Has this ever happened to you?
You come out of a deep sleep. Something’s wrong. You can see and hear, but you can’t move! No matter how hard you try, you can’t budge. It’s like you’re paralyzed.
And it gets worse.
You get the impression that there is someone in the room with you. You can’t see or hear him, but somehow you know he (it?) is there. He’s not nice. He means you harm. You instinctively try to draw a deep breath, but you can’t. It feels like there’s some sort of weight on your chest, like you can’t breathe. You start to panic. Will this ever stop?
As suddenly as it began, it’s over. You can move. You turn on a light and survey your bedroom. You see nothing out of the ordinary, nothing out of place. You take a few minutes to calm down and then try to get some sleep…
If something like this has happened to you, you probably experienced Sleep Paralysis.
A lot of people experience sleep paralysis. If you experience it, it does not automatically mean that there is anything ‘wrong’ with you.
What Happened?
Your body couldn’t move because your body often can’t move when you’re asleep. In REM sleep, for example, many of your voluntary muscles are atonal (the muscles have no tone). Sleep researchers think that REM atonia happens so that people don’t act out their dreams. In essence, sleep paralysis occurs when your mind and your body don’t wake up at the same time.
Terrifying
Sleep paralysis is “normally harmless,” but that doesn’t mean it’s the greatest experience in the world. In fact, many people who experience sleep paralysis report being terrified. My research on sleep paralysis, conducted with Al Cheyne and Steve Rueffer, repeatedly found that many sleep paralysis experiencers were deeply disturbed and scared by what they felt and saw.
The Sensed Presence
The sensed presence certainly doesn’t make the experience any more enjoyable. A lot of people who experience sleep paralysis feel as if some evil person or entity is in the room. When I researched sleep paralysis with Al Cheyne and Steve Rueffer, we concluded that people sensed a presence because of a sort of short circuit in the brain. It looks like the part of your brain that ‘lights up’ when a threat is detected becomes active even though no threat is detected. So, you have the feeling that someone/something means you harm when, in fact, nothing is there at all.
Difficulty Breathing
Being unable to breathe is probably tied to the paralysis. You have anti-gravity muscles that help you breathe. When you’re in REM, your anti-gravity muscles are sluggish. You really can breathe, of course. It just feels like you can’t. Believing that you can’t breathe only adds to the terror.
Seeing Things
Some people hallucinate during sleep paralysis. They see all sorts of strange things. The hallucinations are happening because part of your brain is still in a dream state. Instead of seeing those weird and wacky images in your dreams, you’re seeing them in the room with you.
If you’ve experienced sleep paralysis, you might be worried. Please don’t worry. Remember that it is common and, as far as anyone knows, a sleep paralysis experience does not mean that there is anything medically or psychologically wrong with you.
How to Stop/Avoid Sleep Paralysis
That’s all well and good, of course, but how can you avoid and/or stop sleep paralysis experiences? There are a few things you can do:
- Avoid irregular sleep patterns and get plenty of sleep. People who are sleep deprived or who have unusual sleep patterns (like shift-workers) can have disturbed REM sleep. Because sleep paralysis is a ‘malfunction’ of REM, disturbed REM sleep probably makes people vulnerable to sleep paralysis.
- Don’t sleep on your back. Data that Al Cheyne, Steve Rueffer, and I collected indicate that people who sleep on their back experience sleep paralysis more often. Of course, maybe people who sleep on their back are the kind of people who experience sleep paralysis. But, might as well give it a shot.
- I’ve also seen it suggested that you should try to move your facial muscles.
- Someone else touching you might bring you out of it, but this has yet to be confirmed.
The number one thing to remember is that there is nothing truly wrong. If you find yourself experiencing sleep paralysis, you might try relaxing and taking in the experience. Remind yourself that sleep paralysis is nothing more than a ‘waking dream.’ You’ll be truly awake soon enough.
Ian Newby-Clark is Professor of Psychology at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. He studies habits and methods for changing them. You can read more about his findings at his blog, My Bad Habits.
Ah, thanks for explaining this.
My mother has this problem very often and as you said:
“Someone else touching you might bring you out of it, but this has yet to be confirmed.”
This is actually true, whenever i touch her or move her, she comes our of the Sleep Paralysis.
The funny thing is that usually after she wakes up she goes on saying: Tonight ‘he’ was here.
Incredible how the brain works.
My sleep paralysis seems to only last for a small portion of the time I am asleep, but, being asleep, I cannot always estimate how many minutes I experience it. There have been times when after experiencing it, I try to go back to sleep and have to wake myself up because I go back into SP as soon as I doze off. This happens several times in a row, and those paralysis sessions may last only seconds at a time. What I’ve seen over the years is that although many people who experience SP have similar experiences, there are many variations.
I experience this very often. Once a week or month. I often feel like I am being followed, stabbed, chased, pinned down, chocked or once someone was drilling a hole in my back and I could feel the drill bit going in and out of me and I could hear it as well. I notice that if someone is sleeping next to you, and if you can get their attention, you can come out of this state. But of course getting their attention is the hard part when you cannot move, speak or breathe. I have generalized anxiety disorder and asthma so these experiences are torture to me.
I think sleep is one is the most underrated aspects of our health and well being.
The only two things we can’t live without for any length of time are water and sleep. Okay, maybe oxygen, but I don’t think getting adequate O2 will be a problem for you or me any time soon. Can we survive without food for a few weeks? Yep (and some of us should). What if we smoke and drink daily for a month, will that kill us? Nup (not suggesting we do though). What if we don’t exercise for a year, will that kill us? Nup, probably not (not suggesting that either). Waddabout not sleeping for a week or two? Yep, that’ll kill yer.
