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.
I’m 16 and I just had my first sleep paralysis experience half an hour ago and I was absolutely terrified.
So tonight I fell asleep on the couch, and woke up and went upstairs to my bed, still groggy. I fell asleep half on my back, half on my side, with my head tilted weirdly.
It started with a harmless dream, I was on a cartoony spacecraft with family guy-type characters. Then I start to hear a very loud, very repetitive strobe noise, that grew increasingly louder. It came to the point where a part of me realized that this noise I was hearing didn’t even feel like a dream anymore, but real life. Then I’m snapped back to my bed. And I realize I’m completely paralyzed. I tried to move my arm, but it didn’t work, so instead i was working on bending my little finger, which woke me up.
I was a little freaked out but went back to sleep right away. And then what felt like a couple minutes later, maybe even seconds, it happened again but this time it was different. I was laying flat on my back and my head was tilted to the left. I snap back to being paralyzed but this time my sheets start to rustle, like there was a creature or something moving underneath it. At the same time I feel like my soul is sinking into my bed, and as if this isn’t enough, my string lights that are hung above my bed, start to look like they’re turning into scampering scorpions. The whole time I feel very threatened, like something is watching me and wants to hurt or kill me. I feared for my life. The sheets sounded so incredibly real, I still can’t get over it.
So now it’s almost 5 am and I’m scared to go back to sleep because that was the scariest thing to ever happen to me. I felt like I was going to die. I got out of the second episode by willing myself to violently swing my head away from the rustling sheets.
I read how common this is, but it felt so so real, I still can barely believe it wasn’t. I started browsing the internet and found people who were being touched or strangled and saw creepy figures or people. I didn’t actually see anyone last time but now I’m terrified I will and I’m terrified it’ll happen again tonight.
I know how childish it sounds but im just so scared that I’ll see some sort of demon, reaper or monster this time.
I’ve had this happen to me several times sometimes on my back which feels like someone is sat on my chest or strangling me. This evening I was in feral position with both hands near my head it felt like someone was tying my hands down, and pressing over my mouth, I sleep with my partner and for what felt like 20 minutes I was desperately trying to call his name but nothing would come out, I use all my strength to try to use my hands to wake him but I feel like the more I try the more intense the sensation gets and the more terrified I feel. In all the times I’ve experienced sleep paralysis is scary on your own but more scary when your desperately trying to seek the help of your partner and you just can’t move or say anything. I don’t know what to do as it’s getting more frequent and lasting longer each time and more terrifying
I’ve just woken up from yet another terrifying sleep paralysis episode.
I’ve had a couple of experiences in my early twenties. I am now approaching 30 and I’ve had my third episode in two weeks. I am genuinely convinced there is not a scientific explanation for this and that it is something to do with demons/spirits. Thank you for setting up this page as it really helps you try make sense of what is happening to you, and try pass some time whilst your too scared to go back to sleep. I would love to hear others experiences of this, I still feel a slight pressure on my throat even as I am writing this comment, I am honestly too scared to sleep tonight ?
Hi Kelly here’s a tip for you the next time it happens try and turn the emotion completely around and enjoy it, the fact that you are completely aware of your situation puts you in control of that situation. Breathing is the key keep calm and composed,you are at a stage in your personal evolution to begin to understand and accept a higher understanding of consciousness
My sleep paralysis started just last year (I´m 36). I´ve had it a few times. The most scary ones were when I woke up and saw the light in the hall, behind my bedroom door and I felt like there were some people (I live alone) and the other one was when I could hear someone whispering next to me. I always have a severe case of goosebumps and a feeling of inner cold. I also shake a little although I can move after a while when I concentrate on a small part of my body. It´s always a very unsetttling experience though, I hope it stops.
Im 21 years old and have experienced sleep paralysis a few times in my life. As I type this, I am sitting on my couch awake from another sleep paralysis episode. This lead me to find this page and share one of my scariest sleep paralysis stories. That and now I am so scared that I can’t go back to sleep. One night, while I was pregnant with my daughter I woke up around 3 am or so to get up and go to the bathroom. I remember looking at myself before in the mirror before I went back to bed. I was tired but I wasn’t tired enough to the point where I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I got back in bed and fell back asleep. It didn’t take me long to fall asleep. I remember waking up, my eyes were open but I couldn’t move. I was on the left side of the bed facing the window, I could see my nightstand with the clock and remember clearly that it was 3:45 in the am. I tried hard to move, to wiggle a toe but I couldn’t. I could see a blinding light peek through the blondes. It was almost like one of those LED lights. The next thing I know I get this piercing screech of a sound in my ear. I can’t recal how long it went on for but by the time I was able to get out of my sleep paralysis episode. It was 5 in the am. It was almost as if I lost an hour. It was so strange. Everyone I’ve told has agreed that it was the strangest story of sleep paralysis they had heard.
