke and found that I couldn't move and started reciting fatihah and kalima and quls and after much effort I was able to get up. Immediately I went to my husband who was in other room and discussed it with him. He said that there was nothing evil about it because he also experienced SPs and he told me that it happens because of weakness in our body and due to improper diet. I didn't believed him and started searching net and came across this article which helped me to believe that there is nothing evil about it.
Being a muslim I also believe in jinns and also know that there are some good as well as bad jinns. In islam bad jinnns are addressed as Shayateen and there is a hadeeth in islam which states that the house wherre surah bakarah is recited, till three days shaiytan cannot enter there. And I have a habit of playing it in low volume in my mobile before going to sleep. So it became clear to me that no evil spirit can exist or come in my room as long as I am reciting or playing surah baqrah every 3 days and I play it every alternate day.
So my message to you is that We should only fear Allah and make it a habit to recite surah baqrah and if you cant personally recite it then play it in your mobile or computer So if there is some evil spirit in your room it will go away and as far as SPs are concerned I think that the above article explainns it.
If still you are in confusion then get back to me. May Allah help you and me and other people who are experiencinng such problems. Ameen.
Greetings...
Asalaamu Alaykum sis,
Thank you so much for your informative response. I haven't had sp lately or ever since I changed my sleeping position. I read somewhere that muslims should never sleep on their left side anyways, so I changed that. Also, I started my reciting the 4 Quls at night. To add to everything I also burn alot of franckinsence and myrhh to keep away evil jinns. And now, insha'Allah, add the playing of sura baqrah. I also agree that the article does explain why this happens to some people as far as the physical element of it is concerned, but the seeing/hearing of shadows, no,not just a coeincidence. I am ever so greatful for the naseeha sis. If you'd ever want to talk about anything,islamic related or sp related,whatever, feel free to contact me.
jazakallah khair
your sis Sabirah Abdulsalaam
My Experiences with SP and How to prevent it
I had my first experience with SP about 2 years ago. I have only had about 20 more episodes since then. The first time i believe i was paralyzed for about 2 full minutes. I was so scared that i kept my phone right next to my ear before i fell asleep again. For about the past 6 months i have been able to remember just about every dream i have had. I have also been able to control most of my actions while dreaming. about 90% of my dreams are nightmares, but i am never scared of what is happening. Even if it the most horrible nightmare imaginable. I am experienced enough with SP that i know when an episode is likely to happen.
1. You fall in and out of sleep rapidly (Aka you dose off for 10 seconds and snap back into consciousness)
2. You consume caffeine before sleeping (This will stimulate your brain and make you more prone to coming back to consciousness)
3. You have a Mess up sleeping schedule ( I personally have a horribly inconsistent sleeping schedule)
I find that those qualities make a person much more prone to SP than a person who has none of those.
Another factor that may contribute to SP is forcing yourself to wake up from a nightmare. I do not know how many people can do that freely but i have been able to for about the past 2 years ever since i have had constant nightmares.
If you do find yourself waking up paralyzed the best way to end it as quickly as possible is to use all your strength and focus on moving one part of your body. That has been the most helpful way to combat the effects for myself.
I would like some other input on my experiences to see if anyone can relate or add to my suggestions for helping combat SP. thank you for reading
My experiences sound very
My experiences sound very similar to yours. The first time it happened I thought there was something wrong with me and I was going to be paralysed for life! Each time it happens I try and use all my strength to move and then eventually I can but I don't know if I would just fully wake up if I waited without doing anything. All that normally happens to me is I am aware that I have woken up but I can't move or open my eyes or speak until it passes. The last time it happened though I could hear voices in a foreign language and thought I had been drugged and kidnapped so when I fully woke up I was so out of breath from fighting to come round properly ha ha!
I dream constantly! Have done all my life and about half the time they are bad dreams and some times full on nightmares. When it gets to a really scary bit my mind seems to then realise I am dreaming and then I can force myself to wake up which is handy! I sometimes dream that I have woken up, and everything is normal, and then all of a sudden bad things start happening again, which is really scary because with those dreams when I am actually properly awake I'm not sure if it is real so have to ask my boyf if I'm in real life he thinks I'm nuts!
