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Sleep Paralysis: Awake But Still Asleep

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Sleep Paralysis: Awake But Still Asleep

Hiro Takahashi

A person may wake up and find himself unable to move or speak as if he is frozen. He also may hear footsteps, see a ghost-like creature, or feel someone sitting on his chest. Throughout the history, people considered this phenomenon as work done by evil spirits. However, the modern science can explain the terrifying event as a Sleep Paralysis.

A Sleep Paralysis is possibly a hereditary disorder in which one experiences very frightening seconds or minutes of total body paralysis with little respiration and eye movements (1). A victim in this state feels awake, but he cannot move or speak (2). In addition to the immobility, the common symptoms include feeling choked or suffocated, hearing strange noises like footsteps and voices, seeing beings or dark shadows, and feeling an existance of someone in the room (1). Although these symptoms often direct the victims to believe in ghosts, mistransmission of neural signals in the brain causes Sleep Paralysis. When a person sleeps, his brain sends signals to inhibit any muscle contraction (3). If he comes into consciousness before the brain sends signals to activate muscle contraction, he cannot move his body, and consequently, become "paralyzed"(2).

In order to understand how a body becomes paralyzed while the person is awake, it is necessary to understand sleep cycles. In a mammalian sleep, the brain activity undergoes two different states called non-REM (NREM) sleep and REM sleep, which differ very much from wakefulness (3). NREM and REM sleep alternate cyclically through the night; in human, about 80 minutes of NREM sleep starts a night of sleep, about 10 minutes of REM sleep follows, and this 90 minute cycle is repeated about 3 to 6 times during the night (3). During NREM sleep, a body produces few movement, but the body has capability of tossing about in bed and producing some other motor events, such as sleepwalking and sleeptalking (3). The cardiac-muscle contraction and breathing occur at a uniform rate, and the eyes move slowly (2). During REM sleep, on the other hand, heart rate, respiration rate, and blood pressure vary (3). The eyes move rapidly because most dreaming takes place in this period, and the sleeper probably "look" at the moving objects in a dream (2).

The brain's control over muscles during REM sleep points out that in this period, a body is normally in the state of total paralysis, called a "nonreciprocal flaccid paralysis" (3). Probably to prevent a person from "acting out" a dream, the brain sends signals to inhibit any muscle contractions (2). Although some peripheral muscles, such as the muscles of the fingers and face, still twitch, the large skeletal muscles become relaxed, or "paralyzed" as a result (3). Some evidence supports that the motor paralysis of REM sleep protect against the acting out of one's dreams. A patient who suffers from rare syndrome called REM Sleep Behavior Disorder lacks the normal nonreciprocal flaccid paralysis, and he acts out violent dreams during REM sleep, often with injurious consequences (4). For example, a 60-year-old surgeon dreamt that he was attacked "by criminals, terrorists, and monsters who always tried to kill [him]" and fighting against them in the nightmare, he was actually punching and kicking his wife who slept in the same bed (4).

A nonreciprocal flaccid paralysis during REM sleep is accomplished actively by postsynaptic inhibition of motorneurons (3). Although the exact process of motor inhibition is not clear, some neurotransmitters and hormones are known to generate the many components of REM sleep. Aministering physostigmine, an inhibitor of the catabolic enzyme, increases the concentration of acetylcholine within the neurons in the pons, making it possible to artificially generate and start REM sleep in the middle of NREM sleep (3). Carbachol, the cholinergic agonist, produces a period of REM sleep in cat when directly injected into the pontine tegmentum (3). The hormone melatonin, a "master hormone" (5) that mainly controls circadian rhythms, also seems to play an important role in enhancing the REM state; the level of melatonin secretion by the pineal gland reaches its lowest during REM sleep (5). Such neurotransmitters and hormones probably activate or inhibit the activity of second messengers, which then activate or inhibit the third messengers, and so on till the last messenger inhibit the synaptic transmission or cause hyperpolarization of the motorneurons. And if, for some reason, the nervous or endocrine system continues to release the neural inhibitors, a person may experience Sleep Paralysis as he enters awakefully into or awakens directly from REM period (2).

While the modern neuroscience can describe the state of Sleep Paralysis as some errors of the neural transmission in the brain during REM sleep, a person who has seen or heard ghost-like figures/voices may easily believe that eveil spirits fully controlled his entire body. However, the images or noises, which the victim believes that he has seen or heard, are most likely hallucinations; and hallucinations, too, can result from the brain activity. In the 1960's, the Canadian neurologist W. Penfield introduced that electrical stimulation of the temporal lobe can cause the auditory hallucinations in the wake state (5). The buzzing or ringing sounds in the ears and other auditory hallucinations are closely associated with the activity of the auditory cortex and involves the temporal lobe (5). During the early period of sleep paralysis, the activity of the temporal lobe increases significantly, sometimes inducing hallucinatory sense (5). Similarly, the visual cortex generates internal visual stimuli, causing the victim to "see" terrifying figures during the paralysis (5).

How an episode of Sleep Paralysis induces visual or auditory hallucinations is still not clear, but it seems to have a significant relationship with anxiety (5). For anxiety is a neurocognitive event closely related to both psychological and physical processes, the extreme anxiety or panic may cause the release of several different signal molecules that trigger all kinds of physical events (5). A person experiencing Sleep Paralysis feels mortal fear or extreme panic, and hence, the brain generates and releases internal visual or auditory stimuli, producing hallucinations.

Also, hallucinations during Sleep Paralysis may happen, for one keeps dreaming even after some parts of his brain wakes up directly from REM sleep. Since the nervous and endocrine systems continue to release the neural inhibitors which sustain the paralysis, it may be possible that those systems keep releasing the neural activators that stimulate dreaming. Thus, a person continues to "see" the images and "hear" the noises produced in the dream that he has just had in REM sleep from which he has awaken.

Understanding more neural concepts of Sleep Paralysis, some researchers now hypothesize that a very rare condition called Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome (SUNDS) may closely relate to Sleep Paralysis (1). Upon the death, a SUNDS victim produces no body movement even though he experiences a myocardial infarction and strong breathing difficulties and should straggle in agony (5). The death may be caused by the extreme muscle atonia during Sleep Paralysis, which is so severe that even the cardiac muscles and the diaghragm paralyze (5).

Until I started researching on this subject, I have believed that the total paralysis of a body is due to an evil taking absolute control over the body. However, the interactions between neurons in the brain can explain this seemingly mysterious phenomenon in a scientific way. Although the explanation is not complete yet, for there are many unclear processes about Sleep Paralysis, the current hypothesis appears to reject the possibility of ghosts on this matter. Of course, it is impossible to completely disprove the existence of "spirits", "minds", or "God" affecting one's behavior. Nevertheless, like Sleep Paralysis and SUNDS, many or the mysterious conditions and behaviors which are only explained in supernatural terms probably result from brain.

WWW Sources

1)The Evil's of Sleep Paralysis

2)The Body During Sleep

3)Basics of Sleep Behavior

4)REM Sleep Behavior Disorder: A Neurologic Dissociative Sleep Disorder

5)Recurrent Isolated Sleep Paralysis

Comments made prior to 2007

I have been trying to figure out what was going on in my sleep untill i read this.Now i am happy to know what my body was expeiencing. It's quite scary your first couple experiences of sleep paralysis but now i'm gonna stay calm when it is happening to me and try to get my own understanding of the experience ... Jeremy, 21 March 2006

I have had sleep paralyisis at least once per month for the last 8 years. I am 29 as of this writing. I just had the experience about 1 hour ago and thus has caused me to do reasearch about it on the net. I noticed that many Dr.'s contribute this to anxiety, stress and other factors. My question is ... why is there always an evil presence in that concious yet body is still asleep phase? Today I heard a loud static sound, and opened my eyes to a spider crawling all over my arm. When I prayed to God, or said His name (Jehovah) the spider would start to disappear. I finally went thru my mental prayer when I awoke. This leads me to believe that it is more of a spiritual occurence, because I never have positive images while in this paralized state. I know there are many things in which our ancestors thought it was demonic rather than scientific, only to find there was a scientific explanation. However, I think this is different and cannot be simply written off as "scientific". There is not enough proof to show that it is scientific.

About a month ago I had another episode of sleep paralysis and I saw a small presence in the room with me. It was dark, and I could not see it's face (I am getting chills typing about it right now). My question is, why is there always an evil presence not only associated with my episodes, but so many others I have read about? ... Abel, 24 August 2006

i was thinking it is evil who do that during night but now i find out why. I am suffering from sleep paralyze possibly every nigh spicily when i have dinar ... Salah Nasser, 28 January 2007

I used to have this sleeping disorder when I was a child. It has come back once or twice with adulthood, but otherwise, it is in the past. I used to, with great effort, move my hand to my face and pull an eye open, which would wake me up, but sometimes the struggle was too much and I would go on into a deeper sleep.