It is a most unpleasant experience. I’ve had it a number of fimes and “unpleasant” really barely just touches how horrifying an experience it is.
I had researched this on my own, once I realized what was wrong with me, so this isn’t all that new to me – but I appreciate you getting the awareness up! When I tell people i had sleep paralysis they look at me like I’m crazy!
Yeah, it is quite a horrible experience. What helped me was learning to deal with anxiety. Keeping a journal as well as publishing a very personal book have really helped. My advice for would definitely be to have more emotional outlets because they clearly make a difference.
Yes, this is a fascinating phenomenon. It is called “Hagging” in some cultures because the majority of the people who see the threatening presence say it is an old woman (witch).
It is also not confined to Western civ. It has been talked and written about for centuries.
Yes, I have experienced this (not for awhile though). And yes, it was terrifying.
Interesting article – thanks for the tips on how to avoid it.
Wow–that’s crazy.
I’ve never experienced that. And by the way it sounds, I hope I never do.
Thanks for the great read this morning.
I’ve definitely experienced Sleep Paralysis several times, and it’s interesting to hear the scientific explanation behind it.
Most of the time I wonder if I’m even awake yet! Glad to know that it isn’t harmful as well.
Sleep paralysis and hypnagogic hallucinations are two of the four telltale signs of narcolepsy — but not everyone who experiences sleep paralysis is narcoleptic. The other two signs are excessive daytime sleepiness and cataplexy (sudden loss of muscle control at moments of sharp emotional response). I know this from personal experience.
At times the hallucinations accompanying sleep paralysis are sex-related. I believe this promoted ancient beliefs in the succubus and incubus, along with ghostly hauntings and, in more recent history, so-called alien abductions. An argument can be made that some accusations of incest, when there is no evidence confirming the allegations, might also stem from these phenomena. They seem so real to the person experiencing them that they become “the truth.”
Other times, the hallucination takes on a different form. I’ve heard the doorbell ring — in places where there is no doorbell. And I’ve heard of an incident in which a sufferer received a phone call from his boss telling him to come in later in the day than usual — only to discover there was no such call from the boss!
Good information on sleep paralysis. Not enough people know about it; but every reader is one more who is enlightened.
Anything in your research about hearing a high pitched, extremely loud sound (like – in your head) when coming out of sleep paralysis?
Just curious . This plagued me in college, probably from stress and an odd sleeping schedule. The loud, ramping up sound was pretty consistent.
Sleep paralysis is one step towards having out of body experiences. When the mind disconnects from the body the spririt is free to travel – the first sign towards this can be aloud hiss or even a roaring sound in the ears and a feeling as if you’re shaking even though your body is not moving. IF you relax deeper into these experiences and will yourself ‘up’ you should be able to harness out of body experiences and go exploring every night =)
Science tries to explain everything but they can’t. Everyday we have new discoveries that proves the “old” scientific theory is wrong.
You’ll be amazed how many people have sleep paralysis and other weird things happening to them but no one wants to talk about it because they don’t want to sound crazy.
go to youtube and check out:
Astral Travel: Albert Taylor
Out of my own personal research, I believe Sleep Paralysis is a result of your spirit leaving your body.. often called Out of Body experience (OBE) or It could be a spirit entity screwing around with you.
I totally agree with you…I think there”s more to it than what they’re saying.
“Anything in your research about hearing a high pitched, extremely loud sound (like – in your head) when coming out of sleep paralysis?”
Yes, I’ve had this, too! Although it’s been years since it happened. I got out of the sleep paralysis by wiggling just my little finger. This seemed to ‘wake up’ the other muscles. I used to think I was leaving my body when this happened. I was always tempted to ‘keep going’ but I’d chicken out (as if I really had control over the outcome!) and wiggle the ol’ pinky
That is definately what you were doing Cynthia. OBE’s frequently begin with unintentional or self-induced sleep paralysis. People then often experience loud buzzing noises or roaring sounds in their ears and a sensation of shaking or vibration as they separate more fully. I fully encourage you to explore this avenue if you experience it again, always ask for protection from your guides but OBE’s are probably one of the most important spiritual experiences you can ever have.
I experienced this once while in college. I don’t recall the feeling/vision of another person though, but I do know that I could not move for over a half hour and thought that I was paralyzed for life.
Very scary, until now I just thought that I had sustained some injury to my spine the day before which brought on the paralysis. Hasn’t happened since.
Weird.
It’s happened to me maybe three times, and the first time it freaked me out. It wasn’t unpleasant in any way, except that I didn’t know if I could expect to ever move again. When I looked it up and found that it was normal enough, I was OK with it. I wouldn’t mind if it happened again.
This happened to me a lot when I was in my early 20’s – it was _awful_. I could kind of mumble, and my roommate would hear me and come and help me sit up, then I’d be fine. I never had hallucinations though, thank goodness. I haven’t had it for ages, but regularly have dreams so vivid I’m not sure if they’re real or not (and often have to ask) – I wonder if this is related. I never thought to ask a doctor about it.
thanks for explaining it for us,I have pretty much experience of that kind of dreams.I’m scared, you make me know that it just because I always sleep on my back
I was experiencing this phenomenon quite frequently since I was at school. Recently I realised that it had not happened for quite a long time .By reading the article I came up with the conclusion that this must be due to the fact that finally I am getting enough sleep since currently I am not working. By the way, I also used to hear this incredible terrifying noise which sounded like the sound of an earthquake or something.