Oh and when I get the SP thing I always wake up on my back, seems to be common. I dont usually sleep in that position.
Good luck to all the people who have evil spirits, sounds like you're gonna need it! :P
Wow
This sleep paralysis seems like a very likely cause to what I just experienced roughly twenty minutes ago. I consider myself pretty educated about most things, and highly logical. However, just a few minutes ago I witnessed something highly frightening to me, so of course my first response was to head straight to a higher source of knowledge, the internet. Many things could be the cause of this scientifically, but the surreal reality(sorry for the oxymoron of a description*) of it, combined with the coincidences that most of the replies to this article show something science doesn't seem to place. My dream was very much like most of yours, and I am 17 at the moment, which more than a couple liked to point out that this was the age your dreams started. To add to the consistencies of these descriptions, this is also my first SP that I can remember everything about the dream. As for my heath condition, my sleeping schedule hasn't been normal since High School's summer break is well at it's mid-point. In fact I was about to turn in for the night (I should say day*) at five thirty in the morning. It was still dark, and a storm was rolling in. A couple birds chirped out side the window.
My Dream was this: I fell asleep without even realizing so, the last thing I remember in a full conscious state was my step father taking out the dog before the storm got worse. From then on I dreamed of nothing but the wall I'd been starring at. I'd say about an hour elapsed. After that time is when things became eerie, my dream had no sound. That was the first trip alarm, because all of my dreams have sound, I'm quite an imaginative person. Another thing was I had a fully operational line of thought, not the usual laid back and almost vegetative state I find myself in the rest of my dreams. I suddenly wanted to wake up, or move around, but somehow was rendered incapable. Combined with the removal of any noise, came a change in view point in my dream. It was almost as if I was looking from the view of a security camera. No figures were there. But something was telling me to get up, an instinctual force because something seemed very wrong. I couldn't move a muscle , or say anything at all. The switch in view points reminded me of changing the channel. Then I was walking through the hall way, everything was in exact detail as I passed, I have never sleep-walked in my life. From then on after walking through the hall way, images started to merge. Me trying to get up from my sleep, an outside view- to our dining room table. That's the part that scared the piss out of me: it was four figures sitting at the table, they had human physiques, but were nothing but shadows, except for their faces, where only half of the visage for their face was visible. They all turned to me smiling, a friendly gesture completely lost on me. They all had black sockets for eyes. That was my Que to start struggling. The view flickered to my face, I mouthed to myself "Wake up. Wake up." twice. Then it was me struggling again. Then the figures, getting up and starting to walk over to me. Wake up, again came from my mouth, but I couldn't move. Finally I bolted up out of the bed, in the exact same position I'd fallen asleep in. Without a word I checked my clock for the time, it was only 6:54, right about the time the the sun begins to rise.
The similarities:
-Bad figures
-Can't move
-can't speak
-freaked out beyond all reason
Differences:
-nothing touched me
-no noises, or static
- I didn't reach out to a higher being for salvation. When I pray to god, it's only for others well being. I'm a proud person and like to take care of myself (said the hypocrite still being provided for by her parents*).
I'd like to also point out that nothing ever scares me, and I've seen many horror films, and read 8 Steven King books without faltering...but this dream, possibly because I was segregated and/or the distant personal advice I received, scared the hell out of me.
Its true i do that too focus
Its true i do that too focus all my energy to on one part of my body.
Dont always work but it helps.
I really want to put an end to it what is a real solution?
Does anyone study this out there?
Last night I woke up 5 times in the one dream only to realise I am still trapped!
So confused :(
I'm not sure whats happening but this morning id woke up early around 6, and drifted back off around 8, i tried to wake up, but then my body complety froze and i couldnt move my arms or legs, i tried so hard to wake up and tried forcing my arms to move and i felt as if i was almost shaking? When it happens i feel as if i am shaking rapildy and my eyes also flicker rapidly?( this is where it confuses me because i dont know if im dreaming this or its real?) then i think i am in a dream again and i dream that i've woken from it and ive got out of bed and opened the blind or walked around, then i wake up and i havnt moved a muscle, then i drifted off again, and im not sure how long i was out for but when i went to wake up again it happened again, the exact same thing, i cant move my arms or legs or body and im shaking uncontrolably. It then happened for the third time after i drifted off again ( i was extremely tired) although before i drifted off again i made sure id woken my self completely and turned on my side, to prove that id woken up. when i drifted off to sleep on my side again, when i went to wake up the same thing happened again. so this all happend in the same morning 3 times, straight after each other.
