Fear-Induced Hallucination: How Sleep Paralysis Triggers Hallucination
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Fear-Induced Hallucination: How Sleep Paralysis Triggers Hallucination
Hiro Takahashi
I researched the web to find out how hallucination starts during an episode of Sleep Paralysis. As I have written in my previous paper, a Sleep Paralysis, although often believed as an evil's work, results from some errors of the neural transmission in the brain during REM sleep (1). During a frightening state of Sleep Paralysis, one experiences total body immobility and cannot speak or move besides little eye movements and respiration (2, 3). Often, the paralysis is accompanied with visual and/or auditory hallucination (2, 3). How does Sleep Paralysis trigger hallucination? In order to answer this question, I have referred to my personal experience of seeing stars after doing handstand. According to Dr. Grobstein, as I stand on my hands, the blood rushes into my brain and causes the membrane potential of the neurons to change (4). The change triggers firing of the neurons in the brain, most likely in the visual cortex in this case, without any external stimuli, and I see the stars that do not really exist as a result (4). From this observation, I have predicted that hallucination during Sleep Paralysis also occurs due to the sudden high blood pressure in the brain and the change in the membrane potential of the neurons in the visual and/or auditory cortex. For one feels mortal fear under the state of paralysis, I also expect that the terror or panic somehow increase the blood pressure in the brain. I have built an explanation for the phenomenon based on an assumption that the extreme fright causes the change in membrane potential.The emotion of fear is perceived in a structure called amygdala in the brain (5, 6, 7). It is a small, almond looking structure deep inside the brain and has several distinct nuclei, including, medial, lateral, basal, and central (5, 6). The lateral nucleus seems to receive input from thalamus and cortical sensory and association areas (5). Then the basolateral nucleus integrate the input as fear and send the information to the central nucleus, from which a major output transmits through projections to the hypothalamus and brainstem autonomic areas (5).
The study of brain in schizophrenia patients suggests that hallucination and amygdala have some connections. Schizophrenia is a neurobiological disorder diagnosed by a patient's inability to interpret a stimuli and select an appropriate response (i.e.: saying "good bye" instead of "thank you" when receiving a gift) (8). Other characteristics of this disorder include alterations of the senses, changes in emotions, movements and behavior, and most importantly, delusions and hallucinations (8). In one study, researchers have tested six hallucinating schizophrenics and have discovered the parts of brain activated when hallucination occurs (9). The active parts include bilateral thalamus, left hippocampus/parahippocampal gyrus, right anterior cingulate, and left orbitofrontal cortex, and they are responsible for generating mental activity and for integrating current and past cognitive/emotional experiences (9). The location of all these structures, deep inside the brain and very close to amygdala and hypothalamus (6), suggests that the active parts may have some interactions with amygdala during a hallucination state. Also, for amygdala plays important roles in emotions, especially fear, hallucination seems closely related to amygdala and terror.
The perception of fear integrated by amygdala activates "fight-or-flight" response, in which an animal respond quickly to a danger due to the function of hormone epinephrine and neurotransmitter norepinephrine (6, 10, 11, 12). Epinephrine, also called adrenaline, is primarily produced in the adrenal glands while norepinephrine, also called noradrenaline, is made in the brain and limbic system (10, 11). When the amygdala interprets fear, it stimulates the release of both epinephrine and norepinephrine into the body's system (7). The high concentration of epinephrine in the blood stream increases the heart and respiratory rates for more oxygen intake and constricts peripheral blood vessels for more blood flow into the large muscles, thereby preparing the body for fight or flight (7, 10, 11, 12). Norepinephrine, when released, mainly tenses the smooth muscles around the blood vessels, increasing the blood pressure (10, 11). The blood pressure in the brain probably increases tremendously in response to fear, too. The sudden increase in the blood pressure, then, may cause the membrane potential to change in the visual and/or auditory cortex, triggering hallucination to happen. Moreover, in the fear reaction, the pupils dilate to let more light and increase peripheral vision to observe threat (10, 12). This response may increase the chance of hallucination to happen, for a large amount of light enters the eye at one time.
In addition to epinephrine and norepinephrine, another neurotransmitter serotonin seems to play an important role in inducing the fight-or-flight response and hallucination. Like norepinephrine, serotonin affects broad range of conditions, such as depression, aggression, sleep regulation, anxiety, appetite control, temperature regulation, pituitary hormone secretion, pain reception, and blood vessel tone (13). It exists throughout the brain, but its most concentrated region lies in hypothalamus and the pineal gland (11). Hence, when the active potential carrying the information of fear reaches hypothalamus from amygdala, hypothalamus releases serotonin into the system, providing assists to epinephrine and norepinephrine to prepare the body for fight or flight. As a part of the process, serotonin causes the smooth muscles of the blood vessels to constrict. Consequently, the blood pressure rises in the brain, and the membrane potential in the optic/auditory cortex change, triggering hallucination.
The additional evidence for the "fight-or-flight" reaction's responsibility on hallucination comes from the hallucinogenic drugs. Hallucinogens, so called for their ability to induce visual/auditory hallucination, affect the hypothalamus and its regulation of hormones (14). Just like epinephrine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, they cause pupils to dilate, heart rate and breathing rate to increase, the body temperature to change, and/or the blood pressure to rise (14). Moreover, some common hallucinogens have similar structures to norepinephrine or serotonin and bind to the same receptors (14). For example, LSD looks very much like serotonin, and mescaline looks similar to norepinephrine (14). Thus, if the drugs that have very similar properties as epinephrine, norepinephrine, or serotonin can induce hallucination, the hormone or the neurotransmitters should be able to have the same effects. For the hallucinogens also stimulate the conditions produced by fight-or-flight response, the natural reaction to the fear enhanced by epinephrine, norepinephrine, and serotonin seems possible to cause hallucination under favorable conditions.