Since the brain can do this to me, can it also cause me to get migraines just as I am about to wake up?

It seems, as I have discovered, if I get less than 4 hours sleep a night, I do not get migraines. If I get 6 hours or more, it's about a 90% chance I will wake with a migraine. Later in the day, I get an hour or two nap and that is the routine as it works. Doctors just sort of treat the migraine and don't get into the sleep thing I have. I take MaxAult for the migraines when they do get me.

I woke one time, and just as I woke, I felt this white-hot needle going into my head... bingo. A migraine in 5 seconds. That is how they can occur. I wake with them otherwise. I figure it my brain doing things it shouldn't. I have a clean bill of health otherwise.

Thanks for your time. Have a good day ... Jay, 11 February 2007

I have a question, and hope someone out there has an answer, it has been months and I have thus far failed to find one. Has there ever been a record of anyone receiving the effects of sleep paralysis without having been asleep? The reason I ask this, is a while ago, having not slept in a few hours, I was sitting at my computer, and it seemed to have happened to me. Within seconds I was too tired to hold up my own head, and my breathing got very difficult. Then I began to feel a sort of dizziness as my limbs lost feeling, and dropped to my side. after this, the dizziness turned to near blindness. I could see, but nothing would focus, and everything I tried to look at seemed to dart around like a mosquito. By this time I had no feeling in my entire body, could move nothing without quite a bit of concentration, and I could barely breath. My mother heard me try and make out some kind of cry for help, and found me there spilled into my computer chair. She rolled me to my bed, and poured me into it. Within about 10-15 minutes I had regained everything I once had, but my sea legs did not ware off for another ten or so minutes. I went to the emergency soon after. I had an E.K.G. and a C.A.T. scan, with no results, and I piss less in a week then the amount of blood they took that night. After basically telling me I was lying, the doctor told me that my symptoms did not fit anything at all. What I do know, is I have been researching the issue ever since, and can only base my problem on Sleep Paralysis. All the symptoms match. And again, my question....Has there ever been a record of someone under the effects of sleep paralysis without ever having gone to sleep? I hope you can shed some sort of light on this subject, as it,...well, it freaked me the hell out, and no one has been able to answer me! Thank you for your time ... Mitchel Henderson, 7 December 2007

I used get this "evil paralysed me" feeling when i was paralysed and usually saw a ghost. i tried to shout or move but no sound escaped my mouth and couldn't move at all. it happened again yesterday and was almost convinced that ghosts/evil spirits were getting the better of me. But, me being a practical and logical guy, erjected this theory and started researching on this phenomenon. I came across this research paper on Sleep Paralysis. This greatly helped me in alleviating my fears. And next time i "see" a ghost during sleep paralyses, ill just laugh at it ;-) Thanks for the research ... Siddarth, 10 December 2007

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Comments

sleep paralysis

Submitted by Paul Andrew (guest) on Mon, 01/18/2010 - 5:22pm.

I prayed the rosary and an evil voice came upon mine. I believe the African tribes it deff is an evil spirit sitting on ya. Evil spirits still live in the world, Christ did not come back yet to judge the living and the dead. One day, one day Love will come down to judge how much each loved.

WHEN I`M ALONE IT ABUSES ME!

Submitted by PaulaSmith (guest) on Mon, 01/18/2010 - 11:10am.

OK,
Sorry for the dramatic title but needed the attention. I am studying psychology and I see myself as grounded but my sleep paralysis is somewhat "freaky"! I agree with the biological theory 100 percent, I just NEEEEED to know anyone else during their state experiances a "Contact"? I hear footsteps yes, I see things peripheraly but I "feel" too!

Something gets into my bed ONLY when I`m alone and I "feel" it..its sexual :0/

Its (embarrassingly so) possibly myself and my sexual self portrayed here in illusion, but it just seems so fantastic an experience to put down as solely mental and biological!

Paula

I have the same experience. I

Submitted by Kyuuketsuki (guest) on Sun, 01/31/2010 - 1:00am.

I have the same experience. I always sleep alone and when I normally experience this it has a sexual feel to it... like I am having intercourse.
It starts with me waking up... cant move but it feels like someone is crawling on my bed towards me. I just lay there because fighting has just became pointless to me and only makes matters worse. I noticed that most of the time it feels very, I hate to really say this but pleasing, so I just don’t bother fighting anymore.
I wish I could explain it

please help me :')

Submitted by fifi (guest) on Mon, 01/18/2010 - 7:39am.

hello! my name is fifi. let me introduce myself for a bit. I am a person who always thinking of anything....in other words 'worry'. yes,worriness control myself. I always experience this sleep paralysis. I can't open eyes easily after sleep...but i know i am awake but it is just hard for me to open my eyes...I can hear noises and sounds surround me but it's hard for me to open my eyes... I tried to move my leg and my head with all my strength to awake me,,, and it's successful... I am worry and I'm scared to go back to sleep...but i am not hearing any strange noises like ghosts or evil...please help me... ;'( is it dangerous?? any cure for it? thank you before.. may God bless your kind heart for helping people

SAME THING HAPPENS TO ME CANT OPEN MY EYES!!

Submitted by Tony Tapia (guest) on Wed, 01/20/2010 - 12:51am.

hi, i also cant open my eyes easily in the morning, its exactly the same as you described. i want to know if you got a cure, or have found a solution for it. please reply, its scary. thanks,

It's only momentary.

Submitted by James (guest) on Mon, 01/18/2010 - 5:49am.

I'm 21 years old and I've had sleep paralysis since I was about 11 or 12. However, I feel that there was maybe a 3 year span from 15-18 with no episodes. The funny thing is the episodes were more recurrent and stronger (violent) when I was more spiritual and involved in the church.

Especially when I was younger I remember praying very hard to God in these times of absolute horror at what these ghost was going to do to me. I've never felt closer to God/Satan at these moments of sleep paralysis.

As I've gotten older I found out that sleep paralysis only happens because your brain wakes from a REM sleep cycle before your nervous system communicates with your body. Something in your brain causes panic emotions and causes you to visualize maybe some of your deepest fears.

I thought that sleeping on your stomach helps but it still happens when I sleep on my stomach too. I had a night a few weeks ago when I was paralyzed 3 times in row, so I think it was caused by my room being too hot.

My advise is to realize what is happening and try to calm down (easier said than done, right ;)! ). It usually only lasts 2-3 minutes - but it always feels like a lifetime.

Ghosts

Submitted by lee (guest) on Sun, 01/17/2010 - 1:08am.

i'm 16 I have the same thing, i wake up feel like im going to die, like my soul is being taken i can't really explain. Is this to do with ghosts because i have seen ghosts before this started happening. I do believe in ghosts and stuff and its scary, was wondering has anyone else seen or experienced anything with ghosts before sp.

Hey! Email me @

Submitted by Anonymous (guest) on Tue, 01/19/2010 - 6:19am.

Hey! Email me @ ..I wanna tlk with u about some things

let me know anything

Submitted by Anonymous (guest) on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 10:33pm.

i have this but with serious pain

SINCE I WAS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL!!! I'M NOW 20

Submitted by Edward Medina Jr. (guest) on Sat, 01/16/2010 - 4:56am.