I have had nightmares and sleep paralysis since a very young age. During my earlier years I had nightmares every single night, and i would have layerd nightmares that turned into what i thought was me being awake in the very room i had fallen asleep in only for it to turn out to be a lucid dream (those still happen today). In my adult years I have far less nightmares, but I experience sleep paralysis more. Throught all my years of nightmares and sleep paralysis I have taught myself to wake up by closing my eyes in the dream state causing me to wake up.
The most common sleep paralysis that i have is where i am laying absolutely still on my bed and i feel really heavy, then I notice my bedroom door is cracked open and i can see daylight coming through the door (i never sleep with my bedroom door or closet door open), and then I hear a small human about the size of a toddler scurry over to my bed then abruptly stop next to the side of my bed and they begin to breath heavily in my face to where I can actually feel it. I never see anyone during this, and sometimes when i wake up I discover that my bedroom door is cracked open like in my sleep paralysis state.
I know that my sleep paralysis usually becomes more frequent when I am really stressed out or when im over worked and not sleeping enough at night.
It keeps happening. I had them as a kid. Bad bad bad dreams. And I would b paralized. I’m 33 and having again. Bad bad dreams and I can’t move. I know im awake in my dream and I’m trying to move and can’t. I just had one. I woke myself up finally. Now I’m crying and scared to death. I’m so tired but now I’m affraid to sleep. All week long this has been happening. I’m scared to sleep. Why? What is going on. Am I loosing it??
Don’t worry you’re not going crazy, your nightmares and sleep paralysis seem to be crossing over. You have to stay calm and remember that what is happening in your dream cannot harm you, you are imagining it. I don’t know what advice to give you besides telling someone about your experiences or seeking help from a doctor or physicshiatrist.
I feel exactly the same Jessica this is my their
Episode in two weeks now, I’ve experienced it before but never so much in a short space of time I’m so scared ! I daren’t sleep xx
I have had many many of these in my life time. When I was only 6 I saw peoples heads on my walls, and one time I managed to walk out of my room and see this creepy almost Santa Claus, yes I know, he was sitting at our table and had long razor like teeth. I jumped back into bed and never really talked about it again. I also sleep walked a lot when I was little. I would see giant saws, huge animals, and my mother would be either pounding on the wall or trying to get outside. More recently in the past two years, I have been seeing and hearing evil things. Only last night my hand was laying in front of my face. It started transforming into this monster like hand covered in blood. I heard a loud voice echo over my walls, ‘your a monster’. Other times I have seen a very tall man that looked just like a shadow like I saw of the heads when I was child with no face standing in the corner of my room. Another night the same man was crouched beside my bed. He was screaming at me, ‘your not Hood enough, you must die now!’ Over and over again. He once slapped me, and the very odd part is, when it was over and I looked in the mirror, my face was slightly red and stinging. When I told my mother about it, she brushed it off and assumed I was just kidding. I believe that it was my conscious just forming it self into some demon.
About 4 weeks ago, I watched the new documentary about sleep paralysis. I’ve never had it in my life. About 30 min ago, I experienced it for the first time while waking up from my nap. I’m 26. I’m prone to lucid dreaming, and what I know now was a dream, I was doing the whole out of body experience, third eye new age b.s.. I really thought I was awake, 100%. I reached out to touch something in the dream and my eyes shot open. Like, I can’t even accurately describe how quickly my eyes opened. I was really confused because I thought I was already awake. It took a couple seconds for me to realize I couldn’t move. I was lying on my side in fetal position. It didn’t feel like anything was sitting on me, but the weight of my body….i just felt heavy. Couldn’t move. I wiggled my toes, and as quickly as I realized I was paralyzed, I could move again. Maybe 5 seconds total. I got up, totally dazed and messed up feeling. I looked at the clock and realized I was asleep for 15-20 tops, even though I felt like I had been asleep for hours. It was so emotionally impactful, I called my husband and cried. Ridiculous, I know.
I’m terrified to sleep again and I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around having never had this before, but now that I know about it (via the doc) I had an experience. I don’t want to sleep again.
I’m thankful I found this article. Here was my first experience just last night.