For a summary, a victim of a Sleep Paralysis feels extreme fear for he discovers he cannot move his body although he has consciousness. Integrating the fright, amygdala triggers the fight-or-flight response by stimulating the release of epinephrine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. These substances constrict the smooth muscles around the blood vessels, causing the blood pressure to rise in the brain. Consequently, the membrane potential in the visual/auditory cortex changes, triggering the firing of the neurons and hallucination to occur. The explanation above is only a hypothesis. There are more possibilities, too.
For another hypothesis, corollary discharge may trigger hallucination during sleep paralysis, as in the situation of phantom pain. In a phenomenon called phantom limb, a person who has lost an arm or leg perceives the position of the missing limb, often with a report of pain in specific parts of the limb (15). This abnormal observation can be explained in the terms of corollary discharge, or reafference. In order for a healthy person or an amputee to move a limb intentionally, a self-conscious part of brain, called I-function, sends a signal to another part of the brain that controls the movement of the limb (4). Then, the region that has just received a signal from I-function triggers the firing of neurons for the action potential to reach particular motor neurons, which then generate a movement (4). Simultaneously, the same region of the brain also sends corollary discharge signal; it transmits the information received from the I-function to many different brain parts (4, 15). As a result, the brain, or "neuromatrix" (15), knows what the limb has been ordered to do (4, 15). (The perception of the phantom limb may emerge due to the corollary discharge signals, spreading the information on the movement that limb is expected to produce (4).) In a healthy person, the neuromatrix receives a sensory input from the limb, which reports the limb's position and the muscle activity (4, 15). When I-function issues a signal to move a limb, the reafference allows the neuromatrix to expect what kind of sensory inputs it will receive even before the limb makes the required motion (4, 15). In an amputee with a phantom limb, the brain receives sensory message reporting that the limb is NOT moving at all (4, 15). In response, the neuromatrix, expecting a sensory input as the limb's motion, may send more frequent and stronger signals to urge the limb to move, and these output signals may cause the perception of cramping or phantom pain (15).
Like in phantom pain, the mismatch between the internal expectation and the sensory input may trigger hallucination in Sleep Paralysis. Unlike an amputee, a victim of Sleep Paralysis still has his limbs, but he cannot move them because of some errors in neurotransmission (1). When one wakes up and discovers himself under total body paralysis, he struggles to escape from the frightening immobile state. His I-function issues some messages urging the whole body to move, and the neuromatrix expects a certain sensory input, the action of skeletal muscle. However, with the body under the powerful control of inhibitors released during REM sleep, the neuromatrix receives a sensory input that the body is not moving, completely opposite from what it expects. As the I-function continues to send more and more signals trying to receive the expected input, somehow the frequent firing of the neurons may stimulate the release of particular substances, which eventually cause the change in membrane potential of optic and/or auditory nerves. Besides, the discrepancy caused by corollary discharge may strongly involve the stimulation of fear. As the neuromatrix keeps receiving a contradictory sensory input, it may perceive that something has gone wrong in the system. This realization may link to the arousal of fear, which then induce the pathway described earlier.
Also, as I have predicted in my previous paper, hallucinations during Sleep Paralysis may result from another error in neurotransmission, in which the brain continues to release the activators that trigger dreaming (1). During an episode of Sleep Paralysis, the nervous and endocrine systems keep releasing the inhibitors and "paralyzing" one's body even after some parts of his brain wakes up. As a result, his body continues to "sleep" even though his conscious part of brain is awake. Similarly, it may be possible for another part of the brain, which is responsible for dreaming, to stay in the state of REM sleep. Then, a person may continue to "see" the images and "hear" the noises produced in the dream that he has just had before conscious arousal.
The origin of hallucinations during Sleep Paralysis is still not clear, but many neuroscientists supports that it has some connection to anxiety (16). So far, many studies on Sleep Paralysis and hallucinations have been done on neurobiological level, but there are many aspects and questions yet to be discovered, explained, or answered. Why do some people experience hallucination and others do not? Which factors determine the hallucinatory images that each victim sees or hears? Are they really hallucination or evil spirits? The hallucination during Sleep Paralysis remains mysterious.
.
WWW Sources
1)Sleep Paralysis: Awake But Still Asleep, my previous paper on Sleep Paralysis2)The Evil's of Sleep Paralysis
4)Dr. Paul Grobstein, Eleanor A. Bliss Professor of Biology, Bryn Mawr College, on-line profile of Dr. Grobstein
5)Introduction to the Amygdala, a literary research
6)The Emotional Brain, by Mary Lynn Hendrix, National Institute of Mental Health
7)LeDoux Outlines His Theory of Emotions and Memory, by Beth Azar, American Psychological Association
8)Schizophrenia Facts, by Treatment Advocacy Center
9)Study Links Hallucinations to Specific Brain Abnormalities, by Tori DeAngelis, American Psychological Association
11)The Neurologic System, by J. F. Ripka and F. T. Ripka, BioSyn site
12)The Anxiety Panic Internet Resource, by tAPir
13)Unlocking the Secrets of Serotonin, by Thrive On Line
14)Background Information about Psychedelic Drugs, a literary research
15)Phantom Limbs, by Ronald Melzack, Scientific American
16)Recurrent Isolated Sleep Paralysis, by Jean-Christophe Terrillon and Sirley Marques-Bonham
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10/05/2005, from a Reader on the Web My sleep paralysis experiece leads me to think: 1) i am in deep REM sleep with a "nightmare" occuring, 2) the nightmare has auditory and/or visual content, 3) the amigdala is reponding to this experience, 4) a "resonance" occurs wherein the REM contents trigger the amydala which in turn increases the nightmare contents by mapping fear content/affect onto the nightmare structures. 5) when the amplitutde of passing information increases beyond some level the whole phenomenon without collapsing awakens the consciousness to take neccesary action; the rest of the brain is REM paralized, 6) since the collaspe has not occured, the consciousness is aware of the nightmare contents and thus the sensation of hallucination. (W/o ordinary consciousness such "hallucinations" woule be called "dream stuff" in sleep); my dextromethorphan experience is in keeping with this. 7) At this stage the consciousness can (through will power) awaken the entire nervous system to retore near normality. 8) Here I find that trying to go back to sleep causes the cataplectic like structure to be paroxysmally restored/manifest. I need to awaken sufficiently(wash my face etc.,) to really destroy this structure enough to continue with normal sleep. Regards, nk |
I read that paper on sleep paralysis you wrote while researching for myself. It sounds exactly like me, it was almost as if i was reading a journal i had writtin myself. I have experianced this multiple times before, at first i thought it was because i was sleeping on a water bed but it happened again even on a normal bed.