Hey my names eddie, I've been have these symptoms sense middle school (I believe was the earliest). I've had them mainly in my house but I've also had them in summer school in high school. My symptoms are pretty similar to alot of you out there except off and on There's been changes. For example, When i remeber first having it I did also feel frozen in every sense of the word, but to compare it to the Summer school in high school incident and the one i just had about 2 hours ago, not so normal like all of you guys(form what i'm reading). In the summer school incident i feel asleep in class (like always) and felt like i was being called by a dark and havey/ raspy voice (which i considered to be he"devil") but at the same time I not only felt like i was being pulled but visioualy seen some sort of vortex swirl thingy (the best as i can describe) which had pics of something (i think like houses and trees... i know wierd....). Now as i was frightend, trying to pull away feeling if i went into it i'd die or th "devil" would have me. When i thought i woke up i was still in class with everyone around but soon woke up again realizing i wasn't reall up, as i look around it seemed that no one realized what i had just experinced.I know probably alot or all of you out there believe it was a dream of some sort, but i tell you from my heart, that didn't feel like a dream, it felt as if my soul was getting pulled and i had to resist in every way possible, it felt like death was about to happen, i didn't "dream" and "think" i felt it in my heart like this was not normal, now kepp in mind i can still see my desk but then still see and feel me getting pulled while hearing "the" voice. Now, between the years of my tenth grade summer school of course i would still have these "incidents" (the what i call "normal Incidents like all of you out there) re-occur. Today is Janurary 16,2010 at 1:32am while i'm typing, i just had another/different incident, (still feeling frightend). I went to take a nap because i have to be at work (where I am right now) at 12:30am, my nap taking started around 10:30pm, when i went to sleep, i already felt my self getting pulled( HAVE ANY OF YOU FELT THAT TOO, WHILE YOU ARE FALLING ASLEEP YOU ALSO FEEL AND KNOW YOU ARE ABOUT TO EXPERINCE WHAT YOU CALL "SP", IS THAT NORMAL? ME KNOWING THAT I'M ABOUT TO EXPERINCE IT BY THE FEELING AND NOT HAVE IT HAPPEN WHILE SLEEPING?) any ways, i already felt the "sp" coming so once again i try to pull out of it like i always do ( and to let you know, i have been successful not full going under "sp", i get out while i had a chance,lol) anyways, I tried to resist but not luck this time, and then it got wierd, this time i was looking at the stuff in my room, I WAS SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!! i was laying on the floor facing the back of a couch, and i think it was an aprtment cause as i tried to familiar myself with this "place" (which i didn't) i seen a small kitchen on the left and a hall which i think lead to the rooms, but as i'm laying there trying to get up i'm still in my frozen state. Now i tried to relax and it did kind of work to where i felt like i could move some of my body but that feeling of someone being there and me being frightend not knowing why i see this place kept coming back messing up my concitration, mind you, i know the whole time i'm still in my real room, it's like when you have you eyes close and you can still know where you are at. I've also got my hand on my wife trying to wake her up but of course no luck when you cant move. I tried all of the things i always try to wake up, but no luck again. so when i finally do, i guess i was so exhausted form that experince where i fell into a real knock-out sleep. As i think about it now i'm wondering, was i in the body of someone that was dead or dying, or is it something that has to do with the future? IDK.!!.!!!. so ya, i come to work use the comp, look it up and here i am. And let you all know, i do believe in GOD and i do believe in spirits. thank you...

how to escape

Submitted by Anonymous (guest) on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 10:56pm.

-realize you're in a state of sleep paralysis
-calm down
-try to move your fingers
-you'll get out eventually

Sleep paralysis

Submitted by Logan Sandoval (guest) on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 10:24pm.

I feel as if i can wake up when i want in my sleep as in voluntary have you heard of this experience, and it tends that i can see myself asleep * i can see my self* im able to walk and move but my body is still in bead ccan u help me out with some information

Probly Astral Projection.

Submitted by Xan Simone (guest) on Fri, 01/29/2010 - 10:38pm.

sounds like u are definately experiencing astral projection....which is amazing that it happens so easily for u bc that is something extremely hard to be able to do for the average person... alot of people into the occult work sooo hard on experiencing that, and its really rare and difficult to do, some people have accidentally harmed themselves trying to do that...but thats really cool. its something im interested in learning more about myself, its gotta be freaky walking around outside of your body and being able to still see yourself lying asleep in the bed lol thats awesome though. You should def. look more into Astral Projection though [out of body experience] i think it would be extremely helpful to you.

Lucid Dreaming. There are

Submitted by Anonymous (guest) on Tue, 01/19/2010 - 8:54am.

Lucid Dreaming.
There are sights and all that stuff based exactly on it.

Do u mind hittin me up on my

Submitted by Anonymous (guest) on Tue, 01/19/2010 - 6:31am.

Do u mind hittin me up on my email? I wanna tlk with u

Horrifying creature

Submitted by dSpiraL (guest) on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 7:36pm.

Yes, I had my first SP too and it was today. Before I went to sleep, the weird thing is, when I lied down on my bed, I saw a figure walking across the room, so then I quickly sat up again only to see nothing. At that moment I thought it was nothing though. When I was in SP in the middle of the night I saw a shadowy demonic creature closely resembling an imp on the ceiling. Right at that moment I was so scared, terrified at the creature. I think I saw another creature as well, but I can't remember it. I felt an electricy vibrationy feeling from head to toe (maybe due to numbness). I tried to move my left arm and leg as hard as possible, but they were not budging. And I also tried to talk. I think I actually felt my mouth open, but no sound was coming out. So then I started closing my eyes so I wouldn't be able to see the creature, but I still could see it when my eyes were closed long enough (maybe due to imagining it). So I started opening and closing my eyes rapidly so I wouldn't be able to see it. I think I felt like, this way I was escaping. I think I then fell back asleep, but woke up again with SP. This time it was short. Simply, I felt the electricy feeling then I didn't feel it, then I felt it again, and then I didn't feel it. It went on and off. I think I was semi dreaming as mentioned in the article, so I thought to myself, If I stop thinking, the electricy feeling would stop. I'm not sure if it worked and that time it just kind of creeped me out that I was paralyzed, but it couldn't compare to how terrified I was before. That phase was short and I guess I eventually fell asleep.

The weird thing is I never thought about imps as scary. Why would I hallucinate that small shadowy creature that appeared before me. I'm an agnostic,but I do believe in ghost and spirits. For the past months, I have been thinking about it on certain occasional days like 7 days out of 3 months. This SP having been my first time, I was scared and confronted my friends about this. One of my friends had this experience once as well. Note that I am 17 years old. My two other friends however, experienced this a lot of times. Those two friends strongly believe in spirits as well. I don't know why I believe in spirits, but something is just telling me that they exist. Its similar to trying to convert a religious person to become an atheist. As a skeptic, I don't know why a christian believes what he does, but I am starting to understand that as well.

Don't fear it! You can take control! trust me ox

Submitted by Nerine (guest) on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 12:07pm.

Hey everyone, I have just read many of your frightning stories and just want to say I have many of my own that are well in the past now. Thankfully I haven't had an experience since I was 23 years old, the attacks happen for around 8 years, now I am 32.
Anyhow I just wanted to add to this amanzing web site (that I wish I had so long ago)...that before google spooky things like this were never heard of and that's why I'm writing now, as I was speaking about it recently and someone gave it a name....WOW! it has a name and a scientific explanation!.....well at least someone tried to explain it scientifically but they probably never experienced it them selves... I searched for many answers and visited many werid and wounderful people, and in short this is what I found and did.......
Yes unfortunatly it is a spirit attack, and the more you fear it the more it enjoys visiting. The main thing that you need to do is understand it, is that its a lost and confused earth bound spirit stuck in transition between earth and were ever it is that we go for peace...heaven possibly. Just as any bully does this "thing" too has it's insercurities. These spirits have become upset and lonely and crave the human existance. I'm not sure what it is that they gain from us during the attack but you know it's not nice. So WHAT do we do about it?.. Well this is what I did, I sent it love....yes love....love is the highest vibration we mortal humans can make. When I had one on me who was probably one of the most evil one's of all. I said in my mind "I LOVE YOU" repeatively over and over, if that feels to werid just say I give you love......crazy hey....then after it creeps off you get up walk into a lite room and be assertive to it. Apparently spirts need permision, if no permission they will invite them selves, so tell them " you have no permission to come any where near me, my house my street, YOU ARE NOT WELCOME!. Then you counsel it...yes I know you think I'm wacky now but hey if it works who care's right....you counsel it to find love and a bright light and move towards it,, sounds corney but this is what I did and I haven't had an attack for 9 years! No I am not a medium or clarevoyant or what ever, but since my experience I realised that if there is bad spirits there must be good ones, so I started asking my beautiful dead grandma to protect me, I also slept with my dog in the room as animals seem to naturaly protect. After a while I started to feel more protected and these days I call on Spirit/god/what ever you want to lable that higher power as and now I feel protected all the time....ALL THE TIME!!!
The more you understand this other world the more you know your in control and have protection when you assert it and ask for it, so just as you would tell a spirit to go away so you would to ask for protection...out loud and always give thanks....you can also add in "If you are not from the light you are not welcome" That's if at some stage you feel a presence where ever your staying.
Also, a tip is not to sleep on your back as you are too vulnerble, atleast until you truly know in your heart that the spirit is weaker than the human love you can give, and that you are the dominat one and you decide when you want to deal with that other world......May the force be with you...just kidding....good luck and stay assertive oxox

Can u please email me..I

Submitted by Anonymous (guest) on Tue, 01/19/2010 - 6:43am.