It was about 2:00 in the morning last night, I couldn’t sleep and my husband was snoring so I went down to sleep in my son’s bed who passed last January. I have been mediating several times daily for about 3 months and those mediations most always include the bringing and acknowledgment of the white light around me. I tried several of my guided mediations and also some soft rain sounds to try to get to sleep. I know I was half asleep, but I also know I was half awake. About 3 am. I heard or felt a soft “click” and looked and my phone screen was blank (meditation had been on) and the digital clock next to the bed was out, it was dark and quiet. I know the power did not go out though, as none of those clocks are blinking in the house this morning. I closed my eyes again then opened them and everything was back how it was. The next time I opened my eyes there was something on the tv, this was I guess a vision as the tv was not on, and maybe I was “half asleep” at this point. There were credits rolling and then it said “Being Bubba” This was the nickname of a family friend who lost their son 25 years ago on August 15. Then I saw an image of his face that I recognized from a photo and then I smiled. Then, I saw two other faces I did not recognize but could still describe. Right after that, I had an EXTREME, and I really mean extreme, surge of something, like goosebumps from the inside of my body, filling my body, only 100 times stronger and feeling like pressure too. I started to welcome it and it got stronger, when I started to feel like I was lifting up off the bed, I opened my eyes. I could not move, it felt like my arms were being held down. I tried to call for my husband and no sound could be made from my throat, I got up enough strength and tried to pound on the wall with my left hand. Then, it stopped. It scared me to death. Nothing like that has ever happened to me. I went back upstairs to sleep in my bed with my husband. I don’t know what to think about this, it seemed too real to be a dream.
Hi well i had a bad experience last night.. And about 2 weeks ago as well. The one two wks ago i actually woke up was frozen still couldnt speak felt a presense in or by me. I have always been in tune with spirits or that world. I have also had dreams many times that were pretty close to happening. But never this the weird thing was i was freezing cold . im always hot. When i finally snapped out of it i did not feel it as a good presense not a demon though matbe someone trying to warn or protect me weirdly… It was the first time in yrs . ive slept alone my boyfriend moved out two days before this happening. My house is old and when i was little had active spirits… They have been calm so long and also know me ive never been scared of them. I have times where i may have a date over or i was dating someone and they would start to act up… Must not have liked them. AnywAys last nught was bad it was like a dream but i couldnt wake up someone was by me in my dream i could see myself sleeping and trying to get up and get away from it i tried to go upstairs in my dream than something picked me up and floated me back to the other side of the basement by my closet door. It was like it was really happening i could feel it. Than i woke up couldn’t talk again yet forced myself to say go away your not welcome.. I got a rosemary and slept with it. Than i had another bad dream about my boyfreind cheating with neighbors .. This has nothing to do with the others but i had such a long good day yesterday i was ready to sleep and all this happened.. I did get a book this week on cleaning your house or space of negitive energies.. I wonder if it brought something awake or had an energy its self.. Weird… Well thankyou thought i would share please respond .
I’ve been experiencing this for a few days and I thought It stopped when I didn’t get it anymore. I tries going to church,reading the bible, and praying but It came back. One of my experiences is where I fell asleep comfortable, suddenly my whole mind is black and I see nothing but I feel a presence my grandma whose older than me told me about it and so did other people. They said that it means or may mean a demon or spirit is sitting on you,one time I read some information on a site or movie it said that It would steal your energy or strength sometimes maybe your soul. I felt uncomfortable when knowing this, that when it would happen I would already know. I would fight my way back to move, and I wouldn’t be able to move till a few seconds after. I don’t know if what I did was wrong, or If I should have waited. I don’t know what to do when it happens.