Well here is the start of it, the most recent attack i had:
I went to bed around 10:00PM and for some reason i was awakened at about 2:00AM. There were no sounds, no music, it was perfectly calm. So i was surprised i was even awake. Never the less it felt like i was totally refreshed so i stayed up watching show tunes for 2 additional hours then i decided i was able to sleep again. This is where everything heads south, I'm laying in bed and just as my eyes are about to close all a sudden i get this weird feeling and my eyes refuse to shut. Then as i was about to adjust myself to a different position i found i could not. My arms felt like they weighed a ton, i could lift them but only half an inch i think it was. It felt like they just moved but i couldn't even move my head to look down at myself, or let alone move my eye balls. I was stuck looking strait ahead. So at this point im totally paralyzed in bed. I feel my heart start to race because i swear to all hells this was real. I felt something under my legs inside my bed pushing the foot side of my bed up. I couldn't see it, i was still stuck looking in one direction but i swear that something was pushing through my bed. I was struck with fear so bad. Then moments later after counting to 10 in my head over and over again i was finally able to move. I rushed and turned the lamp on and jumped out of my bed as if it were possessed. i do not know what happened to me, only it wasn't the first time. It ALWAYS happens the exact same way at the exact same time's, just before i fall asleep all the way. Each time after it happens, I'm unable to return to sleep at all. I was up for the remainder of the morning sitting at my desk with my head on my desk just watching TV that way. if you have ANY suggestions on how i can help myself i would be most greatful. Thank you again for that research paper though, it sure gave me a lot of insight on whats going on with me ... Joshua Valenzuela, 12 September 2006
i just wanted to say that i read the majority of your paper about sleep paralysis and it has helped me alot in understanding what has been happening to me lately. im currently 21 yrs old and it has been going on every probably the last 6 months. i'd say it has happened during this period maybe 5-6 times or so. what i wanted to throw in there is during the paralysis state, it is quite frightening and i do beleive that there is a release of some of the hormones you mentioned. my experiences include simply waking up unable to move, with barely controllable rolling of my eyes due to tiredness, and a desire to snap out. i usually am hallucinating while im trying to snap out of it and sometimes i hear voices. i beleive my mind is just imaging these though as if i were still in a dream, cause most of the stuff i see or hear is stuff that i've experieneced, seen, or known. Im quite aware of whats happening though cause occassionally i want to not try and snap out of it and see what happens. When i do this, i get a very strong rushing sensation as if im getting lifted up in the air or my body going completely numb. It feels great though but its scary so i always eventually break out and fight back. This portion of feeling numb or being lifted i feel is related to the increased release of feel good hormones like dopamine or epinephrine.. those you stated in your paper. So i do feel like your right on what may be happening. do you think if i don't fight back and it releases too much i could be physically hurt from this? is it dangerous to not fight back and should i experiment on what happens? it is in my own curiousity to know but i don't want to damage myself trying. well, those were questions i couldn't seem to find answers for. so if you wouldn't mind responding back to me, i'd like to have a answer from a specialist ... Ravi, 13 November 2007
I have suffered from sleep paralysis since I was five years old. I deeply disagree with a few of the theories I have. For years I had the sleep paralysis accompanied by terrifying visions; like someone was in the room with me and beating me severely. I have found that it only happens when I'm overtired. I have to get up and turn on the light when it's over, or it will happen again. I have (details too long for email) ways to cope with this. I still have them but they are no longer accompanied by someone harming me. The reason for my recent research is that my 20 year old daugther is suffering from them, with the vilans present. I would love to find a way to help her so that she does not have to go through what I've been through. FYI For over 30 years I thought this didn't happen to anyone but me ... Maureen Mullins, 19 November 2007
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Comments
I've had sleep paralysis most
I've had sleep paralysis most of my life. When I was younger and would wake up scared and struggle they were more unpleasant and had accompanying hallucinations. The more I've come to expect them, the more relaxed I can be. If I can wake up in sleep paralysis completely relaxed, it will be far less unpleasant and dreamlike (sometimes I will feel as if I'm fully conscious and cognitive if I'm very relaxed) sometimes being even a little pleasant with the exception of the inability to feel some parts of my body which is always a little uncomfortable. I can usually start with a toe wiggle and work up my leg until I can wake myself up. A small hit of marijuana before bed will keep me from having any symptoms most of the time. It is a great treatment for the symptoms for me (thank you California). It happens more when I'm overtired, more when I have sleep apnea (which is not always), more if I drink alcohol, and more if I'm hot or overfull. I've had what people are describing as astral projection experiences as well. They feel very different to me. I do not claim, though, that they are real or imagined. I don't know really. They feel similar in some ways... but honestly different than sleep paralysis. To me sleep paralysis is more like the edge of sleep feeling...almost like a deep meditative trance. I could do without either one, honestly, as all they do is interfere with my sleep. I do not find them interesting, exciting, nor do I care about the hippie new age blah blah. I just want a good nights rest.