Can u please email me..I wanna tlk

Sure

Submitted by Nerine (guest) on Thu, 02/11/2010 - 9:49am.

But how? I don't have your email address. xoxo

I am 24 yrs old and I have

Submitted by Saheed (guest) on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 11:29am.

I am 24 yrs old and I have been dealing with SP for the past 4 yrs now. It tends to happen to me when my stress levels are high or I have had lack of sleep. With me, I don't hallucinate nor hear sounds. The fear is not having control of my body. Being unable to move, open my eyes, call for help. I panick and I feel my heart racing. That sensation is abosolutey terrifying. I think to myself "what if I stay like this forever?" Eventually after a minute I come around although if I move too fast I will go back into SP again. I just thought I'd post this because the majority of posts I have read so far, people have ethier hallucinated or heard sounds or both when going into SP and I have never experienced any of the sort. I honestly think the brain is just playing tricks rather than it being some type of evil spirit but I could be wrong.

SP

Submitted by Monica (guest) on Thu, 01/28/2010 - 2:48pm.

HI,
I am more like you with your SP. I didnt even know such a thing exsisted. It happened again this morning, and I thought I wa having a seizure or a stroke. I am only 28 years old. I have never experience any of th evil spirts, but I cannot move any part of my body, I cannot open my eyes, or cry for help. When I finally snap out of it my heart is racing. This morning I woke up to give my son a bottle, I laid back down, I closed my eyes, and it immediately happened. I could hear my boyfriend talking and the alarm clock going off, but couldnt even roll over or open my mouth for help. This is by far the scariest thing I have ever encounted.

Sleep Paralysis

Submitted by Ankur G (guest) on Mon, 01/18/2010 - 2:30am.

I have been feeling exactly the same thing. I dont hear any noises but my body feels paralyzed. And I cant move or do anything at all.

Wonder what relations this has with our daily activities...

Sleep Paralysis and Lucid dreams

Submitted by Medic 5 (guest) on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 12:53pm.

My first encounter with SP occurred over fifteen years ago while at college.I was overtired/stressed/sleep deprived,and i was trying to take a nap on a couch in the common area at school.
I remember lying down,approaching sleep and then I felt a sudden distinct heaviness physically.I recall opening my eyes,only to see the ceiling while had this bizzare feeling that i could only describe at the time as being "absorbed" by the couch....not able to move, seemingly not breathing...extreme heaviness.This lasted for about a minute or so.after which I eventually woke completely.I had a second one in the same week or so with no difference than the first.
Both of these episode of SP were not scary at all, just weird feeling.I thought for a time they were seizures...and as the years passed, I thought about them less and less.

Now, its fifteen years later, and I work as a paramedic.We have a bunk room for 24 hour shifts,its a stressfull job, and we usually get our sleep in 2 or 3 hour increments between calls overnight.(note the same precipitating factors as fifteen years ago...sleep deprivation/exhaustion/stress.)and I finally had another.This one was different in the respect that it was terrifying.

I CANNOT STRESS THE WORD TERRIFYING ENOUGH!

This time,im asleep in the bunk room,and i feel that ive woken.I feel that ive open my eyes, only to see the dark of the room.I am convinced at first that my co-workers are playing a joke on me holding me down..but i soon realize this is no joke....its utter heaviness...that unmistakeable feeling.fear is setting in as i realize there is no one holding me down and i cannot move. i start to see some small flashing lights....while im hearing beeping and electrical noises.
I'm now convinced that I have died in my sleep and my co-workers are working to bring me back with cpr/ meds/ maybe the lights and beeps are the cardiac monitor.I actually died.
UTTER TERROR.TOTAL DREAD.
Soon after this i realize that no serious paramedic would even attempt to work a cardiac arrest in the dark.and i know im awake.im blinking....so im mentally trying to talk, dragging myself from this state...until im awake fully.Seems like five minutes to do this, probably much less.Now im awake, relieved, my heart is slowing down, its still dark, no beeping or lights and i can hear everyone else sleeping.....sooooo im blowing it off at this point and try to go back to sleep.I feel it come on in a rush two times after, but im able to steer away from it into true sleep.
So as a result of this happening at work, im all of a sudden researching nocturnal seizures/neuro disorders and im freaking out cause i dont want to be diagnosed with a seizure disorder, as that would not be conducive to my current profession.....finally i found this site, and the descriptions i found here and on other sites confirmed that it is not a dangerous sleep disorder.

The one thing I noticed was that when waking from the dream state into this SP state...this is where the fear is located.The feeling of confusion and helplessness is terrifying...and depending on what you were dreaming about,YES you could be very convinced that there is a horrible creature in the room with you causing your current state.Waking to this is not fun at all.
When i slipped into SP from napping in college,i was getting the same exact sensations and feelings, but it was just weird not scary.(i was aware of my surroundings before hand,never losing true consciousness.)This made it less scary.
Looking back I have had other, lesser magnitude episodes of this. Some accompanied by the "sonic boom" sound, or visuals.Almost always during daytime naps...Very interesting stuff once you realize what it actually is.I am so relieved by what i read on this site and others.

As far as other testimonials to spirits/demons/witches.....who knows? is SP really a stepping stone for this type of contact? are we who experience it more open to this stuff than the average joe?I am trained in my job to follow clinical methods, but personally, i believe that anything is possible.Science cannot explain away everything.

After realizing my episodes were SP,( confirmed its benignness with my PCP)ive been trying to recreate it but so far no success....it would be interesting to try to explore that side of my mind(LD/OBE)...its kinda fun after you can wrap your mind around the idea that it is harmless.

One mans Sleep Paralysis is another mans terrifying hag-paralysis.....so to everyone out there, dont worry too much about things that cant physically harm you.( but it does disturb your sleep du to fear or the actual SP)If you awake with no bite marks or bleeding, no harm no foul.Try to change how you think about the phenomena.Consider yourself enlightened, not cursed.I have yet to be called to a residence for lacerations/injuries due to a hag/incubus :)
But at the same rate im not ridiculing those who veer towards the spiritual aspect of it...SCIENCE DOES NOT EXPLAIN EVERYTHING!I would be worried about those who experience this with a preexisting heart condition though!i wonder if theres data on how many internal defibrillator are activated and fire during sleep paralysis!

Any EMS people experiencing SP? post it! i wonder if our job alone predisposes us towards SP and other sleep disorders....

Cheers everyone, and good luck! :)

Sleep paralysis

Submitted by Anonymous (guest) on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 2:56am.

It is so nice to no that there are others who have this problem. I have had episodes since I was 7ish. I remember one in particular when I felt like this green pirate thing was trying to attack me. The thing sort of looked cartoonish, but this thing was choking and attacking me. I can never move, talk, or see during these things; but i know that I am awake and I feel in danger. I always feel like something is sitting on my chest or legs and I have to try to "push" them off to awake. Lately, I have been having other strange dreams that are very similar to my experiences with lucid dreaming. I feel like i am awake and walking around but I know that I am actually still in bed. My legs feel heavy and the room is often disfigured or slanted. Sometimes I see out lines of people walking aimlessly around or I hear people calling my name out from other rooms. It is very hard for me to wake up from these dreams and I get really scared. It feels like I have to push something away from me or off of me to " get up." When I wake up i am sore, sweating, and out of breath. Are these experiences related to sleep paralysis and are there any ways to prevent/stop sleep paralysis.

I Need Help I Can't Fall Asleep

Submitted by Alex (guest) on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 2:05am.

I'm scared to fall asleep right now. Just randomly i feel normal and go to sleep. Then i wake up and cant go to sleep. My body becomes locked where i cant move. I fight so hard to move my body and if i do its fast that i move my body. It happened to me twice tonight the first time i blacked out in one eye. I tried screaming my dad's name and it wouldnt comeout. The second time i try i hear noises and get freaked out and try screaming out my dads name and i cant. Both times i try saying the "Holy Mary" when i say it, i cant even finish it the feeling becomes stronger and stronger and i get so scared. Whats going on, someone please help me.

terrifying paralyzing...

Submitted by child of grace (guest) on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 12:21pm.