I hear a really loud…screaching..almost like a siren…It hurts my ears..afterwards my ears ring for about 15 minutes
Sonia this load roaring noise is frequently heard when someone is about to have an out of body experience. Though it sounds loud and scary, if you relax through it the sounds will slowly vanish and you may feel like you’re vibrating or shaking – at this point you can will yourself ‘up’ and have an out of body experience. Try not to be afraid as its a wonderful opportunity! Ask for protection from your guides and go for it!
Well, the strangest thing happened. I read this article yesterday (just the beginning of it). I never have experienced sleep paralysis. Wouldn’t you know it, last night, I experienced it. I half-woke up, thought I heard whispering behind me, and found I couldn’t move. It only lasted a few seconds, but it was disturbing. The craziest part is the coincidence, or the mere suggestion, that having read this article and only hearing about SP for the first time, and I experienced it that night! Truly odd…
This used to happen to me all the time as a child. It was terrifying, especially as I was so young and didn’t understand what was going on. I found that focusing on 1 part of ym body and willing it to move, like lifting a finger or a toe, would snap me wout of it instantly. I nevr knew it was a real issue and that others dealt with it too!
I experience sleep paralysis almost on a regular basis. I can still remember the first time I experienced it years ago and I’m only 20 years old now. The first couple times it happened I was terrified; I had no clue what was going on or that it even had a name. I have only felt a presence a couple times and I am now more in tune with how this sleep paralysis works — since I’ve been having this over and over for years I can now calm myself down and tell myself, in my head, to wake up. I usually don’t feel like I can’t breathe with the exception of the episode I had this morning, which is the only true time I felt like I couldn’t catch my breath. Although I have “come to terms” with this issue I still can’t help but feel afraid sometimes when it’s happening. Also, I know from experience that if someone touches you it will bring you out of it; the whole time I’m having my “episodes” I’m saying over and over in my head, “Please someone wake me up.” Another thing that I find extremely interesting is how one of your tips is to not sleep on your back and now that I’m thinking about it, almost every single time I’ve had this sleep paralysis has been when I’m lying on my back. Thanks for the tips and information, I’m always looking this condition up so I’ll be informed.
I’ve had the paralysis and the “weight” on me whether sleeping on my back or my stomach.
[...] Have you ever experienced sleep paralysis? [...]
I’ve had this experience starting when I was a senior in college. Variations include the paralysis where I have to relax and then jerk my body suddenly in order to wake myself up. During episodes where I feel a weight on me I generally don’t perceive a gender or necessarily evil, and I usually even know that it isn’t real, but it takes me some time to wake myself up. If I go right back to sleep I have the exact experience again and finally I just turn the light on and give up on sleeping. Another weird variation is when I had buzzing and static in my head. It was so loud that it physically hurt my head, and I could hear what sounded like male voices, as in a traffic helicopter report, but I couldn’t understand the words. I don’t think any of these things are paranormal, but they are uncomfortable and sometimes frightening and ruin my sleep. I’ve heard they occur mostly with stress. The last “weight” episode I had was when I was recovering from dental surgery so it could have been the pain killer.
Loud roaring or buzzing sounds as well as a feeling of vibration are generally signs that you are about to have an out of body experience. In this state, the body is very disconnected from the mind and you are very close to being able to just think ‘up’ and float out of your body. The male voices you heard may have been your guides trying to speak to you, maybe not, but there is no need to be afraid. The vibrations can be uncomfortable at first but if you relax through them, an OBE is a truly amazing spiritual experience.
I have had this problem for years now and I’m only 17. Its is truely the most terrifing feeling in the world. Laying there helpless and watching someone walk toward your bed or come through your bedroom door, everything feels so real. Then trying to yell for someone to wake you or save you and not being able to make a sound. And then when you do wake yourself up and try to fall back asleep you fall right back into it again. I usually have them on a stressful day or when I havent had enough sleep. Being in school means I have them all too often. None of my friends have had them but my dad gets them too. Idk if its a family thing or not. I just wish they would stop. I had one tonight and I prob. wont be back to sleep. But anyone who experiences these, you are not alone!
I get sleep paralysis about once a week which, from what I’ve read is quite irregular. It always happens when I’m falling asleep,not waking up, and I can now feel it just before it happens. Usually it’s too late, and I’m stuck. It’s accompanied by an overwhelming rushing noise and an even more overwhelming sense of terror. I think the reason I’m most afraid is because I can’t open my eyes so I have no idea of what could be potentially about to attack me while I’m defenseless. The worst part for me is that it typically happens more than once in a row, usually about 5 or 6 times before I get up and stay up for a while. I don’t think it could be cureable looking at the science of it which is kinda depressing. I’m 18 and the only thing worse than sleep paralysis that I’ve ever experienced was drinking the powder of 80 grammes of magic mushrooms, try sleep paralysis+ego death+10 hours of hell.
I have sleep paralysis and hallucinations from time to time, not always together but when ever I can’t move I also hallucinate. The sleeping on the back thing, doesn’t work for me. I’ve always been a stomach sleeper. I’ve had two especially scary episodes. Once in college i was sleeping in my dorm room and i had a dream that a strange man came in to my room. I immediately woke up and sat up and looked at the spot that I had seen the man in my dream, and the same man came around the corner agian, except this time i was awake, or so i thought. I was really shaken, it freaked me out for real. The other time, I was at a friends house, laying on the floor taking a snooze
(on my stomach with my head to the side). I woke up because I heard some one com in the door. I could only move my eyes and I saw some one step over my body and stop, the feet were facing me as if the stranger was looking down over me. Then the stranger walked around the apartment and left. Little by little i regained mobility but I was really weak and I was dizzy with a ringing in my ears. It was so real, but when i got up I looked at the door and it was locked from the inside.
My mom has narcolepsy-cataplexy, I hope I don’t develop it too. She didn’t get it until she was older like almost 50.