hey everyone, i too have had
hey everyone, i too have had these experience's and could never explaine why they were happing to me. My first experience was when i was 13, i remember just, wakeing up and feeling paralized and i felt as though something evil was in the room... It was terrifying. I'm now 26 and over the years i have had so much more of the same experiences. i'v talked to doctor's and they have all put it down to stress as i have lost a mother, nan and grandfather in a matter of two years. As i do have alot of stress in my life im still not sure if that would cause whats been happening... i'll explain what happens when i have these things happen to me... Firstly i can allways feel myself go into these sleeps, it happens so much now that my partner wakes me while im in it. (i will over breath or make a weired noise in my throut to alert him) i had one this morning and he wasnt there to help, i usually hear loud noises or sometimes such loud music it feels like a set of speekers turned up full blast next to my ears or a really loud buzzing noise! And usually i feel like someone is pushing me into the bed. Today i felt like i was being draged of the bed. I'v seen a dark figure with no face wearing a dark cloak leaning over me. everytime i feel myself go into it, it's so scary i instantly try to move a fingure or a part of my body but can't, and usually when i fully awaken i will go straight back into it and fight the feeling so much i wake up sore and very weak. there's been times when i'm in this state and i'm fully aware what's going on around me and i'm also aware of my surroundings, because most times i have my eyes open...and also there has been times that no=one is in the house to help and that's when it's most scary. At least now i know i'm not the only one who has encounted such weired, scary and unexplaind encounters while sleeping.
Not trying to be funny
Hey you all, I too have experienced pretty much all of the things everyone has posted here. I am glad I stumbled upon this site. Maybe we should get straight with our makers. Meaning, for me I believe in God and I am not trying to offend anyone here, believe in whoever you want to, but if that thing is trying to smother or choke us in our sleep, then I would want to be right with my maker as much as i possibly am able to. I know to live a life without doing any sin was only possible for Jesus, but I really don't like being tormented in my dreams from someone or something that is trying to take me out. Reading all of your comments was reassuring for me that I am not alone with my SP epsisodes. I hope somebody can tell us some definate facts about what this is and the article i'm was good too scientifically. To me, God is science. It's just for man to figure it all out. And once we figure it all out, there maybe more reasons behind it. That's science right? Hope everyone get a good nights' rest tonight.
Having experienced sleep
Having experienced sleep paralysis many times over my 35 years I can say without a doubt that sleep paralysis and dreaming have NO correlation whatsoever. The author of this article has clearly never experienced SP and saying that it is a continuation of a dream is ridiculous. This is beyond the reach of our current scientific paradigm. I don't have an answer for what it is, I guess that's why I'm here on this site, I'm looking for answers. Science has given me none. In fact, reading scientific studies on this subject makes me laugh as they have no idea what they're talking about! Sorry for the rant, it's good to explore all angles and I don't mean to hate on science, but there are other ways of looking at the world that are not reductionist and/or secular materialist.
TBH
its just we have a messed up sleep - though i had scary epi last night this been happening to me for years kinda getting used to it now
is it true of it being sleep paralysis or just astral projection
sleep paralysis symptons include vibrations,buzing and roaring sounds, being able to not move, and you can't breath. it just may be a sleep paralysis but its also something else. its astral projection. i use to have this same feeling but i also knew i was alive and there but i couldnt move. then i got another feeling, the feeling of floating. but i was floating ontop of my body, and those hallucinations reallly arnt hallucinations but in fact the 4th dimension and more. astral projection is wonderful something thats not describable. you can fly, create, and travel.i am just a begineer but im hoping to learn more, there is stuff out there, stuff that is unbelievable and true,but all you have to do is believe......
sleep paralysis?
I suffered from sleep paralysis during a short period of my life as a young lady. Over the years and through reading about others experiences i have found that those who have the paralysis and have hallucination, the hallucinations are the same. I would like to know if the so called dreams are in fact hallucinations, tell why the hallucination are so universal in their descriptions. everyone tells of a demon type short spirit that either sits on their back or smothers them. also i found in my suffering sleeping with the lights on keeps the whole experience from happening. I studied the light theory myself and found it to be quite accurate. If you sleep with the light on, the sleep paralysis and hallucinations will not happen.
reply to your comment
OMG! I have just finally to comment once I read yours. In my sleep paralysis I have experienced just about everything that everyone has written about... the paralysis, the paralysis while i'm dreaming, astral projecting with of course not control of the way i am moving or going but always in my bedroom, a force constantly throwing me out of the bed, the sleep but fully awake and sensing someone walking through my home and into my room. It used to stand behind me (I could sense its presence) or sit on the bed, but then it started getting the the bed with me. I could feel the seemingly coolness of the covers being lifted off of my legs. And all of this seems so REAL! And very SCARY!! Maybe twice some years ago I experienced the short person on my back trying to choke me with what seemed to be a old telephone cord (the one that stretches out). This is very frustrating, and I too have been looking for answers to explain what is going on. I know I am not crazy and I see I am not the onlly one that has had these kind of dreams. I don't like them, especially the ones when it seems like someone or something is trying to come up on me while I am laying there paralyzed. There's even a comment on here where the guy said he felt like one side of his bed was coming up. Well my latest episode was that I felt a force press me down into my bed, I could feel the covers being pressed softly around my legs as if the covers were imprinting my legs. And just like others on here, it seems to always happen a the same time when it occurs. And when it starts to happen, I am sleep, but I am fully aware of what is going on... I just cannot move. I usually start praying and calling on God and Jesus, then I've got to trust in God and just let go and relax. Then I wake right up. Thanks everyone for your posts. This really helps me to realize I'm not the only one on earth experiencing this.