The exact same thing has been happening to me... more and more often, closer and closer together. until, yeah, the other night it happend twice too. I tried the exact same thing. praying, and just saying a "Hail Mary" but i couldn't I couldn't move, i couldn't breathe, i couldn't scream, nothing. only think. I tried to pray but before i could even begin really, get past the name, or oppening, a searing pain would kinda ricochet through my head and vibrate just dizzying and hurting my mind to much to keep going. every time.
It was so scary. it IS so scary. everytime it happens, i seriously ask myself, "am i going to die? is this how it will end?"
and some of the time i can't breathe for so long, that i actually loose consciousness, i kinda faint even though i'm laying down. and then i come to, and it even takes more time like that before i can all of a sudden move. It's not gradual in the least, nothing- no control, to all of a sudden, BOOM, everything, all control.
Let me just put it this way for anyone who has not experienced this... imagine being locked in box with one glass side you are facing. tied and glued down so tight to the edge that you can't move. and then you begin to drown, the box and you. but you can't move or do anything to get out of it, just feel & see urself drowning or w/e. it's like that. you have no control to save yourself. you truly believe that you ARE dying.
and yeah, everytime before it happens, btw, i feel like, i know that someone is watching me, someone is there. but i always check, no one is, and then i start to doze off and then GONE!...
what's funny to me, is that it doesn't happen after i wake up, it's ALWAYS before i fall asleep. . . if this happens to you too, please comment.

NOT KNOWING

Submitted by Anonymous (guest) on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 1:33am.

Im wondering if this is a underlining of some of my condition I have freaquent migranes that totally paralize me to where my face droops and i cant move at all and sometimes my tongue,arm,or just certain parts of my body will go numb or tingle. also when i go to sleep I feel that heavyness on my chest sometimes and even see those figues in the dark I always thought it was just a weird shadow from something in my room, intell my siblings and I saw the man in the window with the red glowing eyes and the weird hat at our old place I think at that moment in time I new I was being haunted and this isnt anything scientific but I have always denied it and always turned to My god for moral supprot and it seems the closer I get to my faith and reliogen and into god the deeper I feel darken and sunk with anxiety and than not being able to sleep

the tossing and turning and of course the talking while im sleeping and the crazy dreams I have sometimes i can remeber all of them and sometimes when i awake i remember nothing or just bits and pieces, I thought it was just normal but finding this makes total sense now, the doctors tell me im totally normal theres nothing wrong, but I feel so weak and achey all over and i still feel like something is wrong , and find it almost hard to walk at times and feeling tired and restless almost all the time like I havent slept in days when I just woke from a nap or had 10 hours of sleep even 8hrs they fixed my migranes which i havent had for almost a year with meds but i do still get tention headaches.

I got rebaptized and go to church every sunday hopeing that god could find me some answers to why I wake and her the ringing in my ears but that hasent stoped either. so maybe theres a scientific way but honestly they just can explain the unexplain so they come up with science cause that sound more logical and mathmatical and easier to explain that can be seen than the unseen.

how do I make this go away and or stop I would like my normal life back and just to be free from this sleep paralysis or whatever this maybe cause im really not liking this whole thing I use to be able to funtion and now its getting harder and i dont want SUNDS TAKING OVER ME...IM A MOTHER OF 3 YOUNG CHILDREN is there a way to make this go away to cure it or something???

Sleep paralysis

Submitted by Philip John (guest) on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 1:28am.

Sleep paralysis as explained by science could be the mechanism how this phenomenon happens during sleep. The reason is not fully understood and therefore described as "some errors of the neural transmission in the brain during REM sleep."

We can rule out whether it is related physical, mental or spiritual by being careful of certain things:

BODY
Avoid heavy meals at night
Avoid sleep immediately after meals.
Check for excessive fatigue and/or sleep deprivation.
Check for any specific medications.

MIND
Check for mental stress/exhaustion.
Check for hopelessness or depression.
Check for continuous fears/anxieties.
Inspect your the crowd you frequent with, their words, shocking, or demeaning or insulting remarks, etc.

SOUL
Check for guilt.
Check for excessive bitterness, unforgiveness, hatred, revenge against anyone, especially against parents, elders, etc.
Check for too much causal treatment of sex, sexual immorality, porn, etc.

SPIRIT
Check for anger, bitterness or blasphemy against God.
Check for any indulgence in occult, magic, new-age cult/religions/gurus, oriental meditations, metaphysical exercises, etc.

Check and try to correct the above things in your life. Some things may be corrected easily and immediately. Some of things may need more time and may need other professional help like a psychologist or a pastor/priest, along with confession, renounciation, deliverence, sacraments, etc.

If you do not have any strong bondages, difficult habits or spiritual blocks, returning back to God's friendship should be easy and is the best shortcut for relief. Make a point to repent, pray, thank, and worship God daily, and also, a short prayer for protection at night before your sleep.

Worst experience

Submitted by Anonymous (guest) on Tue, 01/12/2010 - 11:05pm.

I have never in my life experienced anything strange as i am a christian and Belive in God without a doubt. But last night i heard soft breathing near my ear and could figure out what it was. i moved to my window to see it it was comming from out side but it wasnt. so i freaked out and told my mum and grandma.. can anyone explain to me why this wired thing happend because when i read all these comments from people i dont want these bad weired encounters to take place in my life and i have faith in God it wont. thanks.

Ive had similar expiereces I

Submitted by Anonymous (guest) on Tue, 01/12/2010 - 9:02pm.

Ive had similar expiereces I basically thought i was being possesed. Saying a prayer is what helps me. next time this happens to you try it.

please take 5 min. out of your life to read this!

Submitted by Keleigh (guest) on Mon, 01/11/2010 - 9:43pm.

my name is keleigh.i am 14, & have been experiencing most of what you guys are.i don't usually have these "terrors" when I sleep. But, when I do I feel helpless. My body completely shuts down. I cannot move,my eyes tend to roll back in my head constantly, or i blink very very fast.almost an indescribable speed. i cannot move, or talk.i try to scream for help, but nothing comes out.I try to open my eyes, but they roll back, or blink.i cannot hear anything, but this one voice.the voices vary time to time. sometimes it will be sounds of things, or a voice. & the voice will be constantly repeating "mine". over & over, & it doesn't stop till i wake up. i also do stop breathing. when that happens, i feel like i'm going to die.i hate this feeling. people who do not suffer from this, can not even come close to say that they know how we feel.when i have no more oxygen in my lungs, i try to stay calm. usually this doesn't work. but when i try to fight through it,it doesnt make a difference. so theres really no way to win.i don't find this as anything spiritual, but yet, i am no expert at this.but i would like to know if there is any way i can make this stop. i am only 14. still very young, & i dont wish to keep living with this. i want to actually not be afraid of falling asleep at night. please help!

Hi Keleigh, I read your

Submitted by Sherelle (guest) on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 9:44am.

Hi Keleigh,

I read your thing, as i'm having something similar, body paralysis and also the head rolling back. I opened my eyes or tried and i saw an image of my friend.

I just wanted to know, are you a Christian? Or were you ever religious?

wow, i thought i was the only

Submitted by Abbey (guest) on Tue, 01/12/2010 - 11:02pm.

wow, i thought i was the only young person going through this.. i know exactly how you feel.. i am 15, i've been having the same symptoms.. but they only seem to stop when i open my eyes.. and i hear voices.. but for some odd reason i always hear music ):
i just wish someone could help me.. i dont want to grow up with this either...

Kaleigh, I experience this

Submitted by Penny Hayward (guest) on Thu, 01/21/2010 - 9:48pm.

Kaleigh, I experience this also..
It is so scary, its like I'm going thru a warp zone, loss of everything. Everything in my body shuts down. I know in my mind I'm not sleeping because I'm able to hear my boyfriend laying right next to me sleeping, I'm able to hear noises as if I were awake. And this happens maybe 5 minutes after my head hits the pillow. I've told my bf this & hes very supporting. I found out I can make a veryyy very faint noise at the back of my throat, to make a grunt. Its small, but I'm thinking while I'm doing it, 'Come on please, hear me & wake me up'.. I wish I can scream and get myself out of it. I managed to a few times get him to hear me & shake me out of it. And once I pop out of it, I'm wide awake.. This has been happening maybe 5 or 6 times a year, since I was 12 and I am now 22. Its scary when an episode hits.

I have found some help

Submitted by Julie (guest) on Sat, 09/26/2015 - 9:49am.