The first time I experienced SP was last year when i was 17 years old. It completely terrifying because i didn’t know anything about what was happening to me. I was in my bed fast asleep when suddenly I woke up and felt an intense sensation of fear, like I was going to die. I was positive of it. Then, I slowly looked down at the foot of my bed and I swear that I saw a black figure, not like a shadow, but like the shape of a being in the darkness. I instantly ‘knew’ that it was a demon and began having a panic attack. I couldn’t get out of my bed, the only thing i could do was put my head under the covers and my chest got really tight. I felt like I was dying and truly believed that I was.
I have had a few ‘out-of-body’ experiences as well, where i would think i woke up from a dream and would sit up and look down and see myself still sleeping. I would move my arms as I sat up and feel an intense, tingling pressure throughout my arms.
After this incident, every time I lay down to go to sleep, i hear a ‘wave’ like sound in my head. It sounds like an ocean wave getting louder and louder and it usually makes my body feel painfully tingly, the louder the sound gets. Sometimes I hear this sound during the day when engaging in daily activities and it distracts me. I wonder, has anyone else heard or felt these ‘waves’?
I also hear conversations when I am trying to fall asleep sometimes. These conversations are between many different people that I’ve never heard before.
I’m still trying to figure out exactly what is going on.. I’ve been doing research, but any information on these sounds would be helpful.
I’ve been researching for some time now.. and I actually found a way to willingly induce out of body experiences. It helped me come close but I was never able to get close enough to actually come out of my body.
I tried to visually see myself yank myself out of my body… as a result, I would hear clicks in my ear. the more I do it, the louder the clicks are in my ear. sometimes, I feel vibration in my head, numbness throughout my body. A good analogy is… the vibration is actually you changing the station to your body.. different vibration takes you to different parallel universes or dimensions. there are times, I was able to see images in front of me (a hole between my eyes on my forehead) of a beautiful place or blue oceans. Other times, I am able to see into my future.
I think this is a little hard for most people to take, just like back then, most people would rather believe that the universe evolves around Earth.
I know people who are able to come out of their body on a daily basis. We are all spiritual beings, but most people won’t find that out until their physical body dies and realize they are still able to roam around and time to them no longer exists.
Here are couple of authors, one used to work for NASA. They both had many out of body experiences and decided to write about it and share their experiences.
Here are two sources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWcjXuqICf0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpRU4bOpzD0
One of them was a Catholic and another one disses Christianity.
I am a born again Christian. I take the experiences I had to validate my faith in Jesus Christ. Although the bible did mention out of body experiences many time, it did say that we won’t be able to find truth there even if were able to go. I sincerely believe Jesus has the power to direct where we go after death since he created everything.
ken
leeken02@gmail.com
Everything you are describing is typical of Out of Body Experiences Danielle. You can go look at the Monroe Institute website for more information – he was a gentleman who had spontaneous OBE’s his entire life and set up an institute where people go to learn how to do it. The wave sound you hear is a frequently heard sound as well as sensations of vibration that generally indicate you are close to having an OBE, not sure why you would hear it when you are wide awake but perhaps the institute may have some answers for you. =) OBE”s are fantastic if you can initiate them consciously!
I was able to will myself into an out-of-body experience by very slowly letting myself enter that middle range between wakefulness and sleep, and imagining myself sliding out of my body towards my feet and basically sliding off the foot of my bed, landing on the floor on my butt! I then walked around, looked at myself lying on the bed, and wandered through the house. I was so amazed at the experience and how real it seemed. When I woke up and analyzed the situation, I realized I saw myself on the bed wearing different clothes than I was actually wearing, which told me that this was a dream. I suspect it really is dreaming – just lucid, directed dreams. I was disappointed, but not surprised.
I first experienced it in high school. Yes it was scary, and I heard a very loud wind blowing sound, even though my windows were closed and definitely was no wind that night. I’ve continued to experience it over the years, and a few years ago, I had another episode, but this time, I could felt my blanket being pulled slowly off of me to my feet. Yeah, true story. I still get it, and an so accustomed to it, that I get it multiple times a night sometimes and make no big deal of it and sometimes nearly forget. Doesn’t scare me anymore. I usually keep my eyes closed, but next time I’ll open them to see what’s up. Pun intended!
It looks like the part of your brain that ‘lights up’ when a threat is detected becomes active even though no threat is detected.
How do you know that no threat was detected? Did you do paranormal tests? Just curious.
I had this for the 5th or 6th time last weekend, and I took photos of our hotel room but there were no orbs or anything unusual… even on the entire grounds of the estate.
It’s weird because when it happens I feel like I can locate a presence in the room. The first time it happened the window was open right next to the bed I was sleeping in.
It has happened a couple of times when the window is open, and another time when I was sleeping in the opposite direction on my bed. This time I could open my eyes. Sometimes I actually sleep with my eyes open, so it’s possible that when this happens I am lucid dreaming at the same time- usually before I realize I am still asleep. I’ve never been able to calm down after it happens, I am always afraid that something bad will happen to me if I don’t wake up and I am fighting the presence.
I get the vibrating feeling each time, it doesnt come in waves or anything. I’ve had the vibrating feeling when I wasn’t having paralysis too.
Just interesting… it seems too real to not be anything… but I would be interested to know if there was some kind of paranormal research conducted as well.
The Vibration you felt is generally a sign that you are ready to have an out of body experience.
Its funny because the times it did happened to me I wasn’t laying on my back, i remember laying on my back. I remember my first experience with Sleep Paralysis was on june 6, 2006, better known as 6-6-6. I really don’t know the meaning of it, but you have helped me understand more about it.