Than explain to me why whilst
Than explain to me why whilst I was experiencing one of my "sleep paralyses" episodes, a juice bottle I had placed next to my bed on the floor went flying across the room as if someone came along and kicked it? Meanwhile I was the only one in the room?? Science thinks it has an answer to everything. I do not believe for a second that there is a scientific explanation for the things that happen here. There is good and evil in this world as well as there is good spirits and evil spirits. I only experienced these things when I took a turn down the wrong path in my life and now I'm back on the straight and narrow they havn't happened since and that was four years ago.
nope
Sleep Paralysis definately has a scientific explanation! I knew this and remembered it when I had my hallucination. Your body does need to stop and repair itself every night.
I have woken up in sleep paralysis a few times. Last night I had my first hallucination, that I can remember, but it was also related to a fear that I had before falling asleep. I had heard some unexplained bell ringing in my apartment, which stopped once we put my boyfriend's computer on mute. I still don't know what happened. I know God exists. I believe that. But there is no evidence for it other than that which we can know in our hearts. The hallucination that I had definately looked real and did not seem like your usual dream as everything that was in the hallucination was accurate to life outside of the three monster lookin things that were standing together looking at me. There are no matching mythological stories that match my hallucination, which is why I think I made it up in my head via dream mixed with consciousness. Anyway, I was a little bit afraid, since I couldn't move. I tried to wave but my arm wouldn't go more than a tinny bit off the bed. The reddish one walked closer to me. But it was like the way a father would come to say goon night, slowly approaching leaned a bit, not like an attack. I could move my head so I shook my head like a wave which looked like no. He/it stepped back with the others. Then I shook my head like a yes, hello nod to the middle shorter one and tried to mouth hi to the tallest one on the right, as I found I could move my mouth, it felt like I was moving my mouth with a gasp of "hi". I fell back asleep and when I woke up moments later they were gone and I studied the room. Everything was accurate minus the beings or whatever they were. It could have seemed real because I was looking at my room while dreaming, so the stimuli could have gotten crossed. I don't believe in ghosts and I am a firm believer in "the only thing to fear is fear itself." In this case that becomes even more true because, as the article explained, it could have been the axiety from earlier that I had when trying to fall asleep could have caused the hallucination. I think I saw three people because I had thought that a loved one was trying to reach me, and I have only three grandparents that have died, so only three people could have been trying to reach me. It is strange. I am still considering moving out, but I would say you should take some comfort from the science of sleep. They know what they are doing.
Phony.....
I'm sorry, but I'm only 13, and I agree that this sounds reasonable, but if we truly had hallucinations wouldn't the results vary? Why aren't some of the hallucinations good? How come they all consist of a "evil" presence and pressure on the chest? Isn't this suposed to be a mental thing where they only physical part is that your paralyzed? I overheard my mother telling our family about her only experience like this and that's how I knew to call on Jesus when this happened. Here's my story:
I had some things going on in my life and the pastor was praying over me one day and he told me that the spirit of depression was trying to attach itself to me. Now keep in mind that I never told my parents what he said, but I got in trouble and my parents also "knew" it was a spirit and my father was also battling this spirit (I believe you mentioned genetics in the article). This happened recently and we were suposed to go to my grandparents house with the rest of the family for thanksgiving. The day before we left I woke up and couldnt move.This was the first time something like that had happened to me and I was scared. Also, like many others, I somehow knew I wasn't alone. I felt vunerable in an indecent way (I've had unpleasant sexual acts preformed on me before by a man). Over the weekend while staying at my grandparents house, This happened over and over, each time though I called on the name Jesus and it immediatly went away.
These things made me research it and this is what I found. As I stated earlier, these things sound reasonable at first (they really do. I wasnt to be a neuroscientist and I know this stuff,) but as you look closely at the details it makes less sense because it doesn't add up with common sense (reffer to questions above.) I'm sorry, but I think that some things can't be explained by science.
sleep paralysis
i find it very interesting reading all these reply's.
i too have questioned is this the dark side trying to get me an only the other day i said to a friend how can 2 people on opposite sides of the world, not knowing anythin about sleep paralysis an the hallucinations or any of the things that happen in general, but we all dream of the same things the presence of some evil thing lurking towards us. getting on top of you. an you actually feel it!
i suffer from narcolepsy as well as this the doctor said it related to that but i know you can have the sleep paralysis/hallucinations without it.
im thinkin the minds a weird an wonderful place with lots of tiny parts we dont know about, recording sounds an copying images constantly.
i did find my dreams are worse when im anxious. ive had so many hallucinations while trying to sleep some good, some strange, some bad an some that bad i wouldnt go to bed an would sit eyes peeled till i nodded off. but then the visious circle of seeing or hearing somethin bad, then being scared of bed time or of sleep makes it all a whole lot worse.
on bad dreams when i get that feeling its not somethin nice i dont even look anymore an try my hardest to wake myself up while shouting for it to go away an leave me alone... the whirring noise when i do this to the 'baddy' ones is immence, when its good i continue the dream till i must go asleep properly then i wake as normal.
i could sit here talking all day about it sometimes i dont know where to start so sorry if its a bit jumbled.
Previously suffered from sleep paralysis
Hi. Interesting article. I have suffered from sleep paralysis in previous years. When I was sick and bed-ridden or experiencing unusual levels of stress in my life was when I had hallucinogenic sleep paralysis most.