Hi I want to do right back to you because I experienced similar things at nine and just really nice to have somebody else when I go to sleep I realize that I'm in a nightmare right away basically and so all I'm trying to do is wait for my boyfriend wake me up and in my head I'm trying to scream as loud as I can and I guess all that he hears all the time but gears on a daily basis is me what kind of like a really deep breathing but it's it really fast pace breathing and it's like a whimper and like he knows it like that's what's happening and he will wake me up. It's funny that his eye right before he actually gets me to the point where I'm physically able to wake up I'm totally were booked out being in the room I can have conversations with people and I can understand they're telling me but it's like almost like I'm seeing a different reality and I'm trying to talk to them about it and see what their scene with the actual conversation without me and I'll like them unlike into different world at the same time I don't know if you have not that's a lot and I'll I'll just randomly fall sleep I get too stressed out as it was a good self awareness kind of self dream. The cicadas I was seeing at the time as I describe it to them he actually witnessed it one time when I would fall sleep just in the middle of a sentence at falsely and so he looked up and I guess it's called hypnagogic hallucinations and it's it's like when your body can't transition all the way to to sleep from wake and it's like a lag time basically but in that state it's almost like you're you're actually in both places. The other half of this is that when I am sleeping I guess if I'm in a deep sleep so we comes in the room try to talk me and they actually have a conversation with me lasting any word of not to half an hour and fully talking back to them as if I'm actually awake and totally they are thinking that I'm awake the entire time and understanding was happening. But then when I actually do wake up later on that day I'll have no recollection of that conversation at all and they are like when you were awake yet but it really wasn't awake as I don't remember talking to you . Another way to describe that sleep disorder is that physically what's happening to your body if you're going from stage one stage ford of sleep instantaneously instead of going through progressive stages and the dramatic shift in the stages is what causes the tide was nations in all the confusion but that's I guess physically was happening during that the hallucinations

A little of both

Submitted by Anonymous (guest) on Mon, 01/11/2010 - 3:27pm.

I've had sleep paralysis off and on throughout my 26 years. I was surprised to see how many people actually are battling with this phenomena. I agree with both lines of thought...It can definitely be explained as a physical/mental/scientific happening, but it is also a spiritual one as well. The first and second time I experienced this I believed it was a demonic attack as it occurred with either pressure on my chest or a choking feeling. These feelings only happened for a moment and ceased after praying/pleading. The next times I experienced the paralysis were not as dramatic. I had been sleeping, had a dream, and woke up and couldn't move but could see everything in the room around me. Of course when you aren't sure of what's taking place you get frantic and scared, that's normal. But after having more experiences and after doing more research I have come up with this reasoning. We are all souls/spirits having a human experience. Because of this fact, there will always be a scientific and spiritual explanation for every experience. Its impossible to rule out one or the other, for the scientific simply tries to explain in human terms what is happening in the spiritual realm. As for the paralysis, I believe that your spirit/soul is "away" from your physical body during sleep (most commonly during REM) and sometimes we awake before we are back fully in our bodies, thus giving the feeling of heaviness or paralysis. Some have learned to control this and call it astral traveling or lucid dreaming. For those who feel or see evil beings during this state, be warned that evil does exist. Trust your gut feeling. But understand that this evil is probably around all of the time, you are just more keen when not limited by your physical body. Do whatever you need to do to become closer to the most high as that is where your protection will come from. Try not to be afraid because most of these entities use that negative fearful energy to empower them. And most importantly, know thyself. What you experience and why you experience it will never be exactly the same as anyone else's in this forum. Ultimately you have to be willing to investigate and learn more about yourself and individual experience to truly give you answers. I hope this helped someone. Blessings

Hi, Your comment really did

Submitted by Sherelle (guest) on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 9:49am.

Hi,

Your comment really did help me, as I am a born again Christian. I recently had the sleep paralysis but it was sudden waking up parlyzed for the first time I couldn't speak but prayed in my head but the paralysed feeling was still there, then it felt like my head was spinning, i opened my eyes or felt like i was, and i saw an image of an old friend- i messaged her, but she's fine, She's not saved though.

This happened three nights ago, then yesterday i was trying to sleep, fell asleep, then dreamed a dream in which the exact same thing happened to me, but it was a dream, this time i opened my eyes in the dream this time and everything was black, then in my dream i heard a bang, and my ipod tha was in my hand, or something (in my dream) had gone.

The thing i want to know, is how to get rid of it. Being a child of God, and the fact that God has so much power, how can you just get rid of it altogether?

Am I going crazy?

Submitted by Jaredandjoss (guest) on Sun, 01/10/2010 - 1:55pm.

Ok, so I have read through these posts, and have alot of the same things to report. I have had the paralysis a couple times as a child, with the dark figure. Never told anyone about it, because I knew my parents wouldn't believe me. I am now 34 and live with my two children in an apartment. The past couple weeks have been hell for me. The first time I fell asleep normally. I awoke in the middle of the night and couldn't move. I saw a dark figure standing over me. I kept repeating in my head, go away, go away. It wouldn't listen. I said (in my head) PLEASE go away. And it did. I woke up and was sweating. So that kinda freaked me out and the next couple nights, I slept with my tv on. I figured it was just an odd dream and went into normal routine again. That night, I awoke again, but couldn't open my eyes, but KNEW someone was standing over me. This time, I had a feeling that this object was here to harm me. I was begging in my head to please not hurt my daughter, who is 2, and was sleeping in bed with me. It immediately stopped. On the next night, I awoke with something breathing in my ears. So loud and swear I could FEEL the breath on my neck. I refused to open my eyes, and of course couldn't move my body. It only lasted a couple seconds and went away. So last night, I was still on edge, and kept my tv on. Every time I would doze off, I would be awakened by a LOUD bang. A single Bang. I thought maybe the neighbors were just being loud, but after awhile and into the 3am hours, I got a little creeped out. Only happening right as I dozed. So, I did finally fall asleep and woke up again not being able to move or speak. Didn't see anything this time, but felt something. I tried rolling over to my daughter and was trying to scream Help me.I could feel the breath suck out of my body, and I actually saw a white light. I 100% thought I was dying. And suddenly, I thought I finally woke up but went into an absolute terrifying dream where my bedroom door was slamming open and closed and there was a dark figure standing over me and my daughter and was insanely laughing at me. Again, I begged it not to hurt her. I always have to add the "Please" for it to stop, kinda strange. Well, I awoke for real, but when I awoke, It was like a funnel of my vision. Like in movies when they come to a realization and it is funnelling, hard to explain. I sat up and my daughter was sleeping, but crying in her sleep saying "scared-scared". On top of all this, yesterday, my home telephone wasn't working. Just a loud buzzing noise when you picked it up. Was told by Verizon it was equipment failure inside the home. And last night, my furnace stopped working in the middle of the night. (Not sure if this is connected or not). Two other off the wall unexplainable things have happened over the past two weeks. One was I couldn't find the phone. I kept paging it, could hear it, but couldn't find it. When I did find it, it was, NOW THIS IS STRANGE, on top of my curtains in my bedroom. Yes, on the top of my window, sitting on the curtain rod. Ok, so I KNOW I would not put this here. The other is a couple nights ago, I set TWO alarms. Both were turned off and I slept in. Again, not sure if these are connected, but I am scared shitless. Why would ALL OF A SUDDEN this occur?? Please email me directly with any advice, as I don't know who or where to turn to.

Please don't send rude replies

I've had a few very vivid

Submitted by iorost (guest) on Sun, 01/17/2010 - 1:52am.

I've had a few very vivid life-like dreams of seeing a dark figure in my house who later, upon bumping into it, was actually a very bright humanoid creature with many bright glowing veins and muscle work not unlike the art for Tool's albums strangely enough. only no mouth and very huge eyes. In my dreams when I turned around after seeing it as a shadow and ran into it, I fell to my knees and couldn't move from fear, but I could scream. It looked at me with it's giant creepy eyes and tiny pupils and gave me the impression in my mind that it was SURPRISED it could see me. Like it didn't expect that. I screamed get out a bunch until my girlfriend woke me up because I was screaming in my sleep.

Now I am not a religious person at all. Religion=mind control for the most part. BUT I do believe that hallucinations may not be hallucinations at all. What if what your seeing IS real? Scientists have agreed that parallel universes exist and bump into each other from time to time. There are many dimensions we are unaware of even in our universe. I also saw in a documentary about quantum physics that our brain receives 15 billion or so bits of information at any one time...yet makes us consciencly aware of only like 300 things. So what are those other things are brain thinks we dont need to know about?

Possibly what you see in some dreams or with sleep paralysis. What happens to you sound freaking terrifying. But don't go praising jesus or your random deity of choice. Whatever it is that those things are, I and some friends have noticed that they feed off fear. REALLY. Everyone, religious or not, saying they do, are 100% correct. They seriously love fear and hatred for some reason. Try doing what a guy a few posts above said, give it love. Or do what I do when I encounter these things while awake- don't take it seriously. Be super casual and chill with it. It will slowly get weaker and then give up and go "away". In time, it probably wont ever come back again.

