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 Paralysis4)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
Well Hot Patootie!
I must say I laughed at my ignorance after the wave of relief overwhelmed me due to this paper. It's nice to know that others are experiencing exactly what I am, however, some at a higher degree. I was a bit skeptical at first because of the evil presence I felt, why would I feel a large dominating being was choking me, but the hallucinations explained it. I can now with ease erase my three suspicions
1)I was being attacked by a demon
2) My brain was being taken over by an evil psychic
3) I was chosen as a specimen for an aliens observance and each time it occurred they were downloading information of my daily life....
Talk about an overactive Imagination, huh? x3 Fortunately I can abandon these ideas, however besides the presence exuding evil and inability to move has anyone experienced a form of pain whil experiencin SP? It's not "LIKE OHMIGAWDE, SOMEBODY JUST HACKED OFF MY ARM!!!" kinda pain,but a bit more placid. I guess it would be more closely related to an intense pressure. The white noise is a good way to describe the noise(Although it more so reminded me of the sound effect in pokemon when Alakazam uses the move "psychic", but again, overactive imagination) but as my attempts to move increas so does the intense pressure in my head. I think that is also what frightened me.
Besides pressure does anyone experience somewhat of an out-of-body experience? It drifts back and forth between me having my eyes open(If my eyes are truly open or if I'm just dreaming that they're open, I can not tell) and myself viewing me with the struggle, it's both at the same time if that's possible or make any sense >_>;;
Anywho, a reply or comment if you share the neither feeling would be appreciated, thankies~~~ =^-^=
I'm really scared.
I'm 11 and I'm looking after my little sister for the night. I'm scared of ghosts and every time I go in my bed I hear buzzing sounds and beeps. Every five minutes I hear something, and I think it might be because we have a semi detached house. I sleep on my belly, and I can hear too much! It scares me and sometimes I hide under my covers because I'm so terrorized.
My little sister is asleep, and so is my dog. My big sister is coming very late, and I'm arleady thinking that I'll stay downstairs with my dog and wait for my sister as I'm too scared!
Please tell me how I can control this. I'm really scared and I keep hearing creeping. I'm in the UK and it's 19:53. PLEASE HELP ME, IM REALLY SCARED!!!
Every night I hear someone banging on the window and the wall, and it's really freaky! Please help me, I'm really scared and I can't breathe sometimes. I've been unconsious two times because of this and I get scared very easily.
Also, if my mum goes out or something I nearly die, because I'm home alone and everyone is asleep and I know I'm alone because I hear things and see things.
My mums boyfriend says because I have a 7b in English I have a wide imagination and therefore see things that are not really there. I don't drink at all during the day because my teeth go all cold and shivery, and now I'm scared to death. I don't eat before I go to bed and I don't want to be awake at midnight because midnight scares me. I don't know why, but I want help and I'm crying atm. I'm watching Michael Jackson Private Home Movies, and my friends on MSN are all trying to scare me!
Try these three things
Try these three things
1)Keep a knife under your pillow
2)Turn your pillow (below part up and upside part down)
3)Try moving your toes
Hope that will work.
awakening in the dream
i have these symptoms for a very long time. every time is scary but i let the fear overtake me so i can learn to control this. this state of mind is very energy consuming.
i had experience that i could get up from my bed and explore around me but it was like seeing thru a mist, i cant open my eyes all the way.
why is this scary for me.
well its scary because you are awake in a second but you know that you are still/trapped in the sleep.
in the beginning i would do almost everything. pinch, slap, scream, bite my self so i could wake up and when i did wake up i couldnt keep my eyes open for a long time, they where just to havy.
i know one thing that i never tried and that was to ignore this state of mind.
i know if i let go i will die its simple as that and thats why im fighting every single time.
today my control is better than first time.
when im awakening i recognize situation immideatly
and i focus all my energy on eyes so i can open them.
it takes up to 5 sec for me to do that but i manage to open them after all.
now this happened to me 2-3 night ago.
i tried to open my eyes but it was fake. i was still in the dream state of mind. so i just panic and tried even harder.
thats why im saying its energy consuming.
that day i give up the fight depending on life situation and just ignore this like saying what the hell i dont care any more im tired of this bs.
that day i will die because i think that body will fell in sleep and you mind will be disconnect forever from your will.
ps. i did have up to now 3 awakening in one dream.
and its not that scary as it sounds.
you wake up from normal dream but in the second dream you just think that you where just dreaming you are still not aware of how complex this is. now this second dream is not so long you wake up from it very shortly,
now the 3th dream you are aware of that you had all those dream in one dream but you are paralyzed and the fight for survival beginns.
awakening in the dream part 2
by the way i almost forgot to tell you that there is much more scarier then sleep paralysis
and its when you are choked in your sleep.
you wake up immediately and you cant breathe.
now you struggle to take a breath and you cough for 15-20 min
just to normalized situation.
im not fat or something like that and i do have cardio, strenght training.
i did discover that it was the food (stomach acid) that was the problem. i did eat in wrong time and the food was running backwords causing me to choked, especially food like yogurt based food, pancakes, cinnamon buns. i cant eat past 6-7pm just to avoid this because this is very dangerous.
MY SP EXPERIENCE
My experience with SP started happening after I saw Paranormal Activity (haha). Being scared caused me to loose a lot of sleep. I've been kicked out of my parents room about twice now because they're tired of me sneaking into their bed lol! I'm 19 yrs old and I need to conquer this SP because its getting really annoying. I've had this happen to me maybe twice in the past but its becoming more frequent now. The first time it happened I did see a shadow and heard a voice saying "Abadubaduba." (don't ask because Idk lol) The most recent one was just a couple of days ago. I was sleeping on my back (that's a no no) and there was this pressure on my chest (not harmful, but freaky) and I was of coursed paralyzed and terrified. I started saying a prayer and it went away and I was able to move again. It was like 1:30am. I couldn't go back to sleep of course and since I google every life crisis the first article I read had a picture of a demon sitting on a girl's chest. My immediate thought was GREAT!!! This obviously was not helping me. As I read more, I found that it is a sleeping disorder and I do believe that your mind is extremely powerful and can cause you to hallucinate if your fearful. What I'm attempting to do is get back into my regular sleeping pattern, no more panicking, less stress, more exercising, etc... I understand that there is a chain reaction to all of this. Paranormal Activity caused me to loose sleep, the following weekend was Holloween Horror Nights and then Holloween. Lots of partying and no sleepy time can cause stress and anxiety. I refuse to let this run my life!! Out of sight out of mind, I've learned you have to keep positive. Anyone else who suffers from this you have to keep yourself strong and remember that it is ALL in your head! It is not harmful, regardless of all the other stories you have read everyone's lifestyle is different and may interpret their SP experience from a totally different point of view (including what they hallucinate.) I'm going to try the path of aggression and maybe go into F you mode if it happens again lol. It gives me a relief to know that there are other people that have this problem. I got this and you've got this too!