This has happened to me two other times in the past, both at different times, one was the other week, when i fell asleep during the day and had a nap. and the other happened a couple of months ago. I didnt really know what was happening and tried to believe i was actually dreaming this stuff was happening? I've never dreamt about anything bad or evil though, and i never hear noises. But my eyes do flicker open and closing and when they open im in my normal room with nothing weird in there or dreamlike, although its blurry and im trying look around. Ive never had them during the night? I dunno but this confuses me so much and i really wanna know what it is, and if it'll get any worse? i'm only 16 and this is the first time in my life its ever happened.. will i start seeing bad things eventually? do i need to see someone about it or take medication? Ive only started to take it seriously know afer i had it the 3 times this morning, and woke breathless and weak. and my arms and legs were slightly aching, as if i had been shaking them. Im scared as anything, is this sleep paralysis?
Sleep Paralysis
well i'm 14 this just recently started happing to me,my friend told me about it because it happened to him too but i didn't take him seriously but once it started happing to me it kept getting worse last night was the worst out of all of them i actually felt some on on top of me and my brother was just looking at me thinking i was awake and i tried yelling his name but i couldn't no matter how hard i tried and i saw a shadows and it was just a horrible experience i really want this to stop,how can i get it to stop?
SP or nightmare?
A few times when I was 10 (im 12 now) I think I expirenced this only in a different way, every time I woke up a saw about 4 demon looking creatures, all making weird noises I get up tried to yell "HELP" but I couldnt As I was about to run I paralyzed and could feel somthing pulling me back strongly, I wanted to cry but couldnt I was frozen and could hear laughter, load laughter, only in nightmares I never had a nightmare in a place that look exactly like my room, the pulling would after a minute pull back to my bed very hardly and my eyes would close and open for the second time,my heart pounding in my chest, I got up very scared and saw nothing in my room, I ran out of my room and went into the toilet, washed my face drank some water and went to peek in my dads room to see if he was O.K and went back to sleep,After a year when I was 11 the exact same thing happened, after this I never close my door and leave the bathroom light on. It didnt happen to me till now.
I believe that those are your
I believe that those are your anti-guardian angels. They will not hurt you, only those that cross you. You have to keep them busy or they will get bored and leave. Remember that they are a gift and someone elses curse.
damn
I am so relieved, this is horrible but I just dont panic. sometimes when SP happens to be I feel like im leaving my body to go to another realm but I never allow myself to advance because I had a feeling that I will never be the same again or come back(meaning die in my sleep @ 29yrs,since my Dad died in his sleep hence the paranoa) science alone cannot explain this phenomena alone there has to be something more to this. But im glad because now i feel normal because being a born again christian who loves the lord it is quite sad when the people you fellowship with say you are not right with God that is the reason all this is happening, what if spiritually this is another level you see what they cant or something else anyway I guess you always fear what you dont understand.
sweet dreams and stay came, fear makes it worse.
A good hint.
I was taking something out of my kitchen freezer and when I was closing it the door jammed for some reason then I checked for some loose shelf and start to realize that it was a different freezer from inside and then I realized again I was dreaming and waked up in my bed with that strange situation of paralysis (very funny uh?). Feeling this situation I started to feel floating off my bed in direction of ceiling. But I didn´t know if I was close to it or not cuz I didn´t wanted to open my eyes and when I opened it I was still in my bed laying in my right side looking directly to my door (near from my right bed foot), I could see my door because my room is always with a slight light from my lampshade (I never slept with no lights after started having those episodes since 2005) AND THEN!!! I saw a black figure with human shape but I couldn´t see legs, arms or head clear, it´s hard to explain this black figure, it was changing sizes or changing inside colors from black to dark brown/red...I also heard a noise coming from it, like a very loud and sharp wind, almost like a hoarse scream.. When it get closer (about 2 meters from my bed) I started thinking good things about it (I´m reading a lot about it since one year ago and all that I can say is that we must not fear it doesn´t matter if it is real or not, we must try to go for it´s direction and not try to run or scape, instead of it we must wish love, peace and light for these weird things) and when I did it the figure stoped moving in my direction and I wake up (once again).