I suffer from sleep paralysis when I’m particularly stressed and have bad anxiety. It is the most frightening experience that I have ever had. I am normally having a bad dream where I am in a car that is travelling very fast or I am running away from something that is scary and chasing me – I feel myself trying to wake up but I feel I am being dragged back into my dream and for a moment (I don’t know how long this moment is) I feel that my entire body is a dead weight and whilst I am being pulled back into my dream I am aware of myself being in my bed but with something (from my dream being there in the corner of the room) – I don’t want to go back to my dream and I am scared to wake. I have found myself trying to call out but unable to move my lips – it is very frightening and I often have slight pins and needles and feel extremely sick when I do fully wake. I don’t have a partner I have a 9 year old son so I usually sleep alone which I find again very frightening. I have now got myself a dog who I allow to sleep on the bed with me – I’ve had this twice now whilst he has been with me (2 episodes in about 6 months) and he helps to wake me up – I presume he detects my restlessness because he will lick my face or paw at me… I really hate this feeling and wish that when I woke the bad feeling would leave but I find that for the morning and some of the afternoon I feel very heavy / weighed down and a little jumpy and the thought of going back to sleep that night frightens me… I’m 42 and I live quite a healthy lifestyle until this happens and then my sleep is disrupted and it adds to the stress/ anxiety which only makes things worse. I write this today because I had a particular bad episode last night and I had to research why my dreams are so bad and why I feel in danger when I’m walking up from my dream – it makes me think of nightmare on elm street where they bring their dreams back into reality – it really does feel that real for a moment…
Wow i wish id see something at least . im 35 beleive in supernateral and ect. My house used to be haunted.. But they were never mean to me and didnt bother me while asleep i just want to know so now im walking around talking to them .. Crazy
I went through my first episode of sleep paralysis when I was 16 and I never had another experience until this morning 5 years later. Both times I was laying on my back and I woke up to see daylight outside. They never happened at night. The first time I didn’t know what it was, so I panicked and it happened for what seemed like forever but eventually passed. This morning, I woke up and couldn’t move my body. I went to grab my partner’s arm to wake him up but I couldn’t move so I tried to scream for help but I couldn’t do that either. HERE IS MY TIP (how I got it to stop): I am a religious person, and I read about people praying and quoting the Bible during the experience after it happened to me the first time, and I remembered it this morning so I started praying and asked God to please make this feeling go away and I immediately felt at ease and the feeling went away. I hope this helps someone.
I’ve experienced it about four times through-out my thirties. Three times it was while going to sleep, I must of dozed off then re-awoke paralyzed. There was a incredible kicking sensation in the mattress from under neath my bed, it was terrifying.
The only way I got through it was to focus on my body and fight for it to wake.
The only other time was in waking, I awoke to see a woman’s face about two feet in front of me, strangely I wasn’t scared but more interested.
It’s happened to me over the years other sleep disorders too but with sleep paralysis it’s usually a dog with big pointy teeth, ones I remember in late teens early 20s is hearing it running up the stairs and snarling at me at the side of the bed and another time lying next to me snarling with the big teeth when I finally could move I punched my now ex bf in the face (he was a bad ex so no guilt there). I had it happen two nights ago no dog or bf this time in double bed alone sleeping on side other pillow managed to cover my face and “woke up” instantly felt fear and was awake dreaming clawing at sheets feeling like I was going to suffocate after a few seconds realised what was happening as it felt too real and have more knowledge now I knew I had to try and move my arms and couldn’t had the same feeling as after having an epidural when you get pins and needles feeling but can’t move eventually properly woke up gasping and was too scared to back to sleep even tho I was shattered. My question is why does it always have to be so terrifying? Why can’t Tom hardy enter my bedroom instead lol.
Hi, I’ve experienced sleep paralysis for as long as I can remember but last night was one of the most terrifying of all..I actually heard a voice talking to me, at first I couldn’t pick out what was being said. For me they always start with a buzzing noise just as I’m starting to fall asleep so then I know my body is about to become paralyzed, I try to fight it by trying to move my arms and legs with all of my strenth but it’s no use…I can always hear everything thats going on around me for example the t.v..One night after I regained use of my body, I asked my husband if he could feel me kicking my arms and legs trying to get his attention to wake me and he said he could only feel me slightly jittering, I told him I was experiencing sleep paralysis again(as I have explained it to him a million times) and I told him everything that was happening in the show he was watching on tv to prove I was in fact awake..well last night it was raining pretty hard outside as I began to fall asleep listening to it with my window opened…Then came the buzzing and paralysis as usual but for the first time there were random words mixed in with the buzzing noise in a man’s voice, just before I fought myself out of the hold that was on my body the voice said “you know me very well haha haha”..The laughing at the end was so creepy and faded back into the buzzing noise just as my body was freed…I have never in my life felt that terrified, I was afraid to go to sleep and even woke my husband and told him what had happened..I made him hold my hand as I tried to fall asleep and told him if he feels me squeezing his hand to shake me and make sure I was awake…
I’m 13 this Happened to me last night the one thing that helps me is wiggiling my toes to make sure I’m still alive ? and I count to three and I push my body as hard as I can so I can wake up and if it don’t work I keep doing it again over and over I seen a movie this woman was sleep with her eyes open and she died she was seeing a body figure it’s was on top of her choking her I seen on discovery channel. Another women was getting choked in her sleep but her husband could not see nun and my friends mom is telling me it’s had something to do with demons ever since then I been scared to sleep I had no choose what so ever but to believe it I believe in ghosts and demons this world is not perfect ?
