Sleep paralysis stories typically involve unusual and frightening experiences. Perhaps you have one or two of these disturbing tales of your own to tell.
If not, I’ll first share one of mine to give you an understanding of what it can be like.
Then we’ll take a closer look at whether sleep paralysis demons or ghosts really exist. Or if science can provide a logical and comforting explanation.
My sleep paralysis experience
Imagine the following scenario: it’s been a long day, you go to bed later than usual and fall asleep quickly through sheer exhaustion.
But instead of waking up peacefully in the morning, you half wake in the middle of the night. And in the darkness of your bedroom, it slowly dawns on you that you can’t move your body…and that someone, or something, is watching you.
A weight pushing on your chest
You feel a weight on your chest, pressing you down and preventing you from sitting up. And not only is your whole body paralyzed, but you can’t so much as move your lips to call out for help.
You’re not sure who or what is pushing on your chest. Even though you seem to be able to move your eyes just a little, it’s too dark to see anyway. Regardless, you just feel that there’s a presence there. Something strange. Something frightening.
This happened to me last year and was a very unsettling experience. Fortunately, there was no demon, ghost or burglar in my bedroom.
After a minute’s panic, the feeling passed. And I was then able to stumble to the bathroom to make sure my face wasn’t decorated with demonic symbols. It was a classic case of sleep paralysis.
What is sleep paralysis?
Recurrent isolated sleep paralysis is classified as a parasomnia, which is a group of sleep disorders involving unwanted behaviors that accompany sleep.
The main symptom is being awake and unable to move your body. It might also be accompanied by hallucinations or dreams/nightmares whilst still awake.
It typically lasts from a few seconds to a few minutes before movement is regained. And although it may feel like it at the time, it’s not believed by medical organizations to be harmful.
What causes it?
The exact reason for why it happens to some people and only on some nights isn’t known. However, scientists do have a theory about what goes on during sleep paralysis.
During the night, you cycle through different sleep stages. When you enter the REM stage of sleep, your brain stops your muscles from moving – known as REM atonia. One explanation for this atonia is that it prevents injury from acting out your dreams in bed.
During sleep paralysis, the atonia starts, or continues, while you’re awake. And during this time, you might also experience what’s known as sleep hallucinations, or dreams while you’re awake.
So your body and brain are temporarily out of sync while transitioning between sleep stages, potentially creating a frightening experience.
As Dr. Michael J. Breus neatly explains:
Sleep scientists believe that sleep paralysis may occur when the transitions in and out of REM sleep and other sleep stages don’t go smoothly.
How many people experience sleep paralysis?
Sleep paralysis stories like mine are surprisingly common. In 2011, researchers aggregated 35 sleep paralysis studies to find out how many people had experienced it at least once in the past year, finding:
- 7.6% of the general population
- 28.3% of students
- 31.9% of psychiatric patients
And according to the handbook of sleep disorders, it will happen at least once in a lifetime of 40% to 50% of normal subjects, but is “far less common as a chronic complaint”.
Who is more at risk of having sleep paralysis?
Scientists might not know the precise reason only some people have sleep paralysis yet, but there are a growing number of risk factors becoming apparent.
For example, researchers who analyzed 42 studies found several risk factors and associated conditions:
- Sleep problems, changing sleep patterns and shift work.
- Sleep disorders such as narcolepsy, obstructive sleep apnea, insomnia and nocturnal leg cramps.
- Stress.
- Some psychiatric groups, particularly those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety and panic disorders.
- Substance and medication use.
- Physical illness.
- Personality and anomalous beliefs.
Is there a genetic component to sleep paralysis?
In 2015, British researchers published a study of 862 twins and siblings aged between 22 and 32. They did find some evidence of a genetic role, but only a small one:
In this sample of young adults, sleep paralysis was moderately heritable
Interestingly, they also found other independent risk factors, including:
- Disrupted sleep cycles
- General sleep quality
- Anxiety symptoms
- Exposure to threatening events
Polls – readers’ experience of sleep paralysis
I polled readers of this article for a year to find out what kind of sleep paralysis episodes they had.
Note that it’s likely that many people who search online about it will have had the more frightening episodes, skewing the results.
But they still provide a fascinating insight into what people experience and how they cope.
Poll 1
In poll 1, the most common episode was thinking there was a demon or other being in the room.
Poll 2
Poll 2 shows that many readers find sleep paralysis terrifying. Again, those who search online for it are likely to have found it particularly disturbing.
Poll 3
Poll 3 shows that many readers first experienced sleep paralysis during adolescence.
Poll 4
Poll 4 shows that most readers don’t experience sleep paralysis on a regular basis.
Poll 5
Poll 5 shows some of the ways readers deal with episodes. You’ll find more coping mechanisms below.
The not so scientific explanations for sleep paralysis
Since first writing this article several years ago, there has been an extraordinary number of comments. And the comments show that not everyone accepts the scientific explanation.
Interestingly, some people struggle to accept it even though they consider themselves to be scientifically minded generally. I think these cases highlight just how realistic the experience of sleep paralysis can be; how it can linger in your memory and makes you question what happened for a long time afterward.
The possibility of demons, ghosts, spiritual beings, and aliens all crop up from time to time in the comments too. And while many people accept their experiences as hallucinations or dreams, some people choose to believe another explanation – that those entities are real.
Despite these beliefs, there’s one clear theme: nothing bad ever actually happens, other than being frightened and perhaps losing some sleep after an episode.
Around the world
Cultural beliefs also appear to play a role in how sleep paralysis is perceived by some people.
In Fiji, for example, the demon is sometimes seen as a deceased relative coming back to discuss an important or unfinished matter.
In Chinese folklore, it’s also seen as a ghost rather than a demon or intruder.
Some people in Iran and Pakistan interpret it as demons or spirits taking over your body. This could be due to black magic performed by an enemy.
The common theme is that the entity is usually something to be feared. I’m yet to find a culture which believes it’s a friendly creature!
Sleep paralysis treatment
When to see a doctor
Fortunately, most people don’t experience sleep paralysis very often, and no treatment is usually required.
However, if the following apply to you, it’s a good idea to speak to your doctor:
- It happens regularly.