Its funny because the times it did happened to me I wasn’t laying on my back, i remember laying on my side. I remember my first experience with Sleep Paralysis was on june 6, 2006, better known as 6-6-6. I really don’t know the meaning of it, but you have helped me understand more about it.
I have experienced sleep paralysis for as long as I can remember, when I was small it would happen 2 or 3 times a week,…more so in my teens…but slacked off in my early 20’s.
I get a full body sensation that is something like your foot being asleep..but everywhere…accompanied by the sound in your head when you try to keep your eyes open and closed at the same time…anyone who has experienced it knows exactly what I mean.
The only useful tip I ever got wasn’t from my sleep study…it was from a native american shaman who told me I should try to mentally “roll over”. This seems to trick my brain into thinking that it is free from my body and I can fall into regular sleep usually. Any other methods I have tried only alleviate the problem for a few minutes and I fall right back into paralysis followed by ghoulish waking nightmares and fitful sleep.
Although I am not convinced of it, some people seem to think that sleep paralysis is an important step of out of body experience…and the noise is that of your mind separating itself from the body.
Sleep paralysis was such a big part of my life growing up. I started experiencing it around puberty(8 or 9 years old) I would go in and out of sleep paralysis almost as easy as walking in and out of a door.
Have experienced it nearly every night for many years, i learned to adapt. I could go into sleep paralysis when I chose to(yes there is good reasons for choosing to, it can be a wonderful experience if the fear is ignored) but coming out wasnt so easy.
In my late teens, early twenties the experiences became very intense sometimes, fear and terror came into it more often. I experienced such incidences as being lifted a spun by a satire and gremlins clawing at my shoulders(incidently the Gremlin experience manifested itself in physical pain the next day)
Funnily enough people talk of it happening during sleep. But to me i knew when it would happen as soon as lying down and it would never not happen when i felt that feeling. The feeling was a soft buzzing in the ear, a very slight but noticeable heaviness in your body and even a light dizziness. I basically learned to recreate that feeling in order to make it happen.
Funnily enough, nearly 20 years later and I no longer experience it. Miss it in a way
As for the world I had in sleep paralysis, i’ll keep that to myself for now, don’t want to appear too insane 
Incidently i would be keen to find out if anyone had chain like sleep paralysis(which is what i had mainly). Which is like when you come out of it and if you don’t physically move then you go straight back into another spate of sleep paralysis. This could repeat itself for what felt like hours?
Alan
Alan, I’m not sure if I’ve had exactly sleep paralysis, but the going back into it and out again seems so familiar. I’ve had so many weird episods whilst “asleep”, I can hardly remember. Ive had the tingly feeling starting at my body and rising to my head and sometimes it’s an extreme pressure and when it gets to my head, it feels like every blood vessel is going to explode. Ive had the feelng of someone in the room, floating above my bed and all over the place. ringing in my ears was a big one too. usually i’d have some odd dream and then the violent physical feelings would start. Some nights I thought I’d been punched in the face. ONe night my heart was going so fast, I lay there thinking “no human heart can handle this” and it was like i was preparing to die. some nights the episodes seemed to go on for hours. I finally learned that I had to force myself awake and force my eyes open. once awake, i’d turn on the light and stay up for a bit. the horrible episode would then be guaranteed over for the night. I always thought I was having a night terror. now reading about the SP changes my thoughts or maybe theyre related? One night when i was a kid, I swear I was awake, but i recall lying on my right side and staring at my bedroom door, then this weird tingly sensation would overcome me and I was still staring at my door and all of a sudden it was daytime, the room was a different colour, and my dad’s sister was coming in the room and saying hello. then, the tingly feeling came back and i was alone and it was ni ght time again. I could will this back and forth throughout that night. Ive had so many weird ni ghts , I can hardly believe others have had these too. School always brought on what I thought were Night terrors. seems like sleep paralysis is tied in or maybe I’m wrong? im 32 now and have only a few night terror/SP episodes a year. school used to trigger about 3 solid weeks of night terrors/SP. The first time I had an episode, I was in high school. I was so afraid of what had happened that night, I was afraid to even touch or go near my bed for fear of it returning. my doc in my mid twenties, was about to medicate me for these horrific, violent episodes.
Anybody can please tell me that Sleep paralysis last for how long? for few seconds, mins or hrs. Cos I have experienced something like this just once in my life and just for around 20-30 seconds. Is it possible tht it can happen for such a small duration. And I remember that I was not sleeping on my back.
Till today i use to think that it was some out of the world feeling. But now i am sure it was nothing else than sleep paralysis.
Sleep paralysis happens every night when you go to sleep. It is the body’s way of preventing you from waking up by thrashing around in your dreams. For some people waking up in it is more frequent than others, but a few seconds is generally all the body needs to realise the mind is awake and allow movement again.
I got real nervous and shaky reading this article. I have been experiencing SP for years not knowing what it was. It it is one of the SCARIEST things I’ve ever experienced. It always hits me in a wave, from the top of my head down with a really loud and intense sound and lots pressure. I also always have the feeling that something evil is in the room(just like the article describes), which of course, only adds to the feeling of panic. But the thing that always freaks me out about the experience is, that when it happens, I’m completely aware of my surroundings. I’ll try to scream for help to whomever is around, but I can’t scream or move. The fact that I knew what was going on around me, made me know that it was real and not just a dream. I was worried that I was having some sort of serious brain problems or something. I finally decided to research this after having a particularly bad bout of SP a couple weeks ago. Glad that I know what it is now!