I have had a series of accounts were demons have made themselves present during a case of sleep paralysis , unable to move or speak the presents of an unwelcome force plays with my situation as if enjoying the sinister game I have found that the more you resist the more you fall and not until you are released there is no escape , this is terrifying , knowing that there will be a next time places fear in going to sleep these are the reals
Demons are real and are all around us , they us a port hole were they can enter our world which we explain to be sleep paralysis , given the amount of time we are asleep the presents of demons is not a surprise we are only aware in these half dream like states which can be extremely frightening .The are no escapes from demons once they have chosen you as a host please just remain calm and don’t struggle
I am a 42 yo female. This same thing happens to me. At first… since this started happening about a month ago…. I felt something sit on my bed lightly. I could feel the mattress depress. And whatever was happening was always behind me no matter which way I slept.
Then a few weeks later I could feel it crawling into bed with me instead of just sitting on the mattress.
I’m a rational and very logical person. My husband and I sleep in different rooms so I asked him….did you come into the bedroom last night….he said no. Why… I said oh I don’t know was just asking. Then it happened again. And I asked him again. The answer was no again. And he asked what is going on that you’re asking this? I said I feel something crawling into bed with me and originally it just sat on the mattress! He freaked out.
Well… Then whatever this I saw it. I was this black like smoke thing. And took the air right from me one morning as I was waking for work. It quickly was on top of me as I awoke on my back and lunged right at my face then disappeared. I thought I really went crazy.
The next episode… the entity….crawled into bed again. Behind me. I felt it wrap itself around me. I couldn’t move at all. And it took every single cell in my body to say….who are You? And call out for my husband. That happened just the other day and it was 3am. I went out to him and told him what happened. I saw the smoke. It was a struggle to breathe.
At first when this happened I thought it was my deceased grandmother. From the episode from the other night …. the energy is not female. I feel whatever this is, is a male.
We’re convinced there is an entity that lives in our apartment. I am under alot of stress and this is adding to it and I told my husband…. I think I may be going crazy idk. Was relieved that there are at least many others like me. Thank you. I understand what you’re going through.
I’ve just experienced it for the first time and I never want it to happen again :(
I’m not sure whether its because i’m currently unwell with a virus but I went to bed around 9 before my usual sleep time (1am). I was feeling very warm and asked my Mum to open my window for me as I always sleep with it open. She opened it for me and put it on night lock – a setting on the window I never knew about. I live on the ground floor, facing my garden.
For me, I was awoken by people outside my window trying to break open the night lock on my window. They were yanking it so hard and it was so loud and all I could do was lie there in fear as my arms and and body wouldn’t move. I was lay on my side and I felt pinned to my bed. My eyes were open looking at my curtains in the darkness watching and hearing the terror. I could hardly breathe due to pressure on my chest and I was yelling for help but my voice wouldn’t work.
Eventually they stopped and I suddenly threw myself up and sat there shaking thinking it was real before I thought “I seriously need, there’s intruders in the garden!” I ran to my dad past the glass doors and into his room waking him up saying “I think there are people trying to break in” (etc). He too threw himself up and put the porch light on and went outside and stood around for a bit before he said, “I think you’ve had a hallucination or bad dream of some sort.” Then I asked him to open my blinds and curtains to shut my window as I was too terrified to look. He did so and he’s left the garden light on too. I’m currently researching what I experienced and I believe that it was a form of sleep paralysis. I’m very scared and shaken but no were near close as it was after I regained full consciousness as my heart was beating so fast :(
I am so glad I know I am not the only one to experience this strange experience!!! As a child I seen a dark shadow of a man standing in my doorway. I was wide awake, or at least I thought I was. Parents told me to ignore it, one night it came to my bed and was hovering above me. I could not scream or move for which seemed like forever! Also had horrible dreams almost every night of my bed being torn in half and me falling into hell.
As an adult I felt like someone or something was following me where ever I moved. I recently have had horrible tragedies. My son, 20 years old, was killed in a car accident. I had a hysterectomy in January, unbeknownst to the careless staff, went undetected. I believe I died for a few minutes. Blood pressure dropped 80/50, ended up losing half of my blood. I believe a higher power, my son, saved my life.