Very strange situation because a long time ago I started sleeping in my side to avoid having those episodes and it was really working... but this morning was different
I think it happened between 3 to 4:00 am.
As I did read much about it I know that there are too many versions of understanding it.
I am an engineer and for me it is difficult to say that it is spiritual but when suffering it in that real moment I start to believe other things out of science limits.
Weird scary night
My name is chris, last night i had the worst night of my life. i am 20 years old and not afraid of the dark but i was last night. my first expirence of this sort of thing was being frozen on my bed i wasnt asleep i had just woken up my eyes were open but i couldnt see. but there was a girl lit up in white and shades of blue with gray hair in my mind and she was whispering something in my ear. i couldnt understand what she sed but it freaked me out it happend twice that night.
but last night was the worst i was in bed i couldnt get to sleep at all. it was a hot nigt last night and i was having cold flushes giving me goosebumps followed by not being able to move. the first one was my blanket got pulled off me and i had not the strenght or movement to pull it back but i kno it was moved cos it felt it. then throughout the night i was being touched and every time i couldnt move and had cold flushes. and twice i herd a voice it wasnt in english and it i couldnt move and was cold again with flushes and goosebumps like i was being pinned. after i herd this the second time and i was free i screamed and ran out my room as i was convinced there was something in there. i ran into my moms room and told her about it and she just told me to calm down and go to sleep.
so i decided to go down stairs and get the dog i felt ok for a little bit i managed to relax a bit and tried closing my eyes and then the dog was growling and shaking even though she werent asleep. i then was expirencing cold flushes but no paralyisis i then saw a flash that had seeming come out of the wall and lit up half my room. after this i had to swtich the light on and tried to sleep with the light on but obviously this didnt work so i switched it off again and was expirecing this all throught till the morning. as well as the dog can some one suggest enythin else as the symptoms were like sleep paralyis but i werent asleep i was awake all night. and how could the dog have the same expeirience. i am now at work after having no sleep and still realli fucked up about the whole thing.
Never knew?
I never realized what it was after all these year's, it first happened to me when i was about 16 and then suffered it for years to come, not even realising or finding out what was happening.. It scared me numerous times and the last time it did happen must of been when i was 23 (but this last time was when i experienced hearing voices and a crushing chest.... scared the life out of me and from that day i thought some thing took over my body, thank god it was'nt... just makes you think the mind and body can play tricks so easly)
25 now and not had it since but it always made me wonder what i suffered from, so thanks to all :D
so to people who still suffer it does go in time..
Scared to sleep
This feeling happens to me often,but last night it was the worst.I went to bed tired rather early.I laid on my tummy i felt someone (legs straddled) sit on my lower back. to keep my hair out my face I always sleep in a pony tail. I could hear breathing frozen couldn't move,couldn't see only hear..when i would try to move i would get angry and cuss and would hear laughing.I felt "GOD IT WAS SO REAL" someone taking my hair down out my pony tail.More like if i had a clip in my hair but I knew I had it in a hair tie. I prayed God please make it go away.My heart raced. I fell back into sleep.Woke to find my hair tie out my hair and across the room by my bedroom door on the floor.I am creped out! I had these sleep issues before but I was laying on the sofa on my side& it always is someone sitting on me holding me down.I always feel the anger I have about it.Feeling like I want to spit or cuss.Just a feeling of wanting to FIGHT IT!Last night was my scariest.I am alone at night,my husband works graveyard as a supervisor.My kids are in their rooms I wake wanting to run to their rooms&make sure they are ok,(as i did this time i found my tie by my door feeling my hair to be down.My heart stopped like the split second you have a near miss driving feeling) half asleep and stumbling to their rooms i go to check only to always see they are ok. Scared to go to sleep tonight.