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I first experienced sleep paralysis about a month ago, and was terrified. Firstly I felt like I wasn’t breathing, so when I tried to breathe, I realised I couldnt move anything in my body or call out for help. I honestly thought I was dying. It only went on for about 20 seconds, if that, but afterwards I wasn’t sure if it had actually happened because it was such a surreal experience.
I’ve experienced it again a few times since, but this time its only gone on briefly, but everytime I try to go back to sleep, it’ll happen again 2 or 3 times. I’m not sure whether this is because I’m panicking?
Reading this article has been really helpful anyway! Thanks for posting it.
[...] a faster rate and that you might even start hyperventilating as your body tries to get in as much oxygen as [...]
I’ve had sleep paralasys since I was an adolescent (around 11) they have continued on (I’m 27). I have gone periods of two years at the longest without one. Just this last few weeks I have had them almost every other night.
They have gotten progressivly worse. Starting with just feeling a presence, to a presence being close, to a touch on my hand, to noises (distant banging), to being on top of me. The most frightening for me was once when I felt a sense of death approaching and the very worst was the one time I felt the touch.
This last week I felt the one on top of me, shaking me, I yelled your not real go away!
I’ve gotten very very good at moving my hands, feet eyes and mouth…lots of practice over the years!
Anyway, they really come around when I’m going through changes, lifestyle, stress etc. I know the reason why I’m having them so bad at this moment is because I just got a tat on my neck and I can’t sleep on it, so I’ve been trying to sleep on my side and stomach. It’s been disrupting my sleep and that is why they have been prominent lately, because of the unusual sleep I’ve been having.
The only cure is keep to a normal sleep schedule, stay low stress, etc, there is no other solution.
I have through out the years also mastered lucid dreaming, but, I had no idea they were related. Haven’t done it much lately, I’m not that bored! lol
I used to be into a bunch of New Age stuff when I was in my late teens. I bought a book on Astral Travel at one point. Bought all kinds of meditation music to try inducing it. I could never induce it on my own. Then it actually happened a couple times in my sleep. Floating to the ceiling, realizing I was having an out-of-body-experience, then got scared and felt myself snap back into my body in another room. Never did travel passed the one room.
Then I started experiencing Sleep Paralysis. Before that point, my now wife and also my sister had been using a Ouija Board in our home and all kinds of seriously creepy stuff would happen and I was really freaked out about the basement where my room was.
Out of about the 10-12 Sleep Paralysis episodes I’ve experienced, the first one I had I remember feeling like I was awake, could see everything as it was in my room but could not hear anything. I was sleeping on my stomach. All of the sudden I felt like 500 lbs was on my back and couldn’t breathe. I felt like it was someone standing on my upper back. I tried screaming out to my wife, then girlfriend who was sleeping with me, but couldn’t. Then I would just wake up all freaked out and in a sweat. I had another where same thing would happen but a tall, featureless, pitch black manly figure in the mirror would grab me from my bed and try pulling me in but couldn’t. I’d wake up terrified. My wife experienced the same thing in that room. This kept happening for quite a while. Then my sister started dating a guy whose mom was a Christian Pastor. I was not a Christian at the time. I asked what I should do and she said to try reading Psalm 91 before bed for comfort and protection but if it happened again, to say the name of Jesus 3 times (3 symbolically representing God’s number) and it would go away because Jesus Christ as God has authority over demons which is what I always thought they were because of the stuff we were experimenting with (even demons know Jesus is God and have to submit to Him).
So shortly after, I had another episode of Sleep Paralysis. This time during the day. I was laying in my bed alone, on my back, woke up and could see but hear nothing. My blankets then air-sealed themselves around me and I couldn’t move. I could breathe though. I said the name of Jesus 3 times. It loosened me. Then when I’d try to get out of bed, the blankets resealed themselves around me again. I repeated the name of Jesus 3 times again. It loosened me again. It happened once more and I repeated the name of Jesus 3 final times and it let me go and I woke up. It happened a couple more times after that until I became a Christian and then left me alone I assume because now I was a threat to it with the authority I’d been given in Jesus to expel demons.
I’ve had a few episodes since then throughout the last 8 years but I now know how to protect myself and I feel safe when it happens because I know God has my back. I don’t suggest experimenting with Astral Travel, OBE’s or anything occult or New Age. It has the appearance of something great, fun and exciting at first but then wears off and leads you to the next thing to experiment with. It’s just like drugs and you end up wanting a bigger and bigger high. Then it drains you and tries to destroy you. Only my relationship with Jesus Christ ever satisfied my spiritual thirst and I now have hope for tomorrow and protection from evil when it tries to come upon me.
That’s my take and experience with Sleep Paralysis. I could keep going with other experiences but I’ll leave it there as for things that relate to Sleep Paralysis.
Feel free to contact me at jayandmelly@gmail.com if you’d like to talk more about anything you may be experiencing and/or ways to cope.
Jason.
me and my bf get it sometimes and i hallucinate really terrible things.. like an eye watching me or a person thats standing on the other side of the room.
Because we share the same bed what we do is we are able to breathe on it, and instantly breathe heavier. This wakes up the other person and they shake them up to wake.