Since the surgery, I have experienced the paralysis a lot! Last night was the worst it has ever been!! Every night this past night I have been waking up at exactly 4:30 am. Which is really strange and wrote down 4/30… maybe a date I am supposed to remember?? Anyway I went back to bed, when I walked past my nightlight which is behind a door, a few seconds later it started flickering…. got into my bed and tried to talk to which I believed to be my son, I asked whoever was there to flicker the light again and it did! Finally fell asleep and for whatever reason I woke up with my knees up and someone was pulling them back down. I tried to fight it but had no control. I then felt someone moving up my body, laying on top of me. The ringing or buzzing in my ears were so loud!!! I tried to open my mouth and yell out for help but I couldn’t. It lasted long enough that I tried again to yell out, but still couldn’t. I don’t remember much after that. I believe that I lost consciousness because when I woke up my limbs were so heavy it was hard to get out of bed. Maybe I should connect with a medium, or a sleep doctor. I sat and cried, was it real or did I dream this? I am truly scared and upset about this!!! I am a believer in the supernatural and worried I have a bad entity in my presence! Help!!!
I’ve had sleep paralysis many, many times but I’ve figured out that I can still make myself breathe through my nose & I try to make as much noise as I can with my breathing, once I hear myself breathing, I wake up. Sometimes take longer than others but I always wake up. So if/when you have an episode, try to make yourself breahe through your nose as loud as you can. I hope this helps!
Ive had many dreams of the same shadow man. Everytime i sleep on my belly i dream of him he climbs on top of me pinning me down and i cant move or speak. I yell for my husband but nothing comes out. He talks to me saying you have no control here . I get scared as hell my whole body goes numb. Evently i start to yell in my sleep and wake myself up. does anyone else see this shadow man???
This happens to my husband a lot,,, for some reason every time it happens I wake up to a weird noise that he makes and right away I know it’s happening the other day when it was happening he was saying my name over and over but with his inside voice if that makes sense, I’m a roman catholic so right away I start it praying and this helps cause he wakes up right away, one time as I was praying a big black shadow flew out of our closet, one time he seen the death standing on the edge of the bed and two days later one of his friends passed away… sometimes I get scare myself because I can feel a presence in the room don’t know what but it just gives me goose bumps… it also happen to my 6 year old son two. Nights ago and he said there was a black shadow and I was able to feel something in our room because I literally got the chills from head to toes
So I’ve had about 2 instances of sleep paralysis although I’m not sure whether the second one was sleep paralysis. The first instance happened to me about a year ago (I was fifteen or sixteen years old then). I was sleeping when I suddenly woke up and couldn’t move . This being the first time this had happened to me I was understandably scared. I looked around and I could see a figure, it looked like a human and was in a crawling position on a table I had my tv on across the room. I looked at it and suddenly it vanished and reappeared on my neck trying to strangle me. I saw it’s face clearly although I have forgotten some of it by now but I still remember it had orange eyes. I couldn’t breathe and couldn’t move when all of a sudden it vanished and I could move again.
The second instance happened last night. I was extremely exhausted as I had just come back yesterday morning from travelling and was stressed since I had my school result the day after tomorrow. It was about 10pm when I went to sleep. I suddenly woke up, now that waking up wasn’t normal when I thought about it this morning it was like my upper body was out of my body. I can’t remember clearly whether this was after or before I saw a black figure at the end of my bed infront of me. Suddenly I got angry I don’t know why but just screamed “DO YOU THINK IM F*****ng scared of you?” Now at this moment I was fully aware like conscious of what was going on. And I wasn’t sure why I was doing what I was doing and suddenly I started to throw some objects that I appeared to pick up from my bed. I couldn’t control my actions even though i was conscious. Then the figure suddenly vanished and I went back to my body and tried to lift my legs. I lifted them up but couldn’t lift them up fully. So I told myself to relax. At that time I had dry lips so I tried to lick them and at that exact same moment I woke up in the exact same position I had lied down into and I wasn’t scared at all I just looked around and when I couldn’t see that thing again I went to sleep.
Iv been suffering with sleep paralysis fo as long as i can remember its always come and gone like a week on a few days off its terrible and when explaining it i feel like i sound crazy! Iv learn over time to kinda control it in a sence like how to wake my self up and so on and so forth. As of latly though iv been finding my self scared to fall asleep because of the episodes i have i just dont understand why it always happens to me. Iv also have had one out of body existence that i can remember and i was floating as if i qas being taken by aliens it was terrible!
I’m 15 years old, and I’ve been experiencing sleep paralysis my entire life. When I was five I had night terrors every night, along with lucid dreaming. It began when I moved into a new house, and ended when we moved again a year and a half later. I believe that they started when we moved into that house, but didn’t stop when we moved out like the night terrors and lucid dreaming.
I had an episode just yesterday morning. I was sleeping on my couch, facing towards the couch, with my back to the room. I woke up and immediately could tell that something was wrong. My eyes were open, and I could hear something walking up to the couch behind me. I closed my eyes (my eyes being the only thing I can ever move) because I didnt want to see what was moving toward me. With my eyes closed I kept my breathing measured and urged myself to remain calm, and a few seconds later I snapped out of it. No one was in the room with me.
When I experience sleep paralysis, I can never wiggle a finger or toe, or anything to snap out of it. I just have to wait till my body desides to wake up. I hate it, and it makes me scared to go to sleep. I just want it to stop, I have other problems to worry about.
I’m 15 years old and my sleep paralysis experiences started when I was around 8 or 9, at that time I would wake up unable to move or speak, and in some instances I wasn’t able to breathe, it never really scared me because I didn’t know what it was. Even though occasional, it happened more often from when I was 8-10 years old than any other time, after that it stopped completely. It started happening when I was around 13 again but also happened occasionally and still even now it happens occasionally. I had never known that sleep paralysis was what was happening to me until last summer when I was 14, when me and my bestfriend read an article about sleep paralysis and that’s when I realised that what happened to me throughout my life had happened to other people and that it was an actual thing, I also had never heard of anyone hallucinating or anything like that either until I read the article and it had never happened to me until a few months ago. Like any other night I fell asleep watching one of my favorite shows, I woke up hours later unable to move or speak like what had happened before, except that I heard a sound, kind of like the sound the grudge makes but mixed with a buzzing sound, (or just the sound that Tina from Bobs Burgers makes when she gets nervous)and when I looked up I saw a black figure with what looked like to be a hat, the figure was standing at the edge of my bed and making that sound I had heard, I was so shocked that I just stared at it for what seemed like a long time until I eventually closed my eyes and tried to move my arms and legs, which I eventually did. I sat up and saw nothing and heard nothing, and for the next few days I only slept during the day when my room is bright and when everyone else is awake (even though I sleep with a very bright string of lights over my bed, my tv on, and a very bright alarm clock). I didn’t have sleep paralysis again up until last night around 4:00am (I knew it was around that time because my mom gets up and ready for work around 4:00am and I could hear her opening and closing the dryer which gave me a sense of comfort that there were other people awake) when I woke up I was unable to move or speak, I started hearing that sound again and knew there was something in my room, but instead of looking around like I did before, I immediately closed my eyes and tried to move my hands or my feet which after a few minutes of trying I could move again. As uncomfortable as it was to close my eyes and ignore something in my room, I felt like It would go away quicker if I just closed my eyes and acted like it wasn’t there, which it did. And going along with this, it also helps me be calm about the situation when try and think of it as just a hallucination and nothing else but that, but in all honesty, I don’t know what it is. It also makes me feel better to know that I’m not alone when it comes to this, and I’m happy that I could share my experiences here!
Hi my name is james im 27yrs old and ive had a few encounters with sleep paralysis ill tell you my most recent encounters one that shook me up for days..
#1 I think it was midnight my partner having a fun with her girls an i was in bed i left our hall way light on for when she gets back an we leave our bedroom door open a little so our pooches go out the back doggy door to go do there business if needed, and i just dozed off i might have been out for 40mins or so till my body just went stiff shivering out of control i knew what was happening but i couldnt stop it, i felt something or someone on top of me i squinted my eyes open my head was facing to the left of me i sleep on the left side and i could see 4 or 3 black blurry shadows standing next to my bed i didnt want to open my eyes wide even try look up it was to terrifying and because of my religious backround i knew it was demons or i think it was, and i was mumbling struggling saying “go away leave me alone” but nothing heres when i said something and this is what shook me i mumbled “in the name of jesus christ LEAVE!!” then i heard the scariest most terrifying LAUGH ive ever heard and it ended i couldnt sleep after that till my partner got back then she eased my mind abit..
#2 my most recent just before i wrote this this gets graphic..
Its the 5th of august 2017 saturday i worked half day and i was feeling abit sleepy so i thought id lay on the couch so i did then i felt the sensation of sleep paralysis coming my whole body started shivering like crazy couldnt open my eye or speak i could clench my fist i tried to wake up and get out before i was forced into a dream but then i sat up on my couch in my house the couch was all messed up but i thought it was the dogs so i got up to clean then a lady i havent seen in a long time walked into kitchen and i yelled out “Chrissy! is that you” then she walked out into the hall way where it was a little dark and i could see her eyes glowing so i grabbed her by the hand and pulled her out of the shadows then she transformed into someone else soon as she came out of the shadows she pulled her dress off then she forced her self on me and whispered in my ear “theres someone else here” i kept saying “what who” over and over then i heard the exact same laugh from my last encounter in my room coming from the dark hall way i only just woke up from that i could never forget that laugh. if sleep paralysis can be connected from previous encounters please let me know..
I’m a 48 y/o married mother of two. I’ve had two of these episodes when I was a teenager living at home with my parents. Both times I felt totally awake, like I had awoken during sleep, and had the sensation that a spirit or being was stepping into my feet and then gradually “laying down” into my body. First my feet felt heavy, then my calves, then my thighs, etc. It kept moving up my body. I couldn’t move or cry out for help. I tried to yell, but nothing would come out. As it progressed upwards, the weight felt heavier and heavier and it started to suffocate me as it started moving towards my chest. As it moved past my chest, the room was filled with a deafening “whooshing” sound, like it was trying to “snuff” my life out. I remember thinking, or trying to yell, “Jesus, help me!” At that point, the weight lifted and I could breathe again, but I was so terrified that I couldn’t bare to move or open my eyes. For quite a while I just remained very still and very scared. I couldn’t ascertain if I had just been dreaming or was actually awake. Eventually, I fell back asleep. I hope I never experience this again.
I’m a 26 year old man. I have no history of mental illness. I do consider myself to be somewhat sleep-deprived and I am definitely stressed as my wife and I are
In the process of purchasing a home and we are also expecting twins. I have just had my first and second experiences with what I believe and hope to be sleep paralysis. I say “hope to be” because what I experienced was extremely unsettling and in the moment Is completely inseparable from reality. I have watched several documentaries on sleep
paralysis; I am aware of the physical, auditory and visual symptoms. I consider myself to be pretty logical, so I have rationalized what I have experienced as sleep paralysis after the fact. However, while I am experiencing it, my mind and body are telling me that this is nothing short of supernatural or demonic and I am completely overtaken by the strongest sensation of fear I have ever felt in my life. I will detail my experiences below. They have occurred so far on two consecutive mornings, both at approximately 4:40am. I will try to be very detailed so that anyone more experienced than me with this subject can read my description and confirm or deny that this does indeed fall in line with similar stories of sleep paralysis.
Occurrence one: This occurrence is undeniably the more extreme of the two. My wife had gotten up very early for work and gotten into the shower – she commutes a long distance and had to be in early. I had been woken up briefly by her as she got out of bed, but was beginning to get comfortable again and fall back asleep. I was laying on my left side facing the door, with my eyes closed. Then, with no warning, I suddenly feel that I am not alone in the room. I feel that there is a (male?) presence behind me. (Keep in mind that my eyes are closed so there is no way I can know this, so in hindsight this is my first indication that I have experienced sleep paralysis). This entity comes to the edge of the bed and crawls in on top of me. The feeling is vividly real. I feel that I am hyper-aware and think myself to be awake. I can feel it pressing down onto the bed with its hands as it presses down onto the mattress, and brushes against the blankets. Everywhere it is touching creates a tingling sensation and a chill in my body. It starts down at my feet and slowly works it’s way up my spine to the base of my neck. It lays down, not on top of me, but INTO me, taking my exact position inside my body. The whole time my body is becoming numb, cold and tingly starting from my feet up to my neck (think pins and needles sensation). I begin to feel a buzzing sensation or a pressure in my head and I start to feel an irrational fear that this entity is inside my body and trying to take control of my mind. I am completely terrified. My blood is pounding in my ears and my heart is thumping against my chest. I am fighting it and for control of my body. I try to roll over to see if there is something behind me but either I physically cannot (sleep paralysis) or I am frozen with fear. Either way I can’t move more than my shoulder and only a twitch at best. This goes on for an indeterminate amount of time (maybe several minutes). Slowly my heartbeat slows and the sensation begins to fade, but I am still too scared to roll over. Eventually I force myself to sit up. I am alone.
Occurrence two: This occurs the very next morning at approximately the same time. This experience was much quicker, but equally frightening. It lasts only a few moments. My wife gets up early again for work. Again, I am woken up by her getting out of bed and I am trying to fall Back asleep. I am laying in bed in the same position. I am thinking to myself about the first occurrence and how strange it was and hope I never experience it again. As I am thinking that, I start to feel the chilling tingling sensation traveling up my body again, but this time I didn’t sense the “entity” as clearly that was so palpable in my first experience. But there is something in the room. Something is rythmically striking or punching the mattress, from what feels like underneath. Again the sensation works its way up my spine to my head which begins to buzz, but this time the buzzing sensation and pressure is much stronger than the first occurrence. Again I am filled with the irrational fear that something is trying to take possession of me. Then in what I perceive to be my right ear, I hear the beginning of a guttural angry scream for only a half a second just as I begin to be able to shake myself out of this sensation. I sit up