SP experience of a 10 year old
It is wierd to have sleep paralysis. Sometimes I have sleep paralysis back to back. I hae it then wake up and go back to sleep and it happens again. Sometimes while the TV is on I have sleep paralysis and may be able to open my eyes and see the TV but can't move. Sometimes I feel smothered. Sometimes it makes me scared to go to sleep because I think I might have sleep paralysis.
How do you know?
I just had my first sleep paralysis experience two nights ago. I am only 14 years old, so it kind of freaked me out. I woke from a deep sleep, laying on my back which I normally do not do. I didn't open my eyes and I couldn't move any part of my body, though I could feel it. Though my eyes were closed the whole time, I think I hallucinated. I literally thought that I was going to be pushed through my bed and straight to hell, which scared the daylights out of me. My question is though, how do we know that sleep paralysis is not the work of evil? Why do most people who have SP hallucinate evils like hags and demons and not flowers and bunnies?
scary moment
i had my first sleep paralysis when i was 18. i first became aware that im dreamin. lucid dreaming. then i was sort of awake but i couldnt move. then i some how rolled out of my bed on to the floor without moving. i managed to get back in the bed but not come to my sences. aftrer a while i managed to open my eye then i saw a girl by the bed. i jumped out of the bed to shake her and ask who she was but then she just disappeared. after a while i saw a creature crawl over me (remembering it was a baby). this happened over a period of 3 hours before i finally woke up and were at full consciousness. i have never been so afraid. happened again an hour ago but then it only lasted for a minute with voices all around me. good to know its a term for all of this and its just the brain fucking around.
SLEEP PARALYSIS, NOT SO CONVINCED.
I would like to believe that this phenomena is a sleeping paralysis disorder, but research has not been able to explain why it happened to almost every member in my family and everyone else who lived in the old house that i lived in, which was asssumed to be haunted. Once we moved out, these events known as 'sleeping paralysis' disppeared. It happened to my family and the families that moved in after us. In addition, there were other sightings of spirits in the house during the waking hours. If this is called sleeping paralysis, I strongly believe that in some cases, it is definitely influenced by evil spirits. It happened to me when I was 8 and I will never forget the spirit's face before it held me down on my bed.
hey
last night my grandma got the blankets pulled off her.And then when she pulled the blankets back on her to go to sleep,She got held down by an evil spirit.She couldent move or open her eyes.Finally the the evil spirit left her alone,my grandma went back to sleep and when she woke up this morning her back was hurting real bad.
Nightmares, night terrors, sleep paralysis, and sleep walking
Well let's just start off by saying that I suffer from sn array of sleep disorders, I'm nearly 22 and I can recall having severe insomnia going back as far as middle school or around age 10. I have had random spurts of SP, sometimes weeks apart, or months, and even years apart, but I have always had a frequent dosage if nightmares. About 4 years ago, my first year at College, I began having an intermittent sleep problem that to this day still occurs, sometimes in frequent intervals, and sometimes months in between. And actually, looking back on my childhood I think this issue has always been around, but as an adolecent it's hard to wrap your head around such a scenario, thus it layed dormant for years. Recently my sleep problems have become far worse than in the past which why I now seek answers. A few months ago I had my first case of SP in over a year, it consisted of waking up with the eerie feeling of a little girl directly to the left if my bed, my eyes were opened but I was frozen solid, paralyzed and unable to movey body, only my eyes. For minutes I lay terrified of this girl watching over me until finally, with the utmost effort, I pried myself from the bed and the bought was over. Freaky, but explainable. What I cannot explain is my other problem that remains unsolved and occurs on average twice or so a month. Let me paint a picture. I wake in the middle of the night, typically between 2-4am, often abruptly, and after doing so I find myself frantically searching for an object or a person or some random, albiet absolutely important thing. A while back I recall tearing the area around my bed apart because I was certain there was a snake in my midst. This typically goes on for a period of 5 to 30 minutes before it suddenly clicks that what am searching for isn't there, and never was. At which point I relax, go back to bed, and usually will sleep the rest if the night thru. Never has it happened twice in one night, but as far as I know, I always remember it happening; thus ruling out sleepwalking. I have experienced years of nightmares that persistently haunt my dreams, and I have went through some pretty rough patches of insomnia in my life, but I have no clue as to what these middle if the night events are. There are no hallucinations involved, everything in the house is always as should be, just the one thing that isn't there. If anyone else out there can explain or has had similar experiences I would greatly appreciate to know what the problem is and how to have a good nights sleep without fear of nightmares, fear of SP, or waking up in the middle of the night as I so often do. Thank you kindly for your help,
Best Regard,
Bryan
Hey
I havent woke up trying to look for something. But i have however, had this dream of rocks huge boulders just falling down from the sky. And i wake up,and i can still see the rocks falling. I can even walk around. One time i walked out of our house because i was scared of the rocks falling on me. This isnt sleep walking because i can clearly remember and think about it. But it seem so real.