This has definately happened

Submitted by Anonymous (guest) on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 2:13pm.

This has definately happened to me - just the paralysis. Sleep on your side rather than your back. For whatever reason, you cannot become paralyzed on your side!
Try leaving a lamp on in your room.

Try to say, Despite the fact

Submitted by Sherelle (guest) on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 9:53am.

Try to say,
Despite the fact that you may not be religious, God help me, Jesus Christ I don't know if you're there, but in please protect me, in the name of Jesus Christ leave me alone, I rebuke this..

The power of the name Jesus scares anything off, and it may just well be the opportunity for you to find out the power of God. I pray that it gets sorted. God bless

You're not going crazy

Submitted by Renee (guest) on Tue, 01/12/2010 - 12:03pm.

In reply to "Am I going Crazy?" No you are not. But I do believe that as a previous poster said, it is a little of both: spiritual and physical; I believe everything is. I don't want to freak you out, but being both a student and teacher of the gospel, I can say I truly believe that this physical phenomenon is very spiritual in nature.

I don't know what you religious beliefs are. The Bible tells us in Eph. 6:12, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places". Spiritual beings are all around us; we just can't usually see them. Who better to fight them than God - the supreme spiritual being.

My advice: As a Chrisitan, I would strongly urge you to ask Jesus to live in your heart. With him dwelling there, you have a defender living right inside of you!

Exodus 14:14 says, "The lord shall fight for you and you shall hold your peace".

The blood that Jesus shed for us becomes our weapon. Speaking the name of Jesus and "pleading the blood of Jesus" over these entities bring your battle to an end.

Keep us posted and let us know how it goes. Praying for you.

p.s. sorry couldn't figure out how to email you privately

this wired thing happend to me last night. please help

Submitted by J (guest) on Tue, 01/12/2010 - 11:13pm.

I have never in my life experienced anything strange as i am a christian and Belive in God without a doubt. But last night i heard soft breathing in and out near my ear and could figure out what it was. i moved to my window to see it it was comming from out side but it wasnt. so i freaked out and told my mum and grandma.. can anyone explain to me why this wired thing happend because when i read all these comments from people i dont want these bad weired encounters to take place in my life and i have faith in God it wont. thanks.

i read ure reply to that other person. Just wondering does this mean i have moved away from God fot this thing to happen? what should i doo?

SP

Submitted by Renee (guest) on Mon, 05/24/2010 - 12:55pm.

Sorry that I am just now responding to your question. I wasn't alerted via email on yours for some reason.

In answer to your question, your experiences does not necessarily mean that you have drifted from God. But only you can answer that question. Have you experienced a true salvation experience? Like I said, our Defender lives within us, but only if we have asked Him to dwell there.

Christians can experience this as well for various reasons. I believe many times it is because we have opened a door for evil spirits. We need to ask ourselves if what we are dabbling in would encourage such spirits to torment us. Many have mentioned the movie, Paranormal Activity, and how SP happened after they watched the movie. Coincidence? I think not. In my humble opinion, I believe that we may as well open the door and invite satan right on in! This is only one example of how we can entertain dark spirits. Other activities such as fortune telling, Ouija board, books and practicing in magic (which God's word speaks against). Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal it to you and He will.

It could simply be, my friend, that what has happened is because YOU ARE a child of God.

If and when this happens again, call on the mighty and powerful name of Jesus Christ and the demons will flee.

Email me if you have any questions. I'm here and praying.

Reply to Am I going crazy?

Submitted by Gina (guest) on Tue, 01/12/2010 - 8:03am.

omg, you are the only person I have ever found who has actually stated that this has happened to them while dozing off to sleep. Everyone else who says they have experienced sleep paralysis always say it happens as they are waking up.
Like you describe, there is a loud noise as I doze off but I also have heard a buzzing sound that seems to be distorted, as if I have plugged my ears with my fingers. I have had episodes of sleep paralysis my whole life with the first one happening to me at just 6 years old. After that, it didn't happen again til in my teens, but once in my teens, approximately 15 yrs of age, they happened on a regular basis and scared the living hell out of me. I hated going to sleep at night and would always put the tv on, but they would happen anyway, and whatever was on the television would be incorporated into this weird experience, but again it would sound to me like my ears were plugged, that's not to say the audio part of all this wasn't loud, because it was, it just didn't seem to be going directly into my ears, as if some kind of filter was being applied before coming into my ears. Once I hit my 20's the episodes weren't as often, but still there. There would be a few months in between episodes, but once it started back up it would happen for days in a row, and then go away again for a few months. I had more experiences in my 30's than I had in my 20's and now in my early 40's they just seem to happen in a sporadic fashion. I was once so terrified that I actually scrambled to get the hell out of my apartment, and it was like 3 in the morning, not a good time for a girl my age to be out, but I felt i would be much safer outside than in my apartment. That night I sensed an evil presence in the room observing me. Not standing over me, but off in the distance. I saw nothing, just sensed it's presence. It wasn't watching me intentively, I just felt it observing me and documenting it's observations. Isn't that weird? why would people experience this kinda thing and all have the same general feeling about it? so the night I got up and left my apartment scared the hell out of me, I didn't know what to do about going to bed at night cause I lived alone and had to get up early for work everyday, there was no way I could've went through this every night or I would've never got any sleep and probably would've lost my job, because it would screw with me so bad that I would force myself to stay awake for hours. The weird thing about it was, as soon as it started to get light outside (like 5-5:30am, it would stop. It would stop and I would doze right off to sleep because I was so exhausted from struggling with it all night. So by the time it was time to get up for work, I would just be falling asleep. In fear of loosing my job, I transferred to the night shift and worked 11pm - 7am. I figured since I was up half the night anyway, and scared to death to go to bed at night, and be alone at night when this happened, I may as well go to the night shift this way it eliminates me having to go to bed at night, it eliminates me having to be home alone at night, and it eliminates the threat of loosing my job and allows me to get a decent amount of sleep. Although this thing was known to only happen to me at night, it has happened during the day when I sleep, but only if I go to sleep while it's still quite early in the morning, like right when I get home from work, so I try to stay up til at least 9am. What is so weird is why it would stop once the sun started to come up and I would finally drift off to sleep without going into an episode, while just hours before, everytime I attempted to doze off I would go into a sleep paralysis episode! what had changed to make it suddenly stop when it just plagued me the entire night? what changed was nighttime into daytime, I wonder if that has anything to do with it, and if it does, it seems to me that whatever it is is something evil, since vampires,witches and ghost type figures seem to be nocturnal creatures. (I don't believe in vampires, ghosts and witches, I just mean that they are stereotyped as being nighttime entities.) please let me know if you have any or come across any further information, because you are the first person I have ever come across that has experienced this like I do, while dozing off. As for your other strange experiences, the phone on the curtain rod, which is very weird, and your phone not working, etc... I don't know why that occurred, and i can't explain it. That would frighten me, because it suggests whatever is fucking with you is really there. Since you are finding things in places not only you, but anyone else for that matter , would ever put them. I don't mean to make you more scared, and i hope there is an explanation for those things happening, but you shouldn't sleep alone until you have some answers. Maybe have a friend or relative stay with you for a bit while you try and figure it out. You may want to get a video camera and have it on as a sort of surveillance, and if anything strange happened during the night, see if it was caught on tape. Let me know what comes of this or any other experiences you may have. I wish you the best and peaceful nights of sleep. Take Care

sleep paralysis

Submitted by Anonymous (guest) on Tue, 01/12/2010 - 7:03am.