This works every time. But for that instant it feels horrible! it feels like im sinking/falling while having a siezure. Certainly feels like it
I had something like that couple of days ago, but I experienced ONLY the paralysis (not being able to move) and troubles with breathing, fortunately I haven’t seen or heard (or felt) anything creepy. I woke up after I was sleeping on my stomach. I couldn’t move and my breathe was very shallow, but I never tried to fight it, just lied down waiting untill it stops. I just thought that this is a period between being asleep and awake that sometimes happen and there is no need to panic. And after some 10-15 seconds it all ended and I was able to move normally. Maybe the fact that I was sleeping on my stomach, and that I wasn’t panicking helped me not to experience any creepy hallucinations?
ok you need to pray god before you go to sleep and say sleeping paralisis till you dont fall asleep ok sweety ok first you will avoid all thoes bad spirits and some one you love will be beside of you rubbing your shoulders and make you feel good and saved i promise you this person is white and its your self as a spirit that its feeling it spirit touching spirit and you feel coold cheel coming on your body and you can see your own spirit by sayng come out mentally say it come out and mentally say move move and you will move its not a paranormal thing no way im spiritual i have it when i ask for it every day almost and you have an out of body experience if u keep sayng come out come out and you will see your spirit its bright and very white and i have seen my grand mother but that was bad
I have actually experienced it for quite some time now and to me its painful because it happens almost every day.i hear sound in the head and feel like something has landed on the back of my neck and it acts like sucking my blood and that is very terryfying. it happens even during the day and as i try to wrestle with i produce a sound such that others can hear me and often ask me but its unexplainable. if someone touches it stops suddenly but can keep on coming continually. iam not too sure if mine is the same or its now a demonic attack.
Hi Peter, without trying to sound crazy, lol, just be comforted and encouraged to know that if you truly want deliverance from this thing that is afflicting you, if you feel in your heart it is a demon, God can and will save you from it’s effects. If you do not have a relationship with God, He is allowing this to take place so that you turn to Him and acknowledge His presence. All God wants from anyone is a relationship…that is why He created man in the first place. He allows the enemy to do certain things not because He does not love you but because He wants your attention and your trust/faith.
When this is occurring, say “by the Blood of Jesus” 3 times (3 is considered God’s number), even in your head or out loud and symbolically/literally, this repels demonic attack since Jesus died to conquer death, sin and evil itself and the Bible says that even demons must bow down to and acknowledge that Jesus is Lord over all, and that He has authority over them.
Jesus also gave us the power and authority in His name to expel demons as a part of “the Great Commission” to all who believe. This power is given through the Holy Spirit that He gave us as a comforter, protector and guide until His return who as a part of the Holy Trinity of God the Bible says is more powerful than the spirit that is in the world (Satanic/demonic).
You can read more of my experiences and how I dealt with this type of activity in regards to sleep paralysis in post 39 above.
If it persists even after this, you should consult your doctor to see what might be happening physically/psychologically but trust God to deliver you first. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the proof of things unseen.
Feel free to contact me anytime at jayandmelly@gmail.com.
Jason
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I can remember this happening to me once in my life and the terror was indescribable. From reading this I realize: 1. I was sleeping on my back. 2. My sleep schedule had no pattern and 3. Although not mentioned here, I was sleeping in an unfamiliar environment (which probably added to the terror). This makes me question. Would I have been so terrified if I had not been force-fed the idea of evil spirits in my religious upbringing? Now do you have any very good ideas on how to remind one’s self while in SP that its just SP and not some attack by pure evil?
Did those evil spirits take away your power to use punctuation marks?
hi i am 11 years old , i often get sleep paralysis thank you so much for posing this. does anyone know if this is hereditary because my moms two brothers(my uncles)have it as well
THIS MAKES SENSE BUT I WAS LAYING ON MY SIDE DURING MY LAST PARALYSIS AND IT FELT LIKE SOMETHING WAS PINNING ME DOWN BY MY UPPER ARMS, THOUGH I COULDN’T MOVE ANY PART OF MY BODY. IT LEFT ME SO FREAK OUT I NEVER HAD SHORTNESS OF BREATHE BEFORE.
1 WEEK AGO –ANOTHER INCIDENT IT FELT LIKE SOMETHING WRAP ME IN A WARM BLANKET AND COVERED MY EYES,
I THINK MY SITUATION IS HAUNTING……SMH AND WORRIED
I have had this probably 50% of nights for the last 2-3 years, i’m 18.
My experiences are accompanied by a hallucination which is a very painful sensation in my head.
I often have it in phases, for example i might be fine for a week, but then there may be another week where it happens every night, possibly more than once.
I’ve never had demonic hallucinations or seen anything during the experiences but felt the pain most times, it mostly happens when i’m quite tired.
I suffer from SP regularly. In fact I had it again last night. I believe that to some degree its hereditary as my father suffers from it but also I am aware that if I have not slept well I am more inclined to suffer from it.
I used to get the fear that there was evil in the room, this is not as bad as it was though, my main issue now is the loud noises i hear as I enter SP state.I often hear static sounds and the conversations and music that will get louder till they are deafening. I can feel these attacks coming on and it can happen even when I lay on my side (though I prefer to sleep on my back) I have tried concentrating on moving a single muscle to beak out of it and have had no luck so far. The static and loud sounds and the deadening feelings in my limbs are a sign it is about to go into a full fledged SP attack. I suffer from SP in chain form so once I have had one I will have several.
I spoke to a close friend about this just yesterday and we both concurred neither of us have ever suffered from SP when we share our beds with people. He advised me that this is a subconscious comfort thing.
I also have extremely lucid dreams and remember them when I awake, I also have dreams that can continue ie I have a friend who crashes over at the weekends. Every time he was around for the first 6mnths I would have this dream about a house I had never been to, each week I would see more of this house, eventually it just stopped one night. I also talk in my sleep and have been known to sleep walk as well.
Maybe I just have issues when it comes to sleeping but maybe they are all linked?
I been having these lately for over 2 years, at first they came in uncontrollable horrible hallucinations and presence, once I saw my brother walk through the door with it closed and he came back and walk out again, but turn around only his head with a big grin, creep… But soon I realize the more scared I get or think something is going to happen it does, so one night I felt my body numbing up and went into the state, I felt pressure on me and calm myself down thought about some naughty dirty thoughts and actually experience sex in that state. I woke up from the SP as if it was a realistic wet dream, but the fear part seems to be overwhelming. I tried it again when it happen and it felt like something was pushing very hard on me, making it hard not to fear it.