- You’re anxious about sleep paralysis and going to sleep.
- You don’t get enough sleep.
- You feel very sleepy during the day, sometimes fall asleep suddenly or lose control of your muscles.
What medical treatment is available?
If you see a doctor, they might take the following action:
- Refer you to a sleep specialist to assess if you have another sleep disorder, like narcolepsy.
- Treat any underlying psychiatric condition.
- Discuss any medication or substance use that might be a factor.
- Explain the biological processes involved in sleep paralysis to reassure you.
- Talk to you about developing good sleep habits. This is thought to help reduce the frequency of sleep paralysis.
Readers’ techniques for coping with sleep paralysis
Over the years, many readers have described how they cope with sleep paralysis, and I’ve created a list of the most frequent ideas below.
The first seven in the list are also suggested by sleep experts. The rest are a mix of personal opinions. Please bear in mind that none are guaranteed to work:
- Don’t let yourself become too sleep-deprived.
- Stick to a regular sleep schedule.
- Try to reduce stress and anxiety in your life.
- Try to vigorously flutter your eyelids or move your eyes, as this tends to be an area of the body that’s less affected by the paralysis.
- Focus on wiggling just one finger or a toe.
- Don’t take recreational drugs or drink alcohol in the evening.
- Don’t sleep on your back.
- Stay calm.
- Tell yourself that you’re in control. You can order the experience to stop.
- If you feel a weight on your chest, imagine there’s something friendly causing it.
- Film yourself sleeping so you can see there was nothing in the room.
- Don’t think about what it could be. Your imagination will probably make up something scary in the darkness.
- Organize your bedroom in a way that makes you feel safe and secure.
- Don’t hang dressing gowns, coats, or hats in places that make them look like figures in the dark.
- Sleep with a night light, music, or radio on.
- Remind yourself that nothing bad will happen.
- Imagine your body rolling from side to side in your mind and count each roll. Focus on this and try to grow the capacity for movement from there.
- Count numbers to focus your mind on something else.
- Don’t sleep with a high pillow.
- Keep your eyes shut and try to clear your mind.
- Squeeze your eyes tightly shut if you can control the muscles.
- Keep well hydrated – drink water before going to bed.
- Talk about it to family or friends – they may have experienced it too.
- If you have it once, get out of bed for a while to reset the brain.
- Many people say prayer helps. Some also say that calling on their religious beliefs and commanding what they see to leave helps them.
- Check if any sleeping pills or herbal remedies you’re taking are causing it.
- Use sleep paralysis to lucid dream by relaxing and going with the experience instead of fighting it.
- Once the episode has passed, tell yourself that you overcame it, are not afraid and will always overcome it.
How I recently stopped an episode of sleep paralysis
I successfully used two of the above techniques to stop a recent episode of sleep paralysis.
I woke to find myself in a strange position with my arms crossed on top of my body. And I could literally feel strong hands pinning my wrists to my chest.
I have to admit I was immediately petrified. The whole event was blurry, and I think I was having some dream overlap, but can’t remember exactly what now.
Stay calm and wiggle a finger
Two things sprung to mind after a moment of panic: stay calm and try to wiggle a finger.
The calmness I only managed with moderate success. But I did manage to focus my efforts on moving a finger. It felt quite odd – like my fingers were wiggling in different directions!
Eventually, I felt my arms loosen as well, and soon afterward I was able to shake the whole sensation away as I regained full control.
I then spent a few minutes doing some breathing exercises to ground myself and calm down, and then fell asleep again.
I think just knowing about the finger wiggling technique was enough for me to remember it when the sleep paralysis occurred.
Share your story of sleep paralysis
Have you had sleep paralysis? What happened, and do you have any suggestions to help others deal with it?
Please feel free to share your experience in the comments below.
Okay, I experienced one earlier this day I thought nothing of it until I decided it would be an interesting story to tell to some of my online friends and they all said: “That sounds like sleep paralysis” a few Google searches and checks under my bed and in my closet later I found this. I really didn’t find too much fear in what I could hear it made no sense whatsoever but what had got me most worried was the paralysis part, anywho I was wondering if you’ve ever heard a story like this.
I was taking a nap as a kid off school does and I was about to fall asleep (I only knew that cause I checked my phone after the whole ordeal and less than 10 minutes had passed) when all of a sudden my body went numb, like the feeling when your foot is asleep, but spread out and weaker. My eyes were closed so I could see nothing, but that really only made the thing worse. It was strictly audible and the thing I heard was the absolute worst thing anyone could ever hear being unable to move in a small room (even if you were able to move you’d be screwed) it was a bear or lion or really anything that could growl and could definitely eat you. It was a very loud growl as if it were right next to my ear the growling went on for about 2 minutes. I had tried to move my entire body including eyelids (not out of fear but of annoyance) until eventually I had just tried to wiggle my foot. The moment it moved the numbness released and I opened my eyes sitting in a quiet room. Slightly frightened by the event I check my social media and fell right back asleep no checking. I think the main reason I was so calm was because I remembered that I closed my door, thinking about it logically there could be no possible way a lion (which is what I felt it was) in north carolina with no zoos nearby could break through a glass screen door or a window or a screen door then a wood door, then make its way upstairs walk directly to my room, break down the door, me not wake up from that and then it walks to the left side of my bed without knocking over stuff and just growl at me.
I have had this on and off since I was 12. The first time I “woke up” knowing someone stood in my room but couldn´t turn my head towards it. It came closer and closer. I finally broke out of my paralysis and just screamed and screamed. Tried to explain it to my parents…
Since then it has happened regularly. Last night it happened again. This time I actually knew that it was sleep paralysis so I forced myself up, and dragged myself to the bathroom. I could just see in my right eye so I thought I had had a stroke (I´m a physician..), when I finally came to the bathroom I tried to rinse my face. I then woke up in my own bed, on my back. Everything had happened in my sleep… As always full of adrenalin, the heart is raising, sweat is pouring. My cat who slept on my arm opened his one eye and was like “man can we go back to sleep now”.