omg, you are the only person I have ever found who has actually stated that this has happened to them while dozing off to sleep. Everyone else who says they have experienced sleep paralysis always say it happens as they are waking up.
Like you describe, there is a loud noise as I doze off but I also have heard a buzzing sound that seems to be distorted, as if I have plugged my ears with my fingers. I have had episodes of sleep paralysis my whole life with the first one happening to me at just 6 years old. After that, it didn't happen again til in my teens, but once in my teens, approximately 15 yrs of age, they happened on a regular basis and scared the living hell out of me. I hated going to sleep at night and would always put the tv on, but they would happen anyway, and whatever was on the television would be incorporated into this weird experience, but again it would sound to me like my ears were plugged, that's not to say the audio part of all this wasn't loud, because it was, it just didn't seem to be going directly into my ears, as if some kind of filter was being applied before coming into my ears. Once I hit my 20's the episodes weren't as often, but still there. There would be a few months in between episodes, but once it started back up it would happen for days in a row, and then go away again for a few months. I had more experiences in my 30's than I had in my 20's and now in my early 40's they just seem to happen in a sporadic fashion. I was once so terrified that I actually scrambled to get the hell out of my apartment, and it was like 3 in the morning, not a good time for a girl my age to be out, but I felt i would be much safer outside than in my apartment. That night I sensed an evil presence in the room observing me. Not standing over me, but off in the distance. I saw nothing, just sensed it's presence. It wasn't watching me intentively, I just felt it observing me and documenting it's observations. Isn't that weird? why would people experience this kinda thing and all have the same general feeling about it? so the night I got up and left my apartment scared the hell out of me, I didn't know what to do about going to bed at night cause I lived alone and had to get up early for work everyday, there was no way I could've went through this every night or I would've never got any sleep and probably would've lost my job, because it would screw with me so bad that I would force myself to stay awake for hours. The weird thing about it was, as soon as it started to get light outside (like 5-5:30am, it would stop. It would stop and I would doze right off to sleep because I was so exhausted from struggling with it all night. So by the time it was time to get up for work, I would just be falling asleep. In fear of loosing my job, I transferred to the night shift and worked 11pm - 7am. I figured since I was up half the night anyway, and scared to death to go to bed at night, and be alone at night when this happened, I may as well go to the night shift this way it eliminates me having to go to bed at night, it eliminates me having to be home alone at night, and it eliminates the threat of loosing my job and allows me to get a decent amount of sleep. Although this thing was known to only happen to me at night, it has happened during the day when I sleep, but only if I go to sleep while it's still quite early in the morning, like right when I get home from work, so I try to stay up til at least 9am. What is so weird is why it would stop once the sun started to come up and I would finally drift off to sleep without going into an episode, while just hours before, everytime I attempted to doze off I would go into a sleep paralysis episode! what had changed to make it suddenly stop when it just plagued me the entire night? what changed was nighttime into daytime, I wonder if that has anything to do with it, and if it does, it seems to me that whatever it is is something evil, since vampires,witches and ghost type figures seem to be nocturnal creatures. (I don't believe in vampires, ghosts and witches, I just mean that they are stereotyped as being nighttime entities.) please let me know if you have any or come across any further information, because you are the first person I have ever come across that has experienced this like I do, while dozing off. As for your other strange experiences, the phone on the curtain rod, which is very weird, and your phone not working, etc... I don't know why that occurred, and i can't explain it. That would fighten me, because it suggests whatever is fucking with you is really there. Since you are finding things in places not only you, but anyone else for that matter , would ever put them. I don't mean to make you more scared, and i hope there is an explanation for those things happening, but you shouldn't sleep alone until you have some answers. Maybe have a friend or relative stay with you for a bit while you try and figure it out. You may want to get a video camera and have it on as a sort of surveillance, and if anything strange happened during the night, see if it was caught on tape. Let me know what comes of this or any other experiences you may have. I wish you the best and peaceful nights of sleep. Take Care

Listin to me

Submitted by Brandon (guest) on Sun, 01/10/2010 - 9:55pm.

I just came back from church today. I use to see visions when I close my eyes I'd see visions like a house and trees. Well this time I was trying to see those visions again but this time it was completely different the visions where images of evil things. I was paralyzed for about 1 minute moving my left hand up and down to get use of moving I finally got up real slow then snapped back fully awake. I wasn't scared or anything I went right back to sleep because this was in the day time. This use to happen to me when I was a kid it finally came back 2 years later. I just prayed to god about it to deliver me from evil. I have faith It wont happen again hopefully not, if you dont want to see it again angels and god is probably one of your only hopes to get rid of it what I believe.

Not sleep paralysis!

Submitted by Anonymous (guest) on Sun, 01/10/2010 - 8:12am.

Maybe for some it is sleep paralysis but for most it isn't. I have had these dreams for maybe 3 years and I can't get rid of them. Do not read this article and actually believe that it is just a sleeping disorder! People are always trying to come up with scientific terms to explain a demon. Those dreams will not stop unless you ask God to come into your life. I just recently had a horrible dream. I'm sorry, but there is absolutely no way that it is just a sleeping disorder. I am going to take care of this mess tomorrow. Giving up is exactly what Satan wants you to do. That will only make it worse because then he will have control over your life. Trust me. Here's a little test, when it is happening, say Jesus' name or a prayer, or recite it in your head if you cannot speak. You need to say it with power though. He won't be there to save you everytime though. You need to accept him into your heart. Please take this into consideration

Until Recently

Submitted by Christina (guest) on Sat, 01/09/2010 - 10:31am.

Until about half an hour ago, I had no idea what this feeling of being "stuck" or "paralyzed" was. It has happened to me a few times in the last couple of months, and the feeling frightened me like no other. I was unable to move; I felt like there was a heavy weight on my chest --like I wasn't breathing. I couldn't speak. I felt almost as though I were being held down by invisible chains; constricting me.

Looking back on the few experiences now, I feel as though there may have been some sort of presence in the room with me. At those times, though, I was more panicked about not being able to move than whether or not I was being watched.

When I did regain "control" of my body [as this was how I saw it at the times that it happened], I felt like a wave of heat [admittedly, not unlike an orgasm] swept through my body, and I was able to move once more.

Just had one of the scariest experiences of my life

Submitted by Paul S. (guest) on Sat, 01/09/2010 - 5:23am.

So a couple hours ago I tried to go to sleep, like any other night. I had some chill music on my computer playing in the background, and was reading some news article on my iphone, hoping to fall asleep faster. Once I felt I was getting tired enough I put the phone down and tried to fall asleep.

So for the next half hour or so was in a state half asleep, half awake. Somewhere around that time, I started to dream. It started out with me being in some kind of room similar to my real life room, and it was dark, also nighttime in this room, and I was also laying in some sort of bed or couch, as if I teleported there. In this room, there was stuff everywhere. Boxes, clothes, just random stuff piled all over. Then, as I was laying there, I focused on a pile that was in the middle of the room. I looked at it, and it was motionless... but not for long. All the sudden, the things on top of the pile started lifting up. This pile of things rose into the air, and I was trying to figure out what the heck was going on.

But, as this pile of stuff started to grow and morph, it began to take shape, and then I realized this mass was turning into some sort of being. All the sudden I wasn't alone in the room. The individual things of the pile weren't distinguishable anymore, this thing grew and morphed, quickly turning into a floating black human-like smokey mass, with defined head, and arms. It didn't feel like a "good" presence either. The closest thing I can think of that would come close to looking like the thing in my dream, are the Nazgul demon creatures from Lord of the Rings.

It floated there, in the middle of the room, just looking me for several seconds. I looked back not knowing what to do. Then it stared to hover, slowly coming towards me. Then, it was basically on top of me, and that's when I felt this overwhelming rush of fear, but before I could react, all the sudden this thing lunged at me.

It basically tackled me, but since it was a dark, smokey entity, it just ended up engulfing me. Then in those moments I felt like I was fighting for my life, and I tried to fight him off.

I was somehow still aware of my actual physical self, and just thought, "snap of it, WAKE UP!". But when I tried to open my eyes, I couldn't. Then I tried to move my legs, and then arms, but I was completely paralyzed. At that moment, I felt, no I KNEW, I was back in the real world. I felt awake and more aware, but I couldn't see anything in that chaos except ... feel the darkness.

Then, I began to panic not being able to move, so I tried to yell out for help but nothing came out. I kept trying and trying to yell, and trying to get up, but nothing. My muscles wouldn't respond. I have no idea how long I was paralyzed for. The only thing I could do was breathe. I was trying to fight with all my strength to move my muscles but I couldn't, and it was terrifying. It felt like whatever that thing was, was trying to get inside me...

But then, as quickly as the thing lunged at me, I came to and was able to move again, as if someone just flipped a switch or snapped their fingers, and it was over. But, moments before coming out of it though, within the smoke, I saw some sort of human-life face for a split second. I have no idea whose it was.

Now with my eyes open, I jumped my arse out of bed, fully awake now. I gathered myself and turned on the lights.

I then went to my comp and Googled "Sleep Paralysis" to see what I could find. I'm glad I'm not the only one something like this has happened to.

I'm a 25 yr old relatively healthy male university student, and I have never in my life experienced anything like this. I am also not religious, and don't believe in the supernatural. Besides my quirks, I'd like to think that I am a pretty sane human being, but I really don't know what to make of what happened last night.

I remember the dream, and the paralysis was VERY REAL. I was definitely awake and couldn't move, and now I'm scared to go back to sleep.

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