When I first started having the paralysis, it was horrific. Most of my visual/audible hallucinations were of demons, ghosts, violence, etc. I would feel the aura of hate, evil, whatever you might call it. Needless to say I was very frightened. However as I began to understand that it was simply my body awakening in a dream state, and that logically I was seeing frightening hallucinations given that I was experiencing a heightened sense of fear, I eventually learned to awaken myself form the paralysis.
Now, I rarely ever get hallucinogenic sleep paralysis, and when I do, it is short lived and not particularly frightening.
The simplest way to avoid HSP? Sleep on your side! It works 9/10 times. When I do get HSP despite this counter-measure, I am now always aware of it. It is easy to recognize considering the paralysis and unusual sounds/sights associated with it. I just remember that I'm having it and I tell myself over and over again that it's all just me still dreaming. I close my eyes and repeat those words in my head as loud as I can think them, I only focus on those words, this helps to distract my mind from the otherwise horrific sights/sounds that are also being generated by my overactive imagination. By closing my eyes and repeating these words I either force my mind back into sleep or I am able to awaken, usually within less than a minute (a far cry from the sometimes 10-20 minutes of frightening hallucinations).
I hope this helps anyone suffering from HSP.
It isn't true that fear
It isn't true that fear causes the hallucinations. Rather, it merely prompts them to be unpleasant. When the person lets go of the fear, the hallucinations are still there, but they are wonderful ones. Rather than fighting the immobility and trying to move the body or awaken fully, if you go with the experience and let the vibrations and sounds increase, you will have what feels like an out of body experience or lucid dream. I don't think that science or medicine knows enough about this state of mind, but I wouldn't doubt if the dreamer who takes the experience all the way is using parts of the brain that do not typically become active. I have been having 'sleep paralysis,' or these interesting episodes on and off for 16 years, and would never dream of telling a doctor about them because they wouldn't understand. The vibrations, by the way, get faster if you let them happen, and they make you feel lighter and freer, more separate from your body. Sleep paralysis can be self-induced and controlled, but not everyone seems capable of doing that.
Intense hallucination
I get sleep paralysis quite a bit, on several occasions, & i'm starting to wonder if it's stress related since I do have a lot going on in my life. This morning I 'woke up' & couldn't move. I'm used to it, typically I just wait until I can move again & my body wakes up, but then I started seeing things. I saw a man in robe waving his hands over me, standing at the end of the bed. He kept appearing & disappearing. The room started turning red, & tilting, spinning on occasion as well. Then a red headed girl with an evil smirk appeared on the side of the bed, leaning over & touching me, & I could feel it! Like some one was actually touching me, but my boyfriend was off at school. There were weird noises & voices speaking about things I couldn't make out, it was the scariest experience ever. I don't understand how it got so intense, because it was all so real, like it felt like a haunting, or some kind of entity messing with me.
sleep nightmares
ive had lots of dreams that repeat themselves the main one that use to freak me out was of the girl from the exorcist. she use to start off by the door an get closer an closer really trying hard to wake before she touched me. before these dreams the film never bothered me in the slightest i watched it maybe too many times an mostly on my own. i dont think now i could see that face as in my dreams i dont see her face now an i dont want to remind myself incase the bad dreams start to happen again. while i see her with no face i can keep telling myself to make her go away. a few dreams i had involved cutting my feet open (bit strange) but i felt that pain as i would imagine it to be. an funny while i lie there still telling myself its not real... it continues. when i was about 20 i was ready to put myself in a local nut house but after me telling the doctor this things seemed to calm down. i really thought somethink was trying to get at me through my sleep. maybe i have watched too many movies i dont know but im glad im not alone on this one... that helps.
im happy ive made these hallucinations good an ive learnt to control what im dreaming. sometimes bad things pop in but i have to be strong an tell them to leave.
anyone else reading this would think what a looney but i know everyone on this page understands :o)
Help?
I have all the symptoms. This happened to me one other time and yet again last night. I need to make a drs appointment I think, I'm scared though. Is there anything they can do?
The thing with all the lucid
The thing with all the lucid dream controling everyhing in your dream theory is that sometimes you just can't differentiate between dream world and reality.
I mean, even if you know you are half awake, and realize your still half way in a dream world, your real body is paralyzed, and you can control whatever happens in the dream world, your just scared of doing it, what if it's real ?! that's the question you have to ask yourself every time before you decide to fly, jump off a skyscraper or dodge a bullet etc.
In dream world, people are suppose to be fooled by their brain to think it's absolutely real, since you lose consciousness, sleep paralysis really is the devil that just opens the pandora's box, let half of your brain wake up,and the other half in absolute dream world.
It's annoying, because most people can't control how to snap out of it, most people have to wait until their brain snaps itself out of it. In my case, the only efficent way is to hold my breathe (amazingly, I am able to control my breath during sleep paralysis), until this life threatening event becomes so overwelmning that the brain can't simply just ignore it anymore.
Last night I went to bed
Last night I went to bed around 10pm, a little later on I felt like I was wide awake, I could see a shadow infront of me with eyes coming at me, at that moment I could hear the tv in my mums room and then all of a sudden I heard a very loud high pitched screech. The shadow was getting closer but I couldnt move, I couldnt even lift my head or fingers, I was terrified. The shadow was closing in and laughting at me, the noise was getting louder and hurt my ears, I felt a tingling and fuzzy feeling in the right side of my head. I swear I was calling out, screaming for my fiance and dad, it felt like I had lifted my arm and threw a toy at the shadow and all of a sudden I was able to move and could focus my eyes. I got up and had a huge headache and was still feeling fuzzy in one side of my body, even went to the bathroom as I though I may have had a stroke cos my face felt drooped. This was truely terrifying and I cant stop thinking about it. I didnt go back to sleep as was to scared. Is this sleep Paralysis?