My experience with sleep paralysis.
My first case of sleep paralysis started when I was 11 (now im thirteen) i would wake up early, mostly when the sun was down and find myself frozen i would be awake and try to lift my feet then after a couple of seconds id brake free sometimes this would happen and i woudnt notice.Maybe im used to it.If anybody can give me info reply for any help.
my sleep paralysis experience (response)
not that it matters but im 13 too, but last night i was sleeping on my side and i tried moving my arm to cover my face from a "light" and no matter how hard i tried i couldnt move it. when i tried to cry (because i couldnt move my body)i was scared to find out i couldnt do anything. at least i know what it is now because this has happened many times before and my science teacher had said it might be because the soul left the body.
its happened to me off and on
its happened to me off and on for some years i find it only happens when i sleep on my back instead of on my side. pretty scary tho ive never hallucinated ive only just not been able to open my eyes or move.
I'm glad I'm not the only one.
For years I've been suffering with sleep disorder and just a few minutes ago it happen to me again. I had an entire dream about me not being able to upon my eyes and function correctly. The weird thing is, in my dream I know I was sleep the entire time and I keep telling myself, I have got to research this. I too, find that I fall into Sleep Paralysis mostly when I am on my back sleeping with my arms folded above my head. This seem to be the gateway to position to enter into the most odd and uncomfortable dreams imaginable. Whenever ever I find myself in this position by mistake I quickly change up; but again I have to say I am grateful that their is a name and their are others. Like myself.
My SP
I have experienced SP so many times in my life and I am only 16. I never really thought about it being an evil spirit or an alien encounter. I get it so many times that I can already tell when I'm going into SP. Normally it's when I'm half asleep and I start feeling a bit strange and then in my head I start thinking, "oh, man, not again". But I'm never scared, really. I think it's because I NEVER open my eyes. It's gotten to the point that I don't even get scared, it's more of a drag cos once you finally move, you get so exhausted cos it took so much energy and my heart starts racing cos it took a lot from me. Yeah, I kinda do feel a presence, but not enough to open my eyes and see a shadow of a man silhouette. For me, it usually happens about 2x a month and it lasts about a minute cos I've gotten so used to it that I know exactly what to do now. I just think to myself, "this really sucks" so first, I try to speak and I can't and it's so tiring. Then I try to move my leg. It's always my leg that kicks. And after I kick I get sooo tired and out of breath cos it took so much strength to do so. Only once when I tried to lift my head cos I felt like something was pinning down my head. That was the only time I ever felt something pinning me down. I lifted my head and I felt something push it down so hard that in the morning my neck was so sore cos it was slammed onto the bed. And one more thing, I remember once that I was thinking that maybe it was an outer body experience so I thought to myself to get up and out. And I slowly started feeling as if I'm getting lifted but I still have my eyes closed cos that I am afraid of doing cos what if I can't go back. So I got scared and told myself to stop and I woke up.
Hey guys, Sleeping paralysis
Hey guys,
Sleeping paralysis doesn't have to do with ghosts or anything, but instead with the brain and it's signals to our muscles. I've had sleep paralysis a couple of times & the first couple of times was horrible, especially the first because I wasn't used to such thing or knew it even existed. You see dark shadows & hear things because you hallucinate. I always feel someone is in the room, it's a really unpleasant feeling. I did my research a while back & found that SLEEPING ON YOUR SIDE OR SLEEPING WITH YOUR BACK UP REDUCES SLEEP PARALYSIS. I don't ever sleep with my chest up anymore & I don't get them because of that. Sometimes I do end up getting them, only when I fall asleep chest up because I dozed off like that by mistake.