Hi Everyone,
ONLY ONE THING WORKS for me : breathe as strong and as much as you can. It wakes you up much faster, chases the entities, warms you up, gives your muscles what they need to get active again … TRY IT, it’s the best thing I’ve found, after 18 years dealing with this horrifying thing and I just learned about the scientific dimension of it ! Also, on a “spiritual” dimension, get mad at the entities and chase them to where they belong, upwards towards the light, which is where we all go in the end … they’re lost and naughty.
I have had two episodes of sleep paralysis and they are very scary. When I was in my mid twenties I saw two figures in black robes on either side of my bed. They grabbed each of my arms and pulled as if trying to drag me out of bed but I seemed to be hitting something hard. Eventually they gave up and dissappeared. The next morning my chest felt battered and sore. Last night I felt cold and realised my duvet was being dragged off me and being pulled violently upwards. I grabbed it and had to tug it hard to pull it from the grip of my dream spectre. Eventually that gave up too but my pulse was racing. I am a scientist and try to look to the logical explanation but I must admit the dreams seem very real.
Thank you for the website. Following my recent experience and reading your stories I have decided to contribute.
Death came for me. I woke in a room I didn’t recognise. It was my bedroom but it looked roughly four times it’s normal size and so I didn’t think I was at home. I was facing the window and it was still light outside as I was having a quick nap after work while my family were out.
Although I was facing the window I could see, with peripheral vision, that the door was open and in it stood a tall figure draped in black. I tried to call out for help but could only cry out, unable to form words. It was a strain to look towards the door as I was completely paralysed and could only manage it for a split second at a time. Each time i saw the figure it was stood still but getting closer until eventually it stood over me. I knew it was death and as it stood over me i felt myself slipping into sleep but i knew that if I fell asleep I would die.
Then I was alone, in my bed at home, lying on my back with my arms crossed across my chest. My fingers started to tingle and after a while i could move them. Slowly i regained the ability to move.
The most bizarre and scary experience of my 42 years on this planet. Sadly, it is nice to know other people have had similar experiences. Best wishes from Liverpool, England.
I am an 18 yr old female, and My parents and siblings had gone off om a holiday, and so it was the first time id been in my big house all alone. They have always built into me, “be aware for intruders.” Id gone to bed that night and woke up at around 2 AM to the sound of two people whispering in my room. I was on my side facing away from them. But the thing is, I dont know if i was paralyzed, because my immediate rational was that if i didnt move, the intruders would think im sleeping and leave me alone. But immediately i was terrified and i felt a heavy flow of adrenaline. It was probably 5-6 minutes i laid there petrified, and finally i got the courage to get up, find some sort of weapon i could try to defend myself with, and make my way to the kitchen where the knives were. Once i had the largest knife, i searched all around my house, keeping mind im having trouble not pissing myself, and i found no one. Still i locked myself in my parents room because their room was the only one with a lock. For maybe an hour i just sat there in silence listening for footsteps like i heard earlier. It might have been my overactive mind, but I heard them constantly outside the room. Finally i fell asleep at 4, but i had several vivid dreams about all the ways the intruders could hurt me, or how i could get away, etc. In the end, no one had been in the house because nothing was missing and i found no evidence of it, but it had been the most terrifying night of my life.
I struggle to sleep at night because my partner has restless leg syndrome. So sometimes I will be up until 5/6 am until he leaves for work until I can sleep , such was the case this morning. He had just left and I fell asleep and had a weird dream about being on a bus then I began to wake up. I was just lying there on my side and I heard crunching noises from my hallway then I felt myself being pulled down the bed and felt my foot off the end . As this was happening I was panting really heavily but didn’t realise because I couldn’t hear anything as though I was deaf. I opened eyes wider and it stopped but as soon. As I relaxed them again it happened again this time I heard what sounded like my partner scream my name on top of me . I opened my eyes wide and it stopped then it happened one more time before I decided not to close my eyes again. It took several minutes before I could sit up. I had only been asleep for about 20 minutes . I have never been so terrified .
I have sleep paralysis and it’s not nice twice a week I get it it’s like ghosts visiting me and I get pressure on my chest and neck I’ve read your piece and I will try the finger wiggle thanks it was good reading .
I am having this happen more and more. I was talking to my daughter and she had it happen. She thought someone was in the room. She saw like a shadow move by. So I looked it up and saw that was pretty common. This just terrorizes me when it happens. I will try and remember to move a finger and see what happens. I totally panic. I won’t go back to sleep until I’m just exhausted. It scares the holy hell out of me! Glad I’m not alone (not glad others go through this)
I had my first episode shortly after my father died, 20 years ago. At that time information was not as easily obtained, ( no internet, at least not onmy house!) so i had no name for it. The few people i told about it treated me like a mental case, great since i certainly felt crazy. What has helped me most has been my kids. The digital age has taught them how to find information that i had mo idea existed. i’ll never forget the day my son said “sleep paralysis” . There was aname for it!! Other people had this too!! The relief of just knowing those two things was as sweet as waking up from an episode. mine occur mainly if i fall asleep during the day, so my family helps keep me up — no naps for mom! lately though they’ve been happening at night more, so troubling. Apologies for the poor grammar, I’m on my phone. Prayers for all of us who suffer with this, and as my hero says ” you are not alone.”
I first started having sleep paralysis shortly after my sister was murdered. I was terrified to go to sleep as it was thinking I would be attacked. The ones back then were pretty terrifying. I would wake up and the room would be a in vivid rainbow colors, then a tiger would start stalking me from my window. Every time I would blink it would get closer. It would feel like I was stuck for eternity. It was so bad that I was terrified to sleep in the bedroom. So I would sleep on the couch. Went to my drs and they said the stress and trama was causing bad dreams. They wouldn’t listen that I couldn’t move and was awake. That was 25 years ago. They finally did go away when I moved from that apartment. I had only a couple after. Always when asleep on my back. Fast forward to last night and the recent news to her killers parole coming up and they started again. I feel asleep on the couch with a busy mind. Woke up and couldn’t move a muscle or call for my husband. I had the image of a shadow figure leaning over my head just watching me. I could hear my dog asleep on the floor next to me but couldn’t move or make a sound and this thing was laughing at me. So I tried with all my night to call my husband. Nothing would come out. It even turned the nightlight off. Finally I was able to get sounds to come through my throat. I couldn’t make any speach. Just wind type sounds. I was making them but still stuck. One of the cats heard and jumped on the arm of the chair into the shadow figure and it was gone. I was still not able to move. My husband finally heard me and came in the room. I was unable to move until he rubbed my legs. Finally finding this online I hope will help. Hopefully it eases a tortured mind when it happens. I was able to figure out that the floating figure was the angle my eyes saw the swag curtains. When the nightlight went out my eyes must have shut. But it still has left me pretty unsettled this morning.