Thanks Tar.
My recurring dream and the feeling of sleep paralysis
I fall into sleep paralysis all the time and just last night I had several. These dreams of mine happen all the time where I cannot move and feel like there is a weight on my body. In my dream I'm screaming and trying to wake myself up, but I can't. It's like my mind is awake, but my body isn't. Sometimes my eyes are wide open, but my body and brain is asleep. During these episodes I hear a loud alarm sound and voices whispering. When I fully awake, my heart is beating a thousand miles an hour and I sometimes fall right back into the same dream or sleep paralysis. I'm really scared and don't know what this all means. I do recall hearing someone whispering the number 44 or just 44444. I do remember during my dream/sleep paralysis sqeezing my eyes and I could feel them twitch. It's like my entire body is numb. I keep telling myself that it's just because I'm really tired, but I would like to know the true meaning? Does anyone have any suggestions?
Hey there, I get sleep
Hey there, I get sleep paralysis all the time and I don't know what it means either. But I asked my mum and she said when she was my age, she got them all the time too. So I guess it's just a normal part of aging. My first one was horrifying. I heard the whispering of children's voices which eventually cresendoed into screaming, and then I saw this massive figure at the foot of my bed and it opened its mouth as it swooped toward me, like it was going to eat me. My eyes were open, I saw my bedroom, and I saw this creature that wasn't supposed to be there: a hallucination, but man it was life-like! I cried after this first one. But ever since I knew what it was, no matter how much I dislike them, I'm not terrified anymore. Just a little nervous. Just last night I had another one. Two to three in a row, the same over and over. At first there was a ringing in my ears, and I could actually consciously think to myself, "Oh no, here we go again. Might as well see how it ends without waking up." And then I felt my body go numb and the ringing intensified. At this point I thought, screw this, I want to wake up, MOVE dammit! Of course I knew that I couldn't... it's strange, how you know what's going on yet you can't control your body. I heard more weird sounds, neither animal nor human. I tried to move my hands but couldn't, so I tried to kick my legs and that worked.. for a second or two. Before I could even hoist myself out of bed, back into the paralysis I went again. Just couldn't get out you know? I noticed how I felt so cold every time I woke up, so I thought, "Let's test this out to see if it's actually my body and not only my mind." During the third round, I made a mental note to try feel my skin right after I woke up. While I was in it again, I thought, "Just hold on! Remember to feel your skin!" I woke up again, and there really WERE goosebumps on my skin. All this time I was under my doona too. I don't know why they happen. I know our bodies become paralysed naturally so that we don't act out our dreams. I guess our minds still stay awake because we're thinking too much, or we're worried, or stressed, and we don't realise it. Mum says they'll go away with age, so I put up with them while they happen. But perhaps you could try talking yourself through it, and tell yourself it's not real, that it's a normal part of life, and that it'll go away. And just see what experiments you can perform with yourself, like I tried.
hallucinations into lucid dreams
hi there, sympathy to all. i have this too along with my narcolepsy and other things. you can all try this as it helped me..... when somethin bad is comin an you know it is cuz you can feel it before you know its ther. tell it to go away (sounds silly) i use to hear a huge whiring noise as if it was angry. while your doing so tell yourself that it will go or its not ther an i found by reasuring myself helped it stop. each time it happened it got less scary and further away from my face. i tought myself how to lucid dream from this experience (controling your dream) i dunno a scenario any one ya like good of course it will happen an the more you do it the more control you have an more of the picture you see. i started running an i had to do 10+ steps before i flew . the more i did this same run it got less and less. now i can just fly with no running involved :o) learn to turn a bad dream/hallucination good.
while your halfy half concious but sleeping :o) you control it.
just an idea as it helped me get past the bad times in this sleep problem. look up lucid dreams they say you can teach yourself this skill without this but i dont think i could of without these hallucinations.
good luck
This article was really
This article was really interesting but from what i've read about sleep paralysis you wake up feeling paralyzed and its happened to me twice one when I was awake just laying on the couch and the 2nd time was yesterday morning around 5 or 6am I woke up to my bed shaking and once I realized my bed was shaking I got so scared I then felt paralyzed. So from what I read here you start hallucinating after you wake up feeling paralyzed because of the fear you feel from being paralyzed, you freak out that you're paralyzed then hallucinate. So I don't know what to believe anymore. I know I woke up like I usually do when I hear a noise or feel a movement I have very light sleep so anything wakes me up. The shaking of my bed woke me up this time and I freaked out because I knew that wasn't normal then thats when I felt the extreme then felt paralyzed.
I've been having Sleep
I've been having Sleep Paralysis for a while now. It seems i get them at least 5 times every6 months. Everytime it happens it's from a lucid dream. I don't have visual hallucinations so much but i do have audiotory ones and they're very loud. It sounds as if a very strong wind is coming right at me, or it sounds and feels as if i'm laying under a waterfall.
Whew
I also have had experiences with this. And also thought it only happened to me. But when it happens i see no figure im just in a paralyzed state and very frightened. In an attempt I try to move my arm but it would only move in centemeters, eventually I would jerk and snap out of it. I'm just glad it has nothing to do with a demonic presence. While it may not be that it's still one of the scariest experiences on earth.
Sleep Paralysis Hallucinations
Nice try in attempting to explain the phenomena. Unfortunately, there are no scientific studies that prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, your conjectures. I too have researched this phenomena in depth, and have come up empty handed - and that is over 30 years of research. As scientists, it is up to us to come up with hard evidence to prove our conjectures and support our theories. I wish that you had been able to come up with some hard data to support your claims. However, I do appreciate your efforts.
more on sleep paralysis
This is something
This is something experienced commonly through all cultures all throughout history. Look up the sleep paralysis entry on Wikipedia, and you'll find that nearly every culture around the world has a myth associated with this phenomena.