Hope it helped, because it really helped me.
:)
SP and Person Holding Me
I have experience something similar to sleep paralysis. However when this occurs, I could feel a body laying close to me, wrapping their arms around me. It does not try to harm me, but more of a loving hug. I am frozen and cannot move. I break free by calling out the name of Jesus and repeating the 23rd Psalm. Can someone tell me what is this I am experiencing or feeling?
Am I crazy or was it Paralysis?
My first sleep paralysis happened a few years ago. I was just about to fall asleep, when I thought I saw and heard something outside my bedroom window. It was a small, dark creature, that crouched down in the corner of my window pane... And I just froze. My eyes shut themselves, and I couldn't move my body. My mind kept thinking, "If I don't move, it'll go away..." over and over again. A few minutes later, I just rolled over, and I was out.
My most recent experience happened a few days ago... And it was the most terrifying thing that has ever happened to me.
I was partially awoken by the power in my house going out. It was very late, and I keep a fan next to my bed. What woke me up was the sound of it starting and stopping. The power went out twice before just staying on. I was still half asleep at the time, but I remember a flash of light outside my window... I'm not sure if it was lightening or a passing car, but it caused a beam of light to hit the wall opposite to me. In that light, I swear I saw a shadowed figure! Much like that of a regular-sized man, shoulders and head and such.
It was at that moment I realized I couldn't move. I must have stayed like that for at least 15minutes, before being able to roll over. Again, I found myself thinking, "Just stay still, and it'll go away, just stay still..." Again, my body froze up. It's absolute hell, I have to say, being stuck like that in a moment of fear! But, the worst was yet to come.
After a bit of staying in the same position, I suddenly felt a very intense pain run though the top of my head, down my front side. It felt like needles being stabbed into my skin over and over. I forced myself to say, "St...op," which took all of my energy, because I was so frozen. Then, I swear, I heard a voice say back, "You stop it." The voice was feminine, but harsh, almost inhuman.
During both of these paralysis experiences, I found myself unable to breath, and eventually my lungs forced me to gasp for breath...
Are these symptoms beyond your average sleep paralysis, or should I be secured with my sanity??
"no you stop"
Hi I was reading the part of sp you wrote and the part were you said some creature feeling said "no you stop" that's the part I'm freaked out about because what u went through in that dream happen to me! I heard a voice say "no you stop" aswell soo strange I'm so glad I found out wth was happing to me anyways thnx for listening :-) sleep well :D
SP
Hi Insomniac
Your not crazy, some peoples expriences will be a little deeper than others, You get to see what the rest of us don't , not that I would want to see.
When ever you have this visitor come round don't hold your breath....just breath otherwise you will induce a head ache.
Just wondering though do you ever hear a sound , a noise like buzzing
that wakes you before your body freezes? let me know
Hearing someone speak.... bloody just about tops it.
I now keep a bible under my pillow when I sleep ,I have not had SP In Maybe 8-9weeks Sometimes I get it but then i notice it's because the bible has fallen off the bed, so what ever it is... it does not like bibles,' and no I don't do religion but I read a few lines every now and then..
wishing you all the best
ange
sleep paralysis
Hi lads and lassies, i get sp all the time, usually when im stressed or worried about something. I used to be really freaked out about it when it happened....used to think i was desperately trying to 'claw' for want of a better word, ny way out of a situation where i was being restricted or held down i suppose, but since looking it up a few years ago i get it now. Your half asleep. All the things you think you see are only dreams but because your brain is half awake you think they're real....they arent. Have you ever dozed off for a few minutes....say while you were watching tv perhaps....and vividly had a dream which combines where you are (in real life) with something else?(i.e dozing) thats the same as this i think (brain wise) but because sp happens when your in a deep sleep, you cant move. Im 27 and get this quite a lot, it goes away in a few minutes once your brain awakens fully you can actually 'think' your way out of it. I dont think its good to be posting that its 'demons' or 'spirits' on this site as there are a lot of scared young adults and kids reading this info. perhaps the 'u stop it' is actually what the person said and they dreamt 'stop it'....the voice wouldnt sound normal anyway as muscles are restricted....its probably hereditary which is why that family got it...etc etc etc.if you are worried about it being a ghost or whatever then that will only instigate it as i only experience it when im worried or stressed as do most people!! i firmly believe its nothing spiritual or daemonic whatsoever and i dont feel the sinister vibe i used to get off it anymore, because i logically cop myself on when my brain wakes up.