Here I am at 3am and terrified to go back to sleep. I’ve had sleep paralysis as long as I can remember, sometimes it happens more frequently, while other times years may pass with no issue. I just had two episodes tonight. And one just two nights ago.
This evening I truly believed there was a human intruder next to my bedside, I could even feel AND smell breath blowing in my face (I was alone in bed). It was ominous-the feeling it was someone purposefully out to do harm to me. I felt held down by them, as if their entire body was pressed against me-not just on my chest. I was so scared. I tried to call for help, but it was useless, as always. When I finally pulled out of it, there was nothing there. I was soaked in sweat. I brushed it off as yet another ‘episode’ and went back to sleep. Not long after, it happened again, this time, however, I felt my leg extend upward and it was as though I begin to be pulled upward of bed, upside down! When I was able to move again I saw a white flash come out of my closet. I jumped out of bed and dashed out of the room so fast I even forgot to grab my eyeglasses (I am VERY nearsighted). I was too scared to go back in the room. I tried lying in the living room for a moment, but I was too frightened. I turned on every light and eventually went back for my glasses. In the past I’ve also been dragged off the bed…and it was as if something was trying to pull me through the floor. I once decided to ‘roll’ with it when it happened and saw a dark presence move toward me, it even manipulated the sound of the fan as it passed it, and then I felt bony hands grab both of my ankles. I couldn’t sleep in my bed (or hardly at all) for weeks after that happened. I have to be up for work in three hours, but I’m afraid to go back to sleep. This sucks.
Wow this is crazy this happened to me today I was sleeping …on my back as usual and had the same usual “someone’s holding me down and can’t move” episode.I Saw my boyfriend there,called for help and he couldn’t hear me .. woke up he wasn’t there and I went back to sleep…it happened twice back to back …I go back to sleep cause this happens to me often but this time it happened a third time and I saw my body lifting. That freaked me out.
If this is real, I almost cried to what you said to be honest I’m laying in bed here thinking and doing research on if I should do lucid dreaming aka out of day experience and I’m starting to think its really bad. I really want to do it but I’m a religious person I’m a Jesus follower and I also am scared of seeing demons especially of what I heard about them ….I need confirmation that I should do it and how I will benefit from this ..
Crater face. I’ve had this sleep paralysis experience a few times before (im20) but tonight was scary as sh**. My sleep schedule has been off this week and I was super exhausted prior to falling asleep. Around 3-4 hours later in laying on my side and have this weird sensation, felt like something supernatural but not bad and I remember myself saying Jesus, as soon as I said that something happened I felt a stronger presence then before and it knowcked me into a dream where I was floating in nothingness. This lasted briefly until I realized what was happening, still on my side panting (it felt like but was just grasping for air) I tried to roll over and see what the pressure on my neck was coming from. I struggle to turn my neck not much that it popped without moving much of it but in doing so, when I turned my head I caught a glimpse of what I thought I saw as a figure with a head that was a dark moon like somewhat dark grey wearing a white robe. The white robe was very clear and freaked me out. I saw it’s arm extend as if it were doing some magic to hold me down then after I caught my glimpse the thing looked like it expressed to me “alright you caught me, the fun’s over.” Then it left and I was able to move again. Scary and I know the scientific reasoning it makes sense. This is just wild and I wanted to share my experience since I can’t sleep :)
I have experienced this twice, both times I have fallen back to sleep and been woken paralyzed 3 times in the same night both times. Every time I go back to sleep I always dream the same thing and wake the same way. The 2nd time was 3 nights ago. I was asleep and I dreamt something was pouring water down my throat, it felt so real I opened my eyes and tried to sit up (fast as like in the movies lol when they have a nightmare and jolt upright) but I couldnt, I could feel hands tightening around my throat. I was trying to call out to my cousin and MIL but ofcourse no sound come out. I had to force myself to my hand before it stopped. After waking the 3rd time that night I had to feel my clothes to make sure they werent wet from having water poured on me it felt that real.
Ive experienced sleep paralysis ive been dragged off the bed, saw a man in a cloak walking beside my bed, flickering lights. I didnt always see things at first i just felt like something was n top of me and i couldnt move, a few years later the hallucinations started. I dont know what to believe but i wonder if its hallucinations then why is it always evil, and ghostlike, why dont anyone ever see fairies and unicorns for example??? Im more convinced its demonic. I wonder if we slip into a different realm?? I dont know but its weird!
I’m here reading your comment thinking should I do lucid dreaming ,,by your comment HELL!!! NO!!! I’m not gonna do it I don’t wanna see a demon in my room especially how you described it If I do , do it off of curiosity then I’ll pray once my conciseness comes
Whatever it is or you want to call it just say a prayer when it happens leave a book of prayer in the room at all times if it keeps on happening you can’t be scared fight back or it will keep happening I would tell my story but I was younger the only thing I remember that I got so sick of it happening that I knew when it was coming up the stairs and I just decided to plan to face it and not be scared eventually the devil or gin stopped bothering me. It happened yesterday so that’s why I’m leaving this comment haven’t happened since I was a teenager I’m now 39.