Maybe not such a bad thing??
Sooo I have been getting these around 3-4 times a week...and sometimes multiple times a session before and ONLY before I go to bed...never as I am actually waking up from a full night of sleep.. But its only been happening since i have started looking up and practicing different things about lucid dreaming and out of body experiences...so I am wondering if by any chance this might be the first stage of something like that?? Like maybe since My body is asleep and my mind isnt..I can kind of lead my mind into whatever I want to happen as I actually go into a deep sleep and the SP stops.. the only problem with that is I can never get that to happen.. i always have to wake back up first..and then go to sleep normally..and sometimes it does it again and again before I actually go to bed...never really scary at all, I get the ringing noise and I cant move or talk..but my breathing is always normal and today is the first time I "saw" something or "felt" a negative presence.. but the mind is pretty powerful..I guess fear got the best of me this time.. but yeah..does anyone know how to go to sleep after being in a state of Sleep Paralysis or do you guys always have to wake up first too, and then go back to sleep? Any help would be greatly appreciated..thanks :)
My experience
Here is a pre-warning that this is a bit of an essay, and my experiences aren't as far out or interesting as some. But I feel like I have to get this out. Btw I am a 20 year old male.
Just had one of these. Not the first time I've had one and gone online looking it up straight afterwards, but the first time I've posted my own experience. Usually when it happens I just go back to sleep, sometimes I get it 2 or 3 more times sometimes I don't.
Typically for me, the paralysis occurs without any other disturbance. No sound, no feeling of an evil presence or anything. This is how it was for the first 2 or 3 years that I experienced it (from about 16 onwards). I would simply be paralysed, not at all afraid but frustrated that I couldn't move.
Since reading about it online, and this leads me to believe that it may be in my head, I have started to have more negative experiences with it. Nonetheless, I have had nothing near as bad as what most people here post.
Typically when I'm experiencing it, I have about 2-3 seconds warning that its going to happen. Usually its as I'm laying in bed going to sleep, suddenly I'll feel the buzzing of my skin and in my ears and usually I'm too slow to get up. A second later I can't move and the paralysis gets consistently stronger. If I fight it, sometimes I can win and move, but these days I don't bother. Especially because the harder I fight it, the louder the noise in my ears gets. Its a kind of white noise, very high pitched buzzing, and when I struggle it can become so loud it scares me and causes me to back off.
Usually when I open my eyes I can't see anything out of the normal in my room. The exception is when I think someone is nearby (family/friend not spirit) and I try to call for help, and I don't know if it comes out at all or if I imagine it. But sometimes I think someone is near me and I call out, and later when the SP wears off no one is there. I can't be sure why I think someone is there, I just do.
Once I have seen something while paralysed, and this was my most bizarre experience. It occured while I was laying on my back, and I woke into the state. I had been having a dream where I was mucking around and had wrapped myself in a sheet, but suddenly the sheet had covered my face and I was suffocating. By the time I realised this, I was too weak to take the sheet off my face and I thought I was going to die. I then woke into a state of paralysis where I found it was very difficult to breath, which is not normal for me, but I had read about it. I focused on my breathing, small breaths, and I managed to become calm. I was curious because I had read about the demon on the chest, so I dared to open my eyes. The room was quite dark and there was a shadow or haziness above me, and I looked at it and heard a white noise like screaming sound in my head. I immediately felt my face turn into an uncontrollable grimace, I was truly terrified. I closed my eyes and calmed myself by focusing on my breathing again. Then I decided that whatever it was couldn't harm me (how I arrived at such conclusion in such an irrational state I don't know ;p) and so I started laughing at it in my head, and I told it that it was pathetic. Pretty much immediately I was back in control, and I sat up awake with everything as normal.
This was not the only scary experience I have had, but the only one which truly terrified me (not including non-SP related nightmares). I just had one which was not so terrifying while I was having the experience, but more scary after I had woken up.
I was dreaming, and at some point I had become partially awake. I felt myself suddenly becoming paralysed, and didn't even bother to struggle because it was too late. Suddenly I felt as though something was forcing me into my bed and holding me paralysed, though I didn't feel a physical force on me. The white noise in my ears became very loud and I heard very distinctly, screamed inside my head, "I wish you people would talk with me more". As I wanted the situation to end I thought aloud "I'm being silent" about 3 times, which at first made the noise go down but then it returned. So, I actually went silent. Then I felt it was trying to retaliate by shaking me and I could hear whooshing, and so I i tried to relax by imagining I was in a jet flying through the sky.
I ended up forgetting about the experience, and instead had a bizarre dream. Various events involving real life characters unfolded, mostly regarding recent issues such as university commitments. But after about a minute in any given dream, I would return to some room which had people I know circulating around it, as well as some bizarre characters and most notably 5 girls, all around the age of 13, casually sitting around the place. They were seemingly the only characters of interest, and when I spoke to them I knew I was dreaming, unlike when I spoke to other characters whereby I fell into another dream to return shortly after. After returning to this room for probably the 5th time I realised they were always there and I said to them "I have noticed that all of you are always there in the same spots. This is a really boring dream." Shortly afterwards, one of them grabbed my foot as I walked past and I was paralysed. She said to me "I'm going to put you in that machine there" and pointed to something which I didn't see clearly but looked like a table. She asked "Do you know why?", to which I responded "A foot massage?" and she said "No, not really". I experienced barely an instant of terror before I was awake. Suddenly I recalled the SP incident and somehow the 5 girls in the room and the voice in my head seemed connected. But hey, it could just be in my head. I haven't had a real nightmare for at least 5 years excluding SP, and haven't had an SP episode for at least 6 months, which is why I felt the two were connected.