Overall, I think when you have control over it, it becomes a dream that you are in the driver seat. I even manage to levitate myself and watch my body float around the room. The fear is the only part that makes it a horrific experience. Our natural instinct of waking up without control of our bodies, instantly draw in fear causing the horrific experience. Once, you overcome it, it should become more pleasant, it’s all about will power.
I have had SP for years, but it has only been the last 9 months that have been the most terrifying for me. When I was younger (teenager), I would wake up, hear the swooshing/wave/static sound and be frozen. After 10 seconds, I would be fine. I would feel like there had been a presence there, but would usually be able to fall back to sleep. My most recent bout with sleep paralysis occured upon the birth of my first child. As any new parent, I was lucky to get any sleep I could. Still being used to sleeping on my side due to my pregnancy (I was a back sleeper prior to being pregnant), I drifted off mid morning while my daughter napped. I remember opening my eyes, feeling the tingling sensation/hearing the static, etc. Suddenly, I heard “Would someone please help me?” in a female voice. Finally I was able to wake up. I grabbed my daugter out of her pack and play and refused to go back into my bedroom until my husband came home. I had a few more moments like that until I got into a better sleep routine. Everything was going great until a few nights ago. My daughter hasn’t been sleeping well, and in turn, I have been up a couple of hours each night. I had a non-issue SP incident, where I woke up with the usual static/tingling, and then was able to get back to sleep. Last night was another story – I woke up hearing a “gremlin-esque” voice in my ear. I could understand what “it” was saying, and I heard tons of laughing in my ear as it was saying it. I tried to remain calm, woke up, went to check on my daughter in the next room, and went back to sleep about 45 minutes later once I had convinced myself all was well. I know that it is SP but it is still so terrifying to even entertain the idea that it could be “something else”. I’m hoping that I will sleep normally tonight. These bouts take so much out of me – everytime I think back to these incidents it’s like having them all over (emotionally, not physically)
Hi Guys,
I have been getting SP for a few years now. I have gone through all kinds of beliefs about what is, what it means for my life and all that. I have been convinced that it has spiritual significance in the past, but now im pretty sure its just malfunction of the nervous system and a type of sleep disorder. All that being said, while you have absolutely no access to moving your muscles it can be quite scary as everyone has said, but you know what, im kinda over it. I still get it on a regular basis but it really doesn’t bother me. It’s just like a recurring dream, it will haunt you until you face it.
I came to a point where I really felt like I was being possessed by a spirit or something, and it was scary, but I challenged it one day. I couldn’t move a single muscle and it was quite scary, but I still had a will inside me, a kind of attitude that just say “you wanna take me?! fine! go for it!” and i am telling you when I snapped out of that SP it was the most liberating feeling of my life!
face up to it, there is nothing else you can do. Grow a pair and just face that demon, witch, alien, God, who or whatever you think it is. Just face it, i am telling you, you will feel so much stronger for it.
Strange as it sounds, I actually quite enjoy getting SP now, it just feels like your going on this warm and fuzzy ride. I don’t care if it is some kind of spirit, I challenge it every time now to show me something new. I feel like there is this immense force pulsing from my body and its shaking the entire room, I challenge it, I say “common, lets blow this room up!”
just feel the force, its powerful! don’t be scared! we are blessed to experience this feeling on a regular basis. Trust me, learn to enjoy it, its liberating. You don’t know what your missing out on!
I hope this helps anyone who still feels terrified like I used to.. (and by the way, once you start enjoying it, it doesn’t happen not nearly as much..
If anyone wants to talk about there experience, ask me questions or wants help etc. email me at:
christophf01@gmail.com
Much luv!
Chris
by the way… this thing doesn’t keep dates so if you want to know how fresh that last post was its 9:21pm 11/06/2009
Cheers
[...] possesses a voice that can lull even angels to sleep. She has that quality of voice that soothes the tired senses, and makes one feel relaxed and at [...]
I get it maybe 2x a year, can’t remember how long it’s been going on…I think all my life (I’m nearly 40). I recently told my mother about this, and I thought her response was interesting – “Maybe when people die in their sleep, it’s from something like this.”
Thanks for clarifying this. Go figure. 2:55am and “no” I don’t have a night job
lol………Because seeing yourself sleep, trying your hardest to wake and you can’t move a muscle, or barely sitting up just to be forced back down like a magnet, and feeling like someone is near you and you feel helpless to protect yourself from harm that could occur (but never does) is just weird, but cool. Cool because I feel like I’m awake and I’m really outside my body. Sometimes, it’s like I see myself from afar and sometimes, I just simply cant move a muscle. I have woken up sweating before and kinda pissed that I can’t wake myself up when I wanted to. LOL………I’m glad, I’m not going crazy!!!!!!!!
I honestly didn’t think, I would find anyone that shared my experience. I thought, I was becoming odd
Call for Jesus and he will immediately stop the Sleep Paralysis.
Learn more here:
http://stopsleepparalysis.org
Thank you so much for explaining this. I will always experience sleep paralysis like twice a month… I’ve heard that some people who panics too much will cause your brain and pumping blood to collide or something fights and causes death… I am really frightened though I’m very young and i am experiencing this already.
Thanks! I’ve been having this since I was is fifth grade and I still have it. Except for me when ever I get it it’s always in the morning (every morning!) and in the afternoon so I end up collapsing and no controll over my legs and feet. Is the afternoon one somthing diffrent?