Sleep paralysis, an unique adventure?… Sleep paralysis is very frightening, distressing and causes the sufferer to worry that they might have some serious underlying illness such as a brain tumor, and regular occurrences of sleep paralysis can lead to chronic insomnia, with the person afflicted virtually becoming afraid of falling asleep. But what can’t be cured must be endured and the medication has not yet been formulated that can bring relief to the sufferer of this distressing condition. But there is another possibility that may enable those affected by this condition to somehow come to terms with it. My own experience with sleep paralysis began like most of the others documented here and my encounter with it began in my mid twenties. Briefly it began like this. I was expecting a friend to call for me at 4.30 a.m. one summers morning to go fishing. I was lying on the sofa but not asleep, when suddenly I heard a deafening roaring noise in my ears and then to my horror I found I could neither move a muscle or cry out for help. I also had the sensation of rising up towards the ceiling…I remember thinking ‘this is it, I’m dying. But after less than a minute I was lying on the sofa regaining my mobility and covered in sweat. The same thing happened for the next six nights until finally by now a complete wreck I went to the family doctor and told him my story. When I finished he surprised me by saying he had never heard of this before and a thorough examination showed that I was a healthy young man. But he could see how distressed I was and over the next month he tried several combinations of sleeping pills and relaxants but nothing worked. He was running out of ideas when he made a suggestion that was to change my opinion of sleep paralysis forever. One of his fellow doctors had suggested to him that I should try and relax when the paralysis struck by concentrating on some favorite place outside my home and he had been told that this had produced some surprising results in previous studies of the condition which had been undertaken some years before. To say I was skeptical is putting it lightly but I agreed to try and I am pretty sure my doctor was glad to get rid of me for a while. I love to walk my dogs at dawn on summer mornings and the entrance to our town park is through a stone arch which is over three hundred years old and even on the warmest summer mornings the moss covers stones of the arch are cool and damp to the touch. So as I nervously tried to fall asleep each night I tried to imagine placing my hands on the damp stones of the archway on fine summer mornings. For a week or two things were as usual, a roaring noise in my ears and complete paralysis but I tried to concentrate on the archway and the touch of the damp cool stones. Then one morning to my utter amazement, as the roaring subsided and I was able to move again, I found myself standing under the archway and almost immediately I realized I was dreaming. I knew I was at home in bed but here I was at the entrance to the park. I had sense enough to keep concentrating hard and make as much as I could from the experience. I pulled up some grass and it smelled like grass and the roses smelled like real roses. What struck me most was the clearness and sharpness of the images, the trees and flowers and grass were more vivid than I had ever seen them. Then my concentration weakened and I awoke in bed astonished at what had happened. Sleep paralysis was now something that might be explored rather than feared, but it was not to be so simple. While the paralysis still occurred regularly, trying to concentrate to the same degree which had resulted in that first ‘adventure’ proved extraordinarily difficult and tiring. But I persisted and some weeks I found myself once again standing near the archway and looking at the unnaturally bright colors of the flowers and trees and reminding myself to keep my concentration I walked through the familiar surroundings, fully aware that physically I was at home in bed. Then an extraordinary thing happened, I saw a person walking towards me. As the figure approached I could it was a youngish lady with short blond hair. She was very emaciated and looked extremely ill and her tee shirt revealed thin arms covered with goosebumps as you’d get on a cold morning. As she passed I commented ‘it’s a cold morning you should have worn something warm’..she just smiled and said’ it’s too late for that now’ and walked away. My concentration vanished and instantly I was back in bed. That was almost thirty years ago now, but I still wonder why this young lady appeared in my ‘dream’ and if she perhaps really existed somewhere. I have had many strange adventures over the years but unlike the fantasists who see secret messages in the most ordinary of dreams, I have come to the conclusion that my personal experiences have been trips around my subconscious mind, which we know is capable of creating countless different scenarios. But the crucial point of my story is that sleep paralysis can if approached in the right manner become the doorway which can give us conscious access to our subconscious minds which is a fascinating experience for anybody. Dreams in which we are fully awake and in a different location to our body asleep in bed is a fascinating but seemingly fairly common occurrence. So there you are, I’m sure there are many of you with far greater powers of concentration than my meager efforts and who knows what you might experience. regards
I did not have a happy childhood and weird things happened in our home. Nevertheless, I am not superstitious and had my first experience of Sleep Paralysis around the age of 23 in the same house. It was the classical demon-on-chest, cannot move scenario. I found that talking about it to my wife helped and made it less, but it never completely went away. Nowadays I am almost 50 and the sleep paralysis scenario has changed. I am usually alone in a room with an invisible “presence” that I sense as demonic and evil. The problem is I am not scared of it and want to attack it and kill it or rip it apart, just…I can’t. I am a former soldier and a martial artist since was 14. It is as if the harder I try and the closer I come to it, the more paralyzed I become. It used to be a room in my childhood house, but now it is always in a specific room at my work. My work is very enjoyable and NOT particularly stressful. Sometimes I also experience loved ones in the room with me that I want to protect against this evil entity, but the more I try to fight or get close the more paralysed I become. This is the worst part for me.
My most recent experience is the only experience where I actually saw something. When I suddenly opened my eyes, I saw two white feet floating right above my chest! I immediately closed my eyes and that’s when I realized I couldn’t move or breathe. I really tried hard to fight and regain movement but it made me weaker and tired. I never stopped trying to wiggle because I cannot with what I saw it was the scariest sht ever. I eventually was able to move and I immediately moved to my mom’s room that night.
So I wondered if anyone experienced getting out of sleep paralysis and falling right back into it several times? I had sleep paralysis since I am a kid, about a few times a month for the last 25 years…same as everyone I am paralyzed, then I hear all those voices and sounds, really close to my ears. Like cutlery on a plate and weird voices. Then I see the shape on the corner of my eyes. And very quickly hands are pushing me down on the bed. I found some ways to get out of it, definitely moving toes and fingers get me to wake up, or saying help repeatedly got my boyfriend to actually woke me up once as I warned him it could happen. But the worst part of all, is if I manage to wake up, my eyes are super heavy and if I let myself fall back asleep I fall right back into sleep paralysis. So the hardest part is actually trying to move my body and fall asleep in another position, if I manage to do so, I fall back into a regular sleep. But if I fail I can fall back into sleep paralysis straight away, for as many time as it takes to actually wake up and move my body! Anyone experience the same thing? Sorry in advance for my english here I am french speaking
Yes, this would happen to me often in my 20s and 30s. I finally figured out that I was not waking completely. I have never “seen” any figures, but otherwise, my experience have been very similar.