Sorry not all of that is relevant, I really rambled on. But, like many others, I felt the need to get it out. I'll close by offering some advice on what has worked for me (some of which others have already suggested).
I find it rapidly gets worse for me if I fight it (noises get louder, sense of violence increases), and so I don't. Rather than escape by waking up, I choose to escape to unconscious dreaming. So I just relax and think about my breathing. Either I will fall asleep as planned, or I will lie there relaxed for ages and realise that it is over.
If I feel I am being truly attacked, aggression seems to help. I have found that acting(ie. thinking) aggressively usually results in increased violence from whatever it is "attacking" me, but getting angry greatly reduces my fear. The screaming in my ears gets louder as I go, but once I start on this course I have never backed down, and it is usually fairly rapid that the sensation goes away. I find that strangely in this dream-like state I can articulate my feelings towards this thing much more quickly and potently than I could ever towards a person while awake. I am usually too afraid to start on this course because I know it gets worse before it gets better, but once I start cursing out whatever it is and insulting it, it always goes away.
Ultimately the more panicky you get the worse the experience gets. So unless you are taking the path of aggression, you should relax and as someone else said go with the flow rather than fight. Midpoints lead to more terrifying experiences.
Getting Rid of SP
Thanks for your post, it really helped. My experience with SP started happening after I saw Paranormal Activity (haha). Being scared caused me to loose a lot of sleep. I've been kicked out of my parents room about twice now because they're tired of me sneaking into their bed lol! I'm 19 yrs old and I need to conquer this SP because its getting really annoying. I've had this happen to me maybe twice in the past but its becoming more frequent now. The first time it happened I did see a shadow and heard a voice saying "Abadubaduba." (don't ask because Idk lol) The most recent one was just a couple of days ago. I was sleeping on my back (that's a no no) and there was this pressure on my chest (not harmful, but freaky) and I was of coursed paralyzed and terrified. I started saying a prayer and it went away and I was able to move again. It was like 1:30am. I couldn't go back to sleep of course and since I google every life crisis the first article I read had a picture of a demon sitting on a girl's chest. My immediate thought was GREAT!!! This obviously was not helping me. As I read more, I found that it is a sleeping disorder and I do believe that your mind is extremely powerful and can cause you to hallucinate if your fearful. What I'm attempting to do is get back into my regular sleeping pattern, no more panicking, less stress, more exercising, etc... I understand that there is a chain reaction to all of this. Paranormal Activity caused me to loose sleep, the following weekend was Holloween Horror Nights and then Holloween. Lots of partying and no sleepy time can cause stress and anxiety. I refuse to let this run my life!! Out of sight out of mind, I've learned you have to keep positive. Anyone else who suffers from this you have to keep yourself strong and remember that it is ALL in your head! It is not harmful, regardless of all the other stories you have read everyone's lifestyle is different and may interpret their SP experience from a totally different point of view (including what they hallucinate.) I'm going to try the path of aggression and maybe go into F you mode if it happens again lol. It gives me a relief to know that there are other people that have this problem. I got this :)
hey!! i guess this whole
hey!! i guess this whole episode of yabbadabbadoo(whatever the demon whispered in your ears) is all because of lack of sleep..infact i suffer from panic disorder and i have read that a recent study confirms that this whole sleep paralysis is very common with anxiety patients and those(like me) who have odd sleeping hours( courtesy:movies like paranormal activity)..dont worry if it intensifies go visit a doctor and not a demonologist(just a joke)..i hear antidepressants(my staple) cause these activities to decrease substantially.. if you feel you need any more help..add me on gtalk (lockheed128)
This used to happen to me all the time
I've had this happen plenty of times, but I've never seen or heard anything once I had woken up out of my nightmare... it always happened after nightmares! I just remember being very scared, but never had a clear reason why.
Im 29 yrs old. But I
Im 29 yrs old. But I distinctly remember all my sleeping paralysis experiences since I was 12 yrs old.
I still get them but now a rarity. Just this morning after my workout I went off to sleep with the blanket all over myself, covering even my face. In about 20 minutes after the nap I started feeling breathless, thinking that the blanket probably was choking me and soo i tried to remove it but could not even move my hand and infact saw another face pressing mine very hard. i tried to communicate with it but the sounds remained in my brain (which sounded rather robotic!).
Then i opened my eyes and saw a black crow sitting on the ceiling fan, seeing it i went to my maid who was standing on the terrace. i realised that the sky had become very cloudy and dark. I asked her to shoo away the crow from my room. As she went in I saw a black cat n a dying black dog on the roof. I also saw my face covered with some mud and i tried to wash it. It all seemed so real but then i realised that i was still dreaming when i saw a diamond ring on my thumb which i had never seen or owned in real life.
I tried to open my eyes again but with the greatest effort and shuddering of my body I managed to get up.
I dont know what happens to me, Im thankful to this site for providing atleast a few answers to my sleep paralysis queries.
looking forward to hearing from you.
Warm wishes,
Ruchika
India
I was scared at first! But after a few....
Yeh first time as it did happen i was totally scared, especially when ur sorta conscious but i still thought it was a ghost or something. Even my friends said it was a ghost. I still believe it was - so after a few experiences i said in my head "FUCK YOU GHOST, BACK THE FUCK OFF, WHAT I DO TO YOU" when it was currently happening. Now when i think about it its funny. Thanks for this article I'm feeling less scared.
tu nguyen, from australia. 2009
SP Keeps on happening
I started having them when I was 17. I am 27 now and still have them. They told me in a dream when I was having SP it wasnt my time to go. they made me leave far away because they wanted to take me. I woke up durring this dream and heard footsteps far away aproching closer to the door but when they got to the door there was no one there. I woke up. Also durring that same dream I heard my little boy laughing and playing with my ferits. He was far down the hall way and as his laughing got closer he reached the door but there was no one. He made it to the foot of the bed, he jumped on the bed I felt his hand on my foot and it went away. That happened Augest 18th.
It follows me everywhere from AZ to TX to diffrent houses. Sometimes they stair me in the eyes 5in from my face and sometimes they touch me. But they made it clear Aug 18th that they wanted me to go with them.
Anyone that can explain this to me a lot clearer please do because I am getting a bit concerned about it.
Anyone that belives you enter a diffrent reality when you experiance SP please contact me because I do.
Sleep Paralysis at age 14
YES FINALLY!! I always tried to explain this feeling to my mom but she would never really understand. It happened to me after I became 14 years old. People say that it doesn't occur often but it has happened to me at least 3 times a week. And whenever I have these horror attacks, it happens to me at least 5 times before I can fall asleep. It is truely a terrifying feeling. I have never really noticed any ghosts or any paranormal activity, but I have always felt suffocated. The first time this happened to me I thought I was gonna die. Then after it happened to me for a while I try to relax but I still have trouble breathing. Oh, how I wish somebody can stop this horrifying experience. Thank you for your time for those who read this, and thank you for making this article about Sleep Paralysis.
P.S.
I really hated that when I tried so hard to wake up and just struggle to move any part of my body, nothing would move. I remember the last time this happened, I managed to open my eyes a little and I could see in front of me and just saw my mom using the computer. Oh, how much I wanted to scream and shout for my life, just to wake up. Please someone reply to me if you have any tips or ways to help stop this feeling. Thank you.
start trying to move your
start trying to move your toes first to alert your body that you are awake. Remember to stay calm,eventually you will wake up.
IT DiDN'T W0RK
replying back t0 the c0mment bel0w me, I did try m0ving my t0es, bcuz i was t0ld if y0ur t0es are the 0nly thing that y0u can m0ve during SP then there's a gh0st/spirit 0n t0p 0f y0u, but i c0uldn't even m0ve them. My wh0le b0dy was just fr0zen. I felt like i c0uld m0ve in the inside 0f my b0dy, but n0t my physical b0dy. Weird.
Okay if you have the
Okay if you have the heaviness on your chest,that is a different occurence and if you are seeing things. Are you a believer in Jesus Christ?
THiS JUST HAPPENED T0 ME RiGHT N0W!
0h my gosh! this just happened to me about 20 min ago f0r the very first time! I was s0 scared! I was ready for bed, I prayed then after about a minute I fell asleep but at the same time I still felt awake inside. I heard a buzzing noise that was getting louder and louder. But I thought it was just the heater noise. My body felt paralyzed. I could not move at all. I was just in anatomical position, frozen. I felt so scared. I wanted to yell my room mate's name but no sound was coming out of me because my lips couldn't move. In my mind I just kept yelling her name because I wanted to wake up, or get up. After about a minute I started hearing me yell her name inside my head. Then I slowly could move my right shoulder then the rest of my body followed. After that experience, I called my room mate right away and asked if she could sleep with me tonight. And now here I am typing this experience on her laptop in her room. I'm just glad I didn't see any shadowy figures or felt like something was attacking me like the other people described. That must be much more scary. I would probably cry if I experienced that also. I just hope I don't experience this again. It's scary!
There's saying tht you have to move your toe when SP is happenin
Hi my name is Tenzin and I'm from Tibet. My parents told me tht wheneva they experience such things, they spit on the face of tht dark figure and tell thm to go away. I did it too but it was useless. At hostel, we were told to move your toe and pray and i don't know if it's helpin or not. I was frightened as shit whenva it happens. So I'm like used to it but fear is alwaz there. Thesedays, I give them my cutie smile whenva I meet those figures. Tryin to be friendly though it's giving me heck of fear. Lol. I want to suggest my friends here tht you shoul be fine. Everything is normal, only difference is we all are dreaming different dream coz your dream belongs only to you. Haf a gudnite everyone!
This is bizare, as I had an
This is bizare, as I had an episode of this last night and have been for the past 3-4 years, of which I can remember. However, every time I try discussing this with a friend, "I wake up sometimes and can't move it's a horrible feeling, like you're still asleep. Have you ever experienced it?" And they would reply, "yeah like you're asleep and then you jump." And I always used to think no not like that, but was so confused by it all that I just linked the two.
In addition to the timing patterns stated above mine differs as I have NREM sleep where I wake up semi-conscious and start to sleep walk (i.e last night I was turning the light on and off, and sitting up in bed.) I can always vaguely remember these, then when I'm back in bed I fall back to sleep (probably to REM rest, I don't know as I'm no expert!) but find my self waking up 10-20 minutes later (it seems) completely paralyzed.
The usual thing which I experience is awareness and I find my self trying to fight it by telling myself to wake up. I can sometimes see the whole room, sometimes I just see blackness. I also get a horrible tingly stabbing sensation throughout my body, almost as though it could be shaking.
One of my experiences was very unusual, I felt out of body and it felt as though my body was spinning all around the room. Whether it was the feeling of the tingling causing me to hallucinate I do not know, but what I do know is that it was absolutely terrifying.
Another experience is I was asleep next to my mum in bed, and I was trying to call her for help for minutes, which seemed like hours! But no matter how hard I tried to scream it just seemed like a little murmur and no matter how hard I tried I could not scream, talk or get her attention. Finally when my body decided to function I woke my mum up and asked if she could hear me calling her. She said no, so I just assumed that I was dreaming.
Most episodes feel like they last from around a minute to several minutes. I probably get them 2-3 times a week, mostly after not long from being awake/sleep walking. Also I tend to find that I get them more if I eat before I go to bed, or I get them during naps in the day, or if I'm under alot of stress. I always wake up in the morning feeling rough with a bad headache if I do get SP. It is become a daily nightmare as I always feel exhausted!
I was talking to someone in
I was talking to someone in my dream, although not aware I was dreaming and a terrible feeling came over me. I felt a profoundly terrible feeling from my chest as if my life force was being sucked out of me. I saw though my dream and could see a black face with no eyes and the face of the person in my dream was like a mask covering the reality. The person was trying to keep my attention but i could see the evil grin of the true figure I looked down and could see its hands reaching into my chest... and that truelly terrifying feeling I dont know how to quite describe... intense fear, with a draining helplessness as if your very essence is being pulled out of you quite painfully x100. I became very angry the charcter was still talking to me and I yelled "F@@k you Liar get off me" and I pushed the figure. As I was pushing I awoke as I completed the "off me" portion of my sentance. I could still see the figure but more clearly now and was completely awake as anger replaced the fear the figure lost control and got up to leave. I was paralyzed but managed to break through it and Say "Im going to beat your a$$" as I sat up pulling away the covers. Just as I was getting to my feet the figure reached the door and dissapeared, its clothes had amazing detail it wore a fedora and a trenchcoat and I was left standing awake in my room with everthing just as it was while I could still see the figure a moment earlier.
When I awoke the figure was in the exact position as portrayed in the drawings on other sites.
I have had other times where I has woken from dreams paralized but it was not scary but those times were occompanied in the dream with dealing with some sort of entity. The first time was when in a nightmare I became lucid and demanded the presense chasing me stop and give me a gift... I awoke paralyzed to beautiful music. The second time I had a dream of watching a presence go to wherever bad things were occuring in some village i was looking down on the i went on some sort of car ride with someone who I identified as not being a regular dream character then all of a sudden I was on a sort of white astral plane with the figure that looked quite like the demon except for white but it had a good feeling to it and it gave me some advice on how to master fear saying "dont fight the waves of the ocean go with flow. Now comes the hard part." I awoke paralyzed to the sound of the tides of a beach in my bedroom.
i know is a spirit
At night when im asleep everything is quiete and suddenly i hear a voice more like an evil voice i can really hear what it is it said something to mei couldnt really make out what it was but it wanted to talk to me so i started waking my husband up but only i couldnt because i couldnt move i was being help by this spirit i felt like it was next to me in bed ..1 thing for sure i know it was a male spirit i just felt it because the voice was deep ..i sometimes freak out when im going to bed because im afraid this will continue..sometimes i try to fight it off by not being scared so i get up from my bed only i see my self lying down while im still in the air..THIS IS TRUE..ITS LIKE IM FLYING AROUND THE HOUSE OR SOMETHING IT WANTED ME TO COME OUT THE WINDOW SO I GOT SCARED AND STARTED PRAYING...WHEN I STARTED PRAYING IT WAS LIKE MY SOUL GOT CLOSED TO MY BODY IN BED AND I WOKE UP...what ever it is is trying to get to me and i dont know what to do..i want it to go away...sorry for rambling so much i needed to talk to someone .
Wow, the descriptions here
Wow, the descriptions here are very vivid and validate what I have experienced for more than 20 years. I am now 41. REading the descriptions especially about the choking feelings brings back my anxiety and almost a flashback experience. I know my grandmother had this and was also terrified by it, but she died when I was pretty young. My sister once told me just to stay alseep if I can't wake up and I could never quite explain how frightening it is. The "hallucinations" of someone being in the room or even doing something to me are also very similar to the ones described. My husband is supportive and knows to shake me if I make any type of moan in my sleep but often I can't or think I am but don't make a sound.
What helps
Always have a glass of water handy. If I wake up I sit up fast before I go back to sleep so it doesn't recur and drink the whole glass of water. This helps prevent the dry throat/ choking if it recurs. I need to really wake up before I can go back to sleep. If my husband is there I'll get him to push me up quick before I can go back to sleep.
Try never to nap and have very regular sleep hours. I had way more problems when my babies were little. I love naps but regret them when this occurs either during the nap or when I sleep that night and am not as tired.
I do better if I sleep 6-7 hours at night not more. I am not religious or superstitious so I only blame this on bad luck/genes. I have also tried to relax and wait but it is absolutely terrifying almost every time. Next time I am going to remember that you all wake up eventually every time as well!
am not sure.
I think I have sleep paralysis as well many times most of the time I cannot move but I test my tongue to make sure I am awake usually I can move my tongue but when I scream nothing will come out. Also there have been times when I'm not asleep and it happens. Once I was in bed and someone kept texting me I was awake I was going to text them back later because I didn't feel like it at the time. All of a sudden I felt this pressure on my body and I could feel something there I knew it was about to happen again. I started feeling more pressure on me and than my eye vison got blurry for a little and my eyelids kept trying to flicker shut but I was fighting to keep them open. I saw a black shadow go from one corner to the next. and than my vison was not blurry anymore and I was able to move. am I alone here and this isn't the worse case. sometimes I'm awake and my heart beat starts to race and my ears pop and I know it's about to happen. if you have an idea what you think it might be could you email
may be helpful for readers
if everyone would please google 'sleep paralysis' and 'astral projection' it might answer alot of your questions! your experiences feel very real because they ARE very real, but please note that when you bridge between the waking and sleeping worlds, your mind will still interpret and manifest things symbolically, and so if the idea of paralysis is frightening to you, your mind will still interpret your feelings into a somewhat frightening physical manifestation. i have myself had numerous experiences with the "some one sitting on my chest thing" and it was very confusing until my friend explained to me from a metaphysical standpoint what it's all about. so rest assured that yes, these experiences are more than dreams, but no, they are certaintly NOT demonic in nature. sleep paralysis is harmless, and is associated with the pressure placed on your chest when your soul returns into your body at night after projection. HOPE THAT HELPED!
hello
my name is keshia and i'm a 21 year old girl trying to get to the bottom of a lot of experiences i've had in my life. hallucinatory sleep paralysis had to have been by far the worst.i have read countless books and websites and am very curious as to why most scientists are not seeming to realize the demonic pattern in these occurances. many people around the world, of different ethnic, religious and spiritual backgrounds are having the very same experiences. it is not something our subconcious minds are making up.we are very awake, very concious and very scared when this happens. i myself have had many paranormal experiences in my life, angelic experiences (:D), i can see auara's and am very sensitive to energy. i've already decided to devote my life to trying to understand these phenomenons and how to help others going through them. we all KNOW intuitivly that what we feel when this happens is not the average nightmare. and so far, our science cannot explain this. hehe, anyways, i would really like to talk to more people about this, so maybe oneday in life, i can be someone who will help solve these nightmares so we can all have a sound sleep with peace and love in our hearts all the time. xoxo.
sleep paralysis
Hi, my name is tracie and i am also 21. I am writing you not on my account but on my cousin amanda's. She has experienced something similar to this. She said she saw scary visions and she said it felt like the bed was being shaken and she didn't move or make any noise during this because i was in the same room and slept through all of it. And my friend pointed out that it was around 3 when this happened. I wondered if that was a coincedence like on Amnityville Horror, when the guy wakes up at 3 and goes crazy and sees crazy things.
WOW this sight is very
WOW this sight is very interesting, i have been experiencing these episodes for a while now but tonight it really scared me. I feel like im being raped and im not sleep at all, i get the sleep paralysis when i wake up after a dream and im just lying in bed. Right now it is 5:51 am and i cannot go back to bed because im to scared. Sometimes i can feel a person touching me inappropriatley and even trying to kiss me and other times somethings just holding my neck down but i can see a dark shadow above me, i try to just close my eyes so i cant see and relax until its over but its really scary and i wish there was something i could do.
Say help me Jesus in the
Say help me Jesus in the inside if you cannot talk aloud.
SP
Sleep Paralysis happens to me all the time. Sometimes 2 to 3 times a night, not every single night though. The nights that it doesn't happen are amazing because it really is such a frightening experience. It started happening to me when I was about 16ish(I'm 21 now). I mentioned it to my mom probably once, she just sorta shrugged it off but I can't wait for her to see this website so she knows that I'm not making it up. The reason I finally decided to do some research is because SP has started to occur a lot more than usual and it's driving me crazy. Like someone said before, everytime it happens I'm always like "ok, next time I'm not gonna panic or struggle, I'm just gonna go with it.." That is sooo much easier said than done, as most of you probably already know. It use to happen in the middle of the night, I'd "wake up" and experience SP but now I'll be lying in bed trying to fall asleep and then feel it come on little by little. I try to end it as soon as I start feeling it come on but it's always too late, once it starts, it doesn't stop. I always panic because I hate when it happens so it ends up just getting worse and comes on super strong. I hear things, and it definitely feels like I'm being held down and suffocated. I can feel and hear myself breathing harder and harder and even trying to make some noises. The worst is when I "break through" and completely wake up and then it just happens back to back. I swear the other night it happened atleast 5 or 6 times throughout the night. I'm glad I'm not the only person that this has happened to and I figured I'd also share my experience. I'm always so shook when I finally come out of it. I'll sit up still gasping for air, sweating and it's not until I'm fully awake until I feel as if there was someone there watching. I feel terrible for everyone that this happens to, it is not fun or enjoyable in the least!
3 tricks to 'fewer' episodes (worked for me)
Yep, when I feel it coming on I try to shake it off, but it's usually too late as well. Sometimes I have to get up and walk around before I decide to fall back to sleep- that way it doesn't happen multiple times during the night. Try doing that. One occurrence a night is better than three. Another thing and perhaps the most important to me is security. SP can happen and has happened while other people were in the same room or lying next to me, however it's unlikely. But, I found that having extra pillows or having a stuffed animal next to me helps me feel secure and less scared. It is really just a mind thing. Also, another trick I worked out is wearing ear plugs. The thing about SP is that your conscious is awake first, we can still hear things and sometimes certain sounds were made and get into our ears before we are able to fully wake and register them. If you're too uncomfortable with ear plugs, then try sleeping with a pillow over your head. I'm 25 and I've had SP for 6 years now and I went from having 4 to 5 episodes a week to no more than 2 a month, or I'll go a couple of months without having any.
this is so weird...it
this is so weird...it happened to me last night!! it wasnt my first time but i was so freaked out after it that i had to look it up...!! the first time it happened it was like something went in through my ear and i could hear a loud buzzing noise and den a heavy pressure on my chest suffocating me, last nght was different tho..i woke and someone was holding me down i tried to shout but i couldnt breathe, then i said (in my head) please leave me alone and tried to push at something but it just felt heavier and then i could feel someone scrathing my face and pushin my head into my pillow...then it just stopped and the room felt peaceful after that!! only seems to happen when im really stressing about something.
Dear sir/madam: Please let
Dear sir/madam:
Please let me tell you that I was in a bad way, when this women came to my house and said that she had a ministry with Christians and that God was going to relieve me of head pain, (it felt like a rope around my head.)Say what you will ,I have never felt any of that pain again.Can you explain this ?
Why I am writing you ,I don't know? Maybe the big guy wants to deliver you too.
This is freaking me out!!! Me da mucho miedo.
I was so happy to have moved into my friends house. A fairly new home built in 2003. Before moving in I was always there, whether we were partying, drinking, watching tv or playing video games, i was always there literally. Nothing strange ever happened before. They have this 3rd room where they use to store turntables, and music equipment. So about a month and a half ago i moved into that room. After about a month of being there i felt this heavy force that everyone on here is talking about. I dont feel hands but i do feel almost like a magnetic force against me and i can barely move and my jaws struggle to open my mouth to speak. i can only breath out words. WTF. It has happened a total of three times now and its freaky. I dont see figures luckily but I do feel a cold presence after it leaves to my prayer. I then begin sweating heavily and hear noises when i try to fall asleep again. I dont know if i just hear stuff from being so freaked out from it or if noises are really being made by something, I hear what may be footsteps and noises in the walls and feel a presence. I began sleeping in the living room downstairs and it doesnt happen there so im sure this thing doesnt want me in the room. Yesterday I went upstairs into the room after waking up in the living room and i layed down on my bed in the room and felt something in there and i know its not me because i was not afraid in there for about 10 minutes, i was just texting my gf and all of a sudden i feel this presence that made me get out of there. I then sat in the living room by myself and heard the cd player lid on a boombox close shut and i freaked out. I was so happy to have moved in, now I can only be there during the day or when my friends are there too.
sleep Paralsis
i started this a couple years ago i was so scared but when i got pregnant it all stop but after i had the baby it got worse and igot real scared that if my baby woke up i wouldnt be able to move to get her it scared the shit out off me i'm just glad i found out what this was and that i cant die from it
maybe this will help
I thought I would post some of my knowings & first hand experiences with this.
Maybe some of it will help some, maybe maybe not.
I have had this "sleep paralysis" pretty much as long as I can remember.
At first, it seemed very frightening. Through the years I become more famaliar and comfortable. I have now been experiencing SP at will now for about 15 yrs.
Most of the time, the experience is a very very pleasant one. My experience with SP has lead to something else all together in a positive way. I am not trying to suggest that someone should let this behavior continue if they are not comfortable. And I am not any authority on the research or answers one may seek. I am one person sharing experience.
Here are a few things I have felt:
It seems easier for SP to occur when you are over tired or sleep deprived.
Sleep positions can help to induce or stop SP
During SP, being calm and speaking to yourself using thoughts can help ease off anxiety or the panic feeling
Drinking & Eating right before bed sometimes seems to help induce SP
SP often makes me feel mentally wiped out the next day. As does lucid dreaming. If I feel this I do not do anything that encourages either for at least a month or so.
I think (could be wrong) that alot of the negative feelings, anxiety etc. during the intro to SP is your natural reaction to something that is so new and powerful to your mind and body. I know when I was young, I would fight SP, and try to "break it" so I could regain movement. Sometimes I would suceed and find myself sweating profusely. From the fear, from the anxiety, I believe that I would began feeling and seeing fearful and dreadful things.
When I was still new to SP, it seems like it always began with a loud CLOSE drum sound. I could feel the drum more than hear it, for it seem to be a very LOW pitch. After 10 or so single beats, the "boom" would get closer and closer (more frightening). If I wanted, I could almost always stop it right here and wake. But my curiousity would always get the best of me. So if I let the "boom" get really close, it would all of the sudden cease, and I was IN.
No movement. Sometimes I would feel like something was standing next to my bed. Pretty scary stuff. But I learned to get over this fear. I decided to experiment.
I noticed that during SP, I could see my ceiling fan spinning, I could hear my radio playing ( I always sleep with BOTH on). So, I thought if my mind is concious, but I cannot move, why don't i try a few things.
First I tried to sing, to the song being played on the radio. I could hear my voice. Awesome I thought. But, quickly I realized that even my vocal chords were asleep. Every time I could hear my murming trying to sing.
Then I practiced falling into SP with my head facing toward the openess of my room. I also moved my bed against the wall so I knew nothing would be on that side of my bed. That really helped with the terrible feeling that something was next to me or next to my bed all the while my head is frozen looking straight toward the ceiling.
I found things WERE their (or at least my mind saw them).
But they were not anything terrifying. It appeared to be energy flowing in & out of the room. Most of the time the energy appears to be like a silouette of many people walking around , oblivious to my presence. This made me feel ok about the whole idea of this new unknown behaviour I was experiencing.
I began to relax with SP. Sometimes it would be quite dreamy feeling, I would relax and think about daily accounts and even distant memories. I realized that I could remember details about a memory that I could not normally see. I then began to have fun with this. It seemed liked a "super" memory.
I also started having SP quite often. I felt closer to myself. I know it sounds crazy. I probably sound koo-koo to most. If anyone needs to stop SP, I suggest a trip to the DR.
Eventually, I began having SP at will. This really got interesting.
But, I think I will stop the story here.
SP Mine
I can see how you see it that way because you learn to controll it but how can you explane the dreams it pulls you into. From being awake not being able to move back to the scary dream of lights burning out and them all around you wanting you to go with them. Mine has became reality. When I come home and try to turn out a light it burns out. Sometimes 3 times a day but not that offten right now.
I grew up very religious but since 14 have gotten away from it Im now 27. It started when I was 17 and pregnant I thought I was possesed for sure. It happened quickly but I could still hear slim shady on the cd player and the time after it happened was only 2 mins latter. I looking for answers from people experiancing it. Everyone else I tell thinks its evil so do I. One girl Trys to say maybe its alians but I dont belive that. They already made it clear Augest 18th that they wanted me. Im just wondering when it will happen next.
Please write back.
Faith
:(
last night i had this happen to me , i was laying on my bed when all of a sudden i felt myself lift out of my body , i felt like i was dead , i seem to 'fall'' back in my body and try to scream out for my mum but i couldnt speak or move, i felt a heaviness over me it felt evil. I really didn't like it . I feel really tired today almost drained .
wht you experienced waz more
wht you experienced waz more like an OBE (out of body experience) its totally normal, its when ur 'soul' floats out of your body....different to an NDE (near death experience)which occurs when uve done something tht can caorse death such as bang ur head really hard somewhere but in ur case it happened during sleep and wht happens is u enter the 'spirit world'....but dnt worry your not dead, u can always return to your body!! search it up and learn more bout it...its kinda a positive thing where u can explore the world az a spirit.like walk threw walls!!<<--- hope this helped!
WTF?!?
So I was sleeping just like I always do, no dreaming or anything. Suddenly out of nowhere I heard 2 taps on my window, and realized I was in my room in the exact spot I was sleeping. I felt completely conscious and awake when I heard the sound. Next thing I know I feel this extreme pressure over my body. It felt like I was being covered by a hundred comforter blankets. I started to freak out because I couldn't move, and my face began to feel very tingly and had that same pressure as the rest of my body. Then it started to go away, but when it did it tapped on the window 2 times like before and came back. I could feel the exact same feeling as before and then I really started to panic. I couldn't wake myself up fully. I tried knocking on the fridge next to me (I'm in a dormitory), and when I did i saw images of my little sister and woke up immediately after. I've never had this happen before, so after I somewhat calmed down I started looking it up. This seems to be what I experienced, but after reading some of the other comments I'm starting to wonder again. I have never ever been this freaked out by a nightmare in my life. I'm just going to chalk it up to SP and hope it never happens again, but to those of you that have this happen often, I am sorry. That is definitely the scariest thing I have ever experienced. Sorry for rambling for so long, but I had to tell someone and it's too late to call anyone. Good night all.
my expericences, im only 15
This has been happening to me since I was 12, I'll wake up in the middle of the night unable to move and speak. I've heard sounds like buzzing that seems to get louder, I've even heard laughing. When it happens, I feel like someone is holding me down and trying to choke me, I've seen figures that look like people standing around me, sometimes laying next to me starring. It lasts for about several minutes. I've told myself that if it happens again, I'll just go with it until I can move, but every time it happens I get too scared and I start panicking. Sometimes it'll happen more than twice in one night. I've told my mom about this and she didn't think anything of it. Would it be a good idea to talk to my doctor about this?
sleep
Im not sure, I have felt the same thing at several homes that I lived at in my life.. it sure is scary. I always begin sweating after that force leaves. I sweat like crazy and panic and most of the time i cannot go back to sleep and i feel like running out but im scared that something will pop up lol
I realized I was asleep - finally.
I had this happen on a recurring basis when I was a teenager, and it was so vivid - I felt there was an evil presence, and that it was sitting on my chest. I was in absolute terror, and tried to scream, but I could not move.
The last straw was when this happened in the middle of the night, and as I struggled to scream, the wind blew open a door in the room. It seemed to me that pure evil had come through the door. I awoke in panic and couldn't sleep the rest of the night for fear it would happen again.
The next day I finally spoke to my father, who was wise about these things. He told me, "You're dreaming." I argued that I was awake - I remembered seeing the room I was in. He persisted, saying I truly thought that I was awake, but was really not. He didn't use the term "sleep paralysis" but explained that it was my own mind that was holding me hostage in this event, which was in fact false, and not true.
I must also say that at this time in my life, I was studying world religions. My mind was fixated on good versus evil. I was tormented by the belief that an evil devil was afoot in the world, alternating with the certainty that a good and loving God would protect me.
Shortly after this talk with my father, the next, and last, episode I had of this, I had the same feeling of being suffocated by something evil, and trying to scream, but my mouth was open and no sound would come out. I saw myself in the family's guest room bed - but then, I woke up, in my own bed. The episode seemed incredibly real, but I realized that my father was correct - it happened just before I woke up. I think the state of consciousness at that point makes it difficult to differentiate between dream and reality.
I finally realized that this was a dream state. Whatever reason my subconscious mind had for creating this illusion - was it my adolescent working out of religious beliefs? - this last episode helped me realize that whatever was happening to me was not the truth. My TERRROR was AN ERROR!
I have never had another episode of sleep paralysis since that day.
Tricks of the mind or paranormal activity
Once I fell asleep in my lounge area at about 11:30 pm on sunday. When suddenly I heard a very loud bang that woke me. When I tried to get up i realised that I couldn't move. So instead of trying to move i tried my best to shout on my wife but i could only breathe out her name. after what felt like 10 minutes of this i could feel someone in the empty room beside me and when i looked around i could see a figure witch appeared to be a samll female child with longish black hair. Once i seen the figure i knew i was still dreaming even tho it felt so real. he figure then started to move closer to me and all i kept saying to myself was am only dreaming. But then a could hear her whispering someone that i couldn't make out and it made me panic but i still couldn't move. When the young girl got close to my face i could see her eyes and they were very very black and dark and also her mouth was wide open. when she go right up to me face she knelt down and i was sure i could smell her breathe and feel it against my face. I tried to scream but nothing came out. She then whispered a name in my ear and i heard it very very clearly. It was a girl from work who i was having an affair with. at this point the little girl got up from my side and walked pver the room to a point were i couldn't see her anymore. then i heard the loud bang again and i woke up shocked and scared. I looked about them room but it was empty. My wife came in and i told her what had happened and what the figure had said to me. I lefgt out the part about the affair. I looked at the clock and it said 11:37. A couple of weeks later the very same thing happened again at near enough the same time. I told my wife again but also told her about the affair and its never happened since. I believe it is all in the mind and if you work out what your brain is trying to tell you and set it right it will stop happening.
sleep
I have experienced the same exact thing except the ghostly encounter but the last three times this happened to me i remember counting the numbers in the time that it happened and all three times they added up to 12. Weird.
SP ... Me Too!
I've had this since I was a kid. My mom has had it too, so I probably got it from her.
When it happens, I try to relax and little by little get my arm to move. A few times, I have heard things or felt an evil presence on my bed trying to terrify me, but I can't move. I've tried to scream out, but nothing comes out. When the evil presence takes place I just mentally confront it with all the courage I can find.
SP is a horrible feeling, but I typically recognize it the minute it happens. I guess because I've experienced it so many times before.
The more you panic the worst things will get. Try to remain peaceful, acknowledge it, and ease yourself into consciouness.
Sucks to have it, but don't know how to get rid of it.
These get scarier and scarier everytime
The first time I experienced this was when I was 14, I'm 22 now. I remember feeling panic as a figure in a black hood crouched over me then sat at the foot of my bed. I remember trying to yell over to my sister (who was 10 at the time) as loud as I could but only able to breath out her name and when I did the figure rose and began creeping up towards me again, I just remember praying in my head as the figure stood over me. Next thing I remember is closing my eyes and having the covers pulled over my head. I woke up in tears to my sister saying my name and asking what the hell happened to me. She heard me struggling to say her name so she did what a 10-year old who's afraid of the dark does... pulled the covers over my head.
This week I've had this experience 3 times. One night I felt someone biting on my hand... again I was unable to wake up. I tried scratching and pinching my leg and kept telling myself to wake up but still couldn't. I even tried to toss myself off my bed and dart towards my door but when I did I felt something push me down and throw me back in bed. As I lied in bed I felt a presence looking at me from the far corner of my room. I yelled out for my mom and finally it was over, I woke up. When I did my heart was pounding like crazy. In the morning when I looked at my leg I had pinch-marks that were beginning to bruise up.
Last year I was diagnosed with an axiety disorder for which I refused to take medication. Instead I changed my lifestyle and was able to control it. So my question is, if I decide to see a doctor about this- what will my options be as far as treatment?
This is a very scary experience everytime and I'm just scared that the more frequent I have these episodes the more severe they will continue to get.
Bro I know what you are going
Bro I know what you are going through, I am 26 and I ve been having this since I was a child. In the last 4 years, I ve had pretty much every time I fall in sleep, it is like a curse. Sometimes I ll have 5 times during a night of sleep.
I am so relieved I have had
I am so relieved I have had this happen to me twice in one night..... and thats tonight. I cant sleep... im too scared to. even after reading this website. the shit that just happened scared me.. lordy may. I even chanted a prayer in my head. but thank god there are others out there!!! im 19 this is this is the 3rd time this happened to me in my life. The last time was when I was 17.... oh my gosh though. like i was convinced I was the next emily rose. hahaha thank you for this website. it does calm me down. but hell motherfuckin noQ im not sleepin tonight
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