Hi, I also suffer from SP,
Hi, I also suffer from SP, the last episode being only last night. I always swear that I am awake at the time, but am not. I experience a loud buzzing in my head that gets very loud and then softer, and see a bright flash of light, sometimes red, sometimes white in my head. My doctor has told me that this is a form of narcolepsy, the syndrome where sometimes people just fall asleep no matter where they are or what they are doing. My sister also has a similar thing. When this happens to me, I can't move, call out to anyone, and am afraid that I'm having a brain haemmhorrage or something, that I'll be found dead in my bed and no-one will know what happened to me. Sometimes there seem to be people in the room, and other times it's just me. I have been advised to think of the buzzing sound as music, to imagine I am at a concert that I can leave when I want to. The last couple of times this experience happened to me I was conscious enough to do this. Didn't stop me from being scared, though. I'll try it again next time. I agree that it is a terrifying phenomenon.
Don't be scared
Hello everyone.
I absolutely agree that you should be careful what you post here. If I had read some of these comments as a teenager, I would probably be too scared to go to sleep at night. Please read this website's article again. It's a sleep disorder we all have. Our imaginations are very powerful, and our minds come up with some seriously scary situations. You all remember what it was like to be a kid and alone in the house at night, right? Every little noise seemed to be an intruder breaking into the house to get you. Likewise, it is terrifying to be stuck within your dream, frozen so that no one can hear your screams. It's no wonder we panic and think up demons and monsters when we feel alone and helpless. I've certainly come up with my fair share during SP.
For those who get this frequently enough that it affects them to the point of sleeplessness, consider going to a doctor - there are places that specialize in sleep apnea (truble breathing), bruxism (teeth grinding), leg-kicking and thrashing, etc - they monitor you wile you sleep to see what happens, analyze what's wrong, and go over what your options are to fix the problem. I'd love to hear of someone's experience after being monitored at one of these clinics.
All the best,
Jessica
Why white wash it?
If you are a teenager that has seen horrible things during SP you might want to tell your story. Why get on here and only tell half of it. Some of us believe in spirits and God and some of us don't. You have to decide for yourself what to believe. Most of us are so relieved to hear that we are not the only ones that see, hear and feel such evil. I don't know if it is evil spirits or not, but if I see horrible things I would like to think I could share them with yall. I don't want to scare anyone with my stories, I am here to try to understand it.
this whole thing started to
this whole thing started to happen to me a night that i had a very high fever i heard voices all around me and i felt like evil spirits were around me too...it felt like someone was fighting for me.i couldnt move my body but i heard and i felt it all.i suddenly woke up looked at my phone and saw the time..i noticed that the whole thing had happened in less then 3 minutes..it seems like im awake just my whole body has been paralyzed...i woke up crying i didnt know what to do..after that it happened a few more times.i felt someone moving my feet right and left i feel it and i pray in my head and i always wake up so suddenly...it always happens like 2 minutes after i fall asleep..idk what it is..but its always something evil...
paralysis upon waking
does anyone else ever experience this upon waking......not total paralysis but your feet and legs are totally numb and you know that it's not medical? what is this?
one way to stop from waking
one way to stop from waking up like that...sleep paralysis or whatever u call it..is to sleep on ur side...if u fall asleep on ur back and wake up like that...concentrate on lifting one shoulder off the bed. keep screamig for somebodys name too..even if u have no sound..it will bring u out of it faster.
I had this happen again this
I had this happen again this morning. I woke up and couldn't move. I started to hallucinate that someone was cutting into me with a knife from behind (as I was on my side). It was excruciating. I could see my hand in front me of me and I concentrated on moving it. After several minutes, I was able to move my hands and push myself out of bed. It's terrifying. I had chills all morning.