Hi, I’ve had several experiences in which I have felt a demonic presence. This usually happends when I have had a very exhausting or stressfull day at work. I do however remember having experiences as a teenager. The first time this happend I had fallen asleep in an elevated position with alot of pillows behind me. While sleeping i had awaken to find myself under my Grandmother’s house. This was a hallucination of course. She had an old peer and beam house with a crawl space underneath. I used to play and hide under there as a child. While trying to figure out how I had ended up there, I saw the silhouette of a small demon like creature coming out of the darkness. I was very frightend.
It had demonic face and a human like torso with the lower body like that of a horse. As it approached me I immediatly closed my eyes in terror and it proceeded to crawl on me and I could feel the weight and pressure of it on my body. I could not move or scream. I could hear my voice attempting to scream but my mouth could’nt move. I eventually woke up due to fright. I had realized I was still in my bed and passed it off as a nightmare. Years later while researching sleep paralysis, I thought back to that event. The most recent time I was asleep next to my wife. I was sleeping on my chest and felt a large being jump on my back as if someone was laying on top of me. I immediatly woke up in terror and I could hear it breathing in my ear. It started to laugh in this deep evil sounding tone, then I felt this large tounge lick my neck. It felt so real. My eyes were open and I was looking across the bed at my wife and tried to yell out to her and could’nt. I attempted to push it off of me by extending my arms like doing a push up and could’nt. I then began to pray and had asked Jesus to help me get this demon off of me and it worked. I felt it lift off of me and it went away. I was then able to move my body but lay there for a bit as I was afraid to turn and see it still standing there next to my bed. Since then I can feel when its about to happen. I know it’s when my body is extreamly exhausted. I have since then been able to awaken from the event right before I allow the demon to enter. I do this by moving my body position over and over. I don’t get great sleep, but it helps.
I dream that I got up to tell my kids to go to bed and I went to get water but once I open the fridge something pull me to the bed and I was siting but I couldn’t scream or talk or move felt like something was holding me down and tryed to move and scream but nothing than I end up laying down and like I sleep with my husband I end up on his feet and I tried to move my feet on his face to wake him but nothing and I pulled on him but couldn’t move much and that it just let me go and I woke up my husband and told him
I have had sleep paralysis since I was 8. Each night I hear things and one time I seen a hand outside the closet. I also get touched on my back. And the scariest part is I seen something with red eyes staring at me. I couldn’t scream or nothing and when it touched my back my whole body woke up. It was like a tremble because my whole bed shaked. I still remember this one night that I was in bed and I had 6 people surrounding me. They all were demons because I could see all black figures. And when I got older the figures and shadows went away. Now it’s just little noises that scare me. But I got so used to it that I just go back to sleep.
I’ll take the science option of shrugging it off, but my experience left me scared. I was paralyzed on the bottom of my bunk bed looking at the bed on top of me and I literally saw a face trying to push its face out of the mattress but it couldn’t. It looked like a male adult face the size of my abdomen trying to push out of a belly using nothing else but the face. The stretched skin showing facial features with the loud distorted screaming in my ea. Geeez, never want 2 experience that in my life again – gruesome.
I’m wondering if hypnotherapy can address any of these matters. I just found out that my grown daughter has been suffering from sleep paralysis, which apparently began in her youth. Years ago, I took her to see a neurologist to address her “headaches of an unknown origin” as well as her having trouble falling sleep. My daughter brought to my attn the fact that this doctor had advised us of the condition and which would likely surface at some point…I, however, do not recall hearing any of that, so this all came as quite a surprise. Jen has so many other crisies in her life already, both physically and emotionally. She told me that it had subsided after having a husband next to her at night, however, that has all changed, now that he has turned on her emotionally, mainly due his suspicion that she is abusing drugs. Jen did develop an addiction to pain meds at one point, esp after having 3 knee dislocations but has since curtailed it. Jen’s exp w sleep paralysis includes the demonic intruder, and so my recourse is lining up a blessing by church missionaries/leaders to give her. I believe there could be some truth to an evil presence, far-fetched as it may sound. Jen has some very unusual spiritual qualities that were brought to my attn years ago during what’s called a patriarchal blessing. The patriarch asked me after he gave the blessing if I realized what a special daughter I had…for, as was stated, she was “one of the choicest in the kingdom.” It may stand to reason that she would be pursued by some unknown being who seeks to hurt or even destroy her…our only protection is God, that being the case. This kind of exp sounds very much like the one Joseph Smith had as a boy when he followed the bible’s direction to call on God for knowledge and truth.
I have a trick that might work! I’ve experienced sleep paralysis since I was a child (I’m 23 now and still occasionally get it) but something I tried actually worked: holding my breath! Holding your breath kind of sends signals to your brain which, in turn, gets transferred to the rest of your body. So, your brain notices an extreme change in breathing patterns and “wakes up” the rest of your body. This method has helped me nearly every time. :) Hope this helps!
This might sound really weird and stupid but I just need to talk about it. So, I went to lie down for awhile, and when I starting to fall asleep, I could feel my body begin to shut down. I started to dream I was making my bed and for some reason my bed was pulled away from the wall. And my pillows were falling through the small space between the wall and bed, so I bent down to pick them up. Then my sheet slipped off, and I climbed up the bed to put it back on and I stood up. I thought I was falling but then I realized my body was floating and I looked to my left and there was something floating next to me I couldn’t see it’s face but I could feel it staring at me. I tried to call my mother but I couldn’t spit it out. So I tried to do it again and still couldn’t say it. It felt as though I was awake and really saying everything but then when I tried to jump and shake my body I couldn’t move anything. But then my eyes shot open and I could move my body again and I was in the same position as the one I first fell asleep in.