It is definitely NOT uncommon. Several of my friends have shared their experiences of these night terrors with me, and they all sound eerily similar (being choked, visited by demonic presence). My own experiences led me to do some research.
Your thesis does a good job giving a physiological explaination for symptoms of sleep paralysis, but it does not address the issue that all of the experiences described here and elsewhere involve a starkly real demonic presence.
Other commonalities I've heard are that these demonic hallucinations only happen when one is sleeping in the supine position (on your back, belly-up) and usually when one is sleep deprived.
Perhaps we need to consider the possibility that the explaination for these events is not wholly physiological, but maybe spiritual. They are, for certain, inexorably real.
my own hell
I agree with what you've said. I'm 30 yr old Male and have suffered hypnagogic hallucinations with sleep paralysis for as long as I can remember. The physiological evidence supporting the research and theories is interesting but I can not get past the terrifying truth of what I share with all victims I know. There is a demonic presence. We all see the same one. If he's not choking me whomever is in the house with me begins to... I'm often stabbed, beaten and mutilated. This dark presence, a cloaked spirit, has the aura of hysterical defining silence.
i would give anything to get rid of these.
I been having the same
I been having the same experience for the past 15 years. I just woke up to one of these, but it was different than the rest. I kept asking what year I was in and the response was always 2010. As usual a shadow starts pulling my legs ant trying to take me away.
I didn't know other people where experiencing the same
Hallucinations
I have a friend with Sleep Apnea,he says when he hallucinate,he dreams a big tall figure wearing a black hooded robe and carrying a big long macheti is after him. when he hallucinate. Do you have the same dream all the time? Vivian
Like I just posted! read my
Like I just posted! read my post, a man in a robe stood over me & waved his hands. He resembled death...then there was a red headed girl with an evil smirk in white standing over me touching me, everytime she did I felt it.
sleep paralysis and hallucinations
Thank you for your article! I have suffered from this condition that I didn't even know had a name since I was a child. I am 50 yrs old now and just had one of these experiences last night.
It is always the same, I find myself suddenly awake, I can't move and I feel something large crawling into my bed, sometimes gently pulling my hair, hearing voices, feeling something touching me, etc. I can feel the fear mounting, I can not move and I struggle to scream or move my head or open my eyes. It is hard, but once I struggle hard enough to break the paralysis, the terror stops and I calm down and return to a normal sleep. I am so glad to know that I am not crazy. I've been too embarrassed to tell anyone for fear of what they might think of me. The next time this terror visits me, I will not be frighten for now I understand what it is.
I also have had experiences
I also have had experiences with this. And also thought it only happened to me. But when it happens i see no figure im just in a paralyzed state and very frightened. In an attempt I try to move my arm but it would only move in centemeters eventually I would jerk and snap out of it. I'm just glad it has nothing to do with a demonic presence. While it may not be that it's still one of the scariest experiences on earth.
My Experience with Sleep Paralysis
As I laid in my room this morning after my 8:00 class, i began to visit another episode of sleep paralysis. It used to occur when I was pledging a fraternity, getting VERY little sleep and having varying sleep schedules, taking naps between any class I could. It was during this time when the terror part of sleep paralysis occurred, and when i was unsure of what was happening to me every night. It would usually occur on my second attempt at sleep in a given day. Now two years later, I have been mostly symptom free with the occasional occurrence (happening either when i am extremely tired and especially during naps). After much reading up and understanding what's happening to me during sleep paralysis (and that many others suffer), I decided to "have fun with it." This morning was the first episode in months, but i began to experiment with myself, trying to understand the feeling of the "onset" of sleep paralysis. I can only describe it as - closing my eyes, all of the sudden the noises in the room begin to intensify, the sound of my computer running turns into the sound of sort of a pseudo-dial up connection sound playing louder and louder, my head begins to pulsate, I get a tingling sensation then boom, your in. I enter this hallucinatory dream world of noises, sounds, visions, conversations and even déjà vu where instead of fear as I used to feel, I discover I can control all my hallucinations. I hear friends voices from my bedroom, knowing the while they are not there, then a dog tries to attack me, i laugh knowing the dog is not real - suddenly the dog disappears. Now I'm outside in front of campus and think why not just fly? I flew up to the trees and got all the lost footballs, frisbees and other sports equipment down that people had gotten stuck up there. I then snap out of it after about 15 seconds of consciously trying to get out of the dream state.
After waking myself up I discover I can fall back into sleep paralysis simply by just closing my eyes.
The same feeling occurs over and over again. I can tell exactly when I'm about to go back into paralysis, sounds in the room intensify, almost deafeningly loud, my head again begins to pulse and tingle, and immediately i begin to hear voices, conversations, songs (with lyrics), instruments, or even just footsteps. However, I find sometimes I have a hard time of determining reality. I know I'm slipping into sleep paralysis again, but sometimes when I feel like I've woken up only to eventually discover I'm really just in a dream state.
I don't know what causes the body to enter such a state of paralysis and hallucination, but I do know that it happens to me when I am tired or sleep deprived and most often when I try to nap. It rarely happens before I go to bed. I hope to have a sleep study done on me, and hopefully science will look a little deeper into this disorder.
frozendream/sleepparalysis
It only happened to me using melatonin supplements, I recently found out I suffered of sleep apnea, diagnosed with fibromialgia ten years ago. My other problems are overthinking and dislexia.
its astral projection
darling what your experincing isnt just sleep paralysis and it does exist and it has a name its astral projectionn
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