I am 58 and just started having this this year. But for many years while asleep or just falling asleep I will fill a pounce on the mattress… like my previous cat used to do at night wanting to snuggle with me. Nothing had ever happened just noticing that feeling on the mattress which scared me most of the time but then I turned it into Rocky my cat coming for a visit. Since I have done that this year – it has changed… First episode was when having the flu 3 different times in the 4 days of flu I would feel like I was waking up but I could not move or talk – it seemed like it lasted a long time but probably not ( my husband had the flu first and told me he couldn’t move but I just thought he was exaggerating until it happened to me a week later). A couple of months ago I guess I was waking to the same pouncing feeling on the mattress then i felt like something was touching me and i could not move or speak when I was able to , I turned on a light and the TV and eventually went back to sleep. LAST NIGHT was awful…. I was sleeping I believe and felt that pounce on the mattress and a few other movements then if felt like a great force pushing my whole back toward the center of the bed I felt like I was half way sitting up and not able to move or scream and trying to fight it, then I felt a tingling feeling around my waste and I was able to get up. Once again I turned a light on and the TV and eventually went back to sleep. This is awful. I will try trying to move a finger next time and getting a night light, for some reason you just really feel like there is a spirit in the room with you and its’ disturbing that each episode is getting worse, I will talk to my dr I have had a sleep study in past nothing showed up but this does not happen on a nightly basis thank goodness .
My first and only experience (for now) was when i was about 20 years old (now 27).
I was sleeping in a small bed with my girlfriend and i woke up at night (unknown time)
When i opened my eyes, i could see clearly and i was able to turn my head a little. I was looking to my left on the couch where i saw a entity, it looked like a person, but the form was more like a dark shadow. It was dark in the room but the shadow was maybe 40% or 50% more darker, still transparent. I opened my eyes wide open to see better what the hell is that and, then i see it looking me right back the same way i was looking
at it. Oh god it was so terrible, i tried to yell but i could only make a small whining sound. I tried to move but i could only rock side by side just a little, maybe more like wiggling. Then my girlfriend pushed me awake and i was still petrified about it and had hard time to go sleep for next few weeks.
well yesterday i took a nap in the afternoon,when i tried to wake up i tried to move but i could not move i tried to open my eyes but they felt to heavy to keep open i could hear myself calling out my sisters name to wake me up and( i don’t remember allot)i felt like i was dead because i remember trying to knock on my wood be frame to make a noise to wake my sister up to help me and i could not hear the sound idk if this was before or after but i remember like if my soul was leaving my body wile that happened i was shaking ii did not see anything abnormal or anything for a sec i tought i was dying or some a soon as i woke up woke up my sister and told her wat happened she did seem like she did not care but only i know wast i felt .i went down stairs to tell my parents and started to cry because i never experience this before like i did experice something like this but it was just me facing up and could move but this time was different very scary now am scared to even got to sleep knowing that if will happened my fear is dying in my sleep can my life get any worse? also i been dealing with anxiety and stress for years and not sleeping enough all i can do is leave this in the hans of god and pray before sleep
Hi . If it is any help to anyone, I have had these experiences only about 6 – 10 times since my mid 20s (49 now!) and they have always been in the morning when very tired and having gone back to sleep or “slept in” late. I also was diagnosed with ME / CFS in early 20s, the various effects of which have lingered. Each experience has been similar but in different beds / locations including my own bed now. The person who I am living with or an unknown person cones back into / enters the house and I think it’s real. I start by freezing to hear who it is or what’s going on, then the person enters the room and moves about and I can’t turn or speak. Then they push me down in the bed and I feel claustrophobic or suffocated and I can’t scream though I’m screaming inside myself. It’s horrible. The pressure feels very very real on my back or leg or head. That’s it really. I try and try and try to wake and I do t know what helps me open my eyes and come to but eventually I do and I’m wringing with sweat and short of breath.
I’ve experienced my first sleep paralysis tonight, and IT WAS SO SCARY TF! I slowly began opening my eyes and when I could see clearly, I saw a demon figure glaring at me only like a centimeter away! My first instinct was to bounce up and scream and I did in my mind but then I realized I hadn’t actually moved! I closed my eyes and started panting as I felt a heavy feeling sink in my stomach, I felt someone was in my room so I tried to scream for my parents but I couldn’t do anything! I realized I was paralyzed and was too scared too even open my eyes!!!! I thought someone broke into my house and was sitting on my belly!!! I was so scared and freaking out inside my head but I did everything i could to keep a straight face so the intruder doesn’t sense anything. I could only feel heaviness on my chest then I felt a warm burning feeling slither down my legs and I thought the intruder had poured poison on me! I few seconds later My body woke up and the heavy sensation and extensive fear went away (and apparently because I lost bladder control, the “poison” was me peeing myself)
It’s just feel so real….like someone is trying to take away the soul… any in my case it happens quite often since 2013. ..the only way i get rid of it is when i try to recite Quran or remember about Allah. .. there were couple of times i tried to wait and see the end of it but it was so painful like something is being forced to go out of my body then i decided to recite and it go away.. . i hate it and am not that religious man in fact the only time that i remember about gof is when that thing happens…
I truly hate it am still trying to convince my mind that it’s just a sleep paralysis because i do sleep late and have little time on bed… but the reason i was addicted to not sleeping was because of that same thing it was happening at 3 or 4 at night back then but currently it happens in the morning,afternoon , noon….
for me it’s more than just a sleep disorder because the pain is real and all the stuffs i can’t describe….
i might sound judgemental but i feel some genetic issues are involved… but the question is why? what the significany of it… combining this and de javu i think our brains are the real mysterious things until we figure out the complexity of brains this thing will remain a non scientific to me
I have experienced sleep paralysis for many years. I always get the feeling someone is pushing me in my back and it gets harder and harder, and I feel like I can hear breathing. I live alone! It frightens me so much. I always try to call out but can’t. Once when married, I was home ill. I remember my husband opening the bedroom door and looked in on me and then left. When he got home that evening from work, I asked him what he was doing home and why he didn’t come in and speak to me. He said he hadn’t come home!
I’ve been experinecing sleep paralysis since 2012. At first i thought it was just a bad dream. After a year I experienced it again 3 nights in a row. That’s when it really scared me. After the third experience I was really scared to fall back to sleep again. And i didn’t sleep properly for a week since i was so scared that something will come at me again if i fall asleep. Until i decided to research about it. Now i think i can actually control it sometimes. Like i can make myself sleep paralyzed. I tried it once and it actually worked but i got scared that i might not wale up again.
One of the scariest dream i had was when i was in the philippines and we slept over a friend’s house. My 2 friends were beside me in the bed. At first i thought i was still awake like i hadn’t fall asleep. I hear a weird noise outside. A cat meowing and knocking on the wall. I can still move that’s why i believed i was still awake. But then it got really hot and suffocating until a creature jumped at me coming from the outside of the room and i can’t move anymore. It was trying to attack me. That was the first and only time that i saw a creature clearly. From my prevoius dreams i only see figures. The weirdest thing is it’s got my friend’s face. After a few days when i’m back home and scrolling the internet i came upon a picture of that creature. I was really surprised and scared at the same time since i thought it was just one of the creature created in my dream. I’m never coming back to that town again by the way. I still experience sleep paralysis to this day. I usually wake up when i try to move a part of my body or i hear a noise from reality.
I used to get them when I was a teen. But a couple years back I stayed with my husband at his uncles house we’ll that night I got that way and couldn’t move or yell out to him to tell him that something was tickling me under my underpits and I could feel my skin moving but I couldn’t feel it and I don’t like benign tickled I hate it, that was the scariest feeling I ever felt first time that happened to me and it still does when I get in that state
I don’t know if this was sleep paralysis but this is my story. This happened about 11 years ago. My bedroom is one of only two rooms on the 3rd floor. It’s the last room, as you would have to walk through the first room to get to my bedroom. It happened 3 nights, every other night. The first night I woke up at 3:11 am with my back away from my bedroom door. It was dark with only the street lights shining into the room my dark curtains closed. I heard the door swung open and then closed. I heard footsteps walking to my bed and someone sat down onto the bed. The bed sank as if a person sat down. I stayed still pretending to be asleep assuming it was my then girlfriend, now wife. A second or two after she (assuming it’s her) sat down I tried to turn to hold her and ask what she’s doing there so early. I was able to say ,”what are…” and turn just a bit when I suddenly couldn’t turn anymore. 100% fear and anger came over me. Fear because I knew it was not my girlfriend. Anger, also because it was not my girlfriend and to use the anger to overcome fear. I was able to wiggle my body and curse at who ever it was that was laying behind me. After about 2-3 minutes wiggling and cursing, which felt like 30 minutes, I was released from the hold and quickly ran downstairs to sleep in the living room. I’ve never ran down steps that fast in my life. I was surprised I didn’t slip, trip and fall. I didn’t tell anybody about what happened. Two nights later I decided to go back to sleep upstairs. That it was just a bad dream or something. That night, I woke up at 3:11am again! Re-lived the first night again. Again, I slept in the living room and decided to go back 2 nights later. This night, the 3rd night, I woke up at 3:11am again. Heard the door open and closed. Heard footsteps and someone sat down onto my bed again. I wiggled my body and cursed at it again. This time I was able wiggle enough to turn onto my back. As I lay on my back, wiggling and cursing, yelling at it to leave me alone, 4 fingers appeared on my face. Imagine what fingers look like in an x-ray. Now imagine them on your face. Fear overcame the anger I used this time. Again, after 2-3 minutes I was released and ran downstairs. I slept downstairs for a week this time. I told my mother and she didn’t believe me saying it’s just a dream but the next night she went up there with lit incense asking what ever it was to leave her son alone. It never happened again afterwards.
That happened 11 years ago. I’m now 37, married with 3 kids at my own home. Last night I had another episode. I was exhausted from work the doing yard work at home so I went to sleep first at 9 pm. I fell asleep and woke up with fear and the sense of someone standing at the bedroom doorway. Everyone was downstairs. I can see the light from downstairs dimly lighting the second floor hallway. I can hear the TV and the kids playing. I was partially paralyzed and I knew I could call for help. I was able wiggle to the edge of the bed and was able to drop my legs off the bed but every time my legs began to fall down I would sort of wake up in the same position I was in when I eyes first opened. That happened 4 times until was able to get up. I went to get a cup of water, went back to lay down, went on the phone arrived hear while googling “sleep paralysis”.
Well…. I am 41… and I dont remember since how long I ve been experiencing this… but I just came to know what its called after reading this article.
I have also under gone that scary feeling many times… and it has left me with goosebumps and uneasiness each time….
I have also experienced the out-of-body thingy as well…
I remember once, a couple of years back, my mum was visiting me. I had just dozed off and… lo and behold… I was in the realms of Sleep Paralysis (SP)… By then, I had already experienced it many time… so I played along and tried to move and call my mum who was in the adjacent room… I was calling her… but I could not speak… it was almost impossible to open my mouth… All of a sudden my mum called me from the other room and walked in… she inquired if all was ok… I told her what I had experienced. She told me that she could her me mumble and so she came to check…
I really dont know whether the mumbling was due to my efforts or I was already coming out of SP… but I have tried it many times there after and it helps me to shake it off (I dont know if I mumble while I try to wake up during SP now… but its worth a try… as it might wake your partner up or some one close by).
I also try to break the spell with a jerk or a forced body movement or telling myself to wake up… and it takes one or two tries and I wake up.
I have also let myself in the same state after trying once to wake up or jerk a body part and I have managed to slip into sleep mode by doing so.
After reading this article, I have realized that the out-of-body experience that I thought I was actually having is I guess is a flight of fancy which my thought process did all this while.. :-)
Last I experienced SP was a couple of months back… it took me by surprise along with a dream overlap… it did gave me goosebumps… but I managed to shake it… lol…
I have been able to take it on a positive plane and trying to keep it that way. At times its fun.. at times its scary… but the best part is… I am able to bail myself out – for now at least. :-) ;-)
Hmm ok so basically I’m the dream I was sitting on the bench talking to some guy. I’ve never seen his face before but I knew he was the devil and idk what we were talking about but the last word he said was death. So then all of a sudden I’m back in my room experiencing sleep paralysis and I can’t get myself to wake up so I try calling out to my mom and I’m yelling at the top of my lungs but no one answered. Then my door bursts open and there’s a demon there and I yell even louder and then demon possesses me like they do on the show supernatural. And I wake up. The creepy thing is I woke up at 3 am which is known as the witching hour, and even creepier I texted my ex and she said she was having the exact same dream at the exact same time…All comments welcomed.
My symptoms aren’t like the ones I’m reading about. In my cases, I m awake but cannot open my eyes, I have to struggle very hard to get them open and it is very hard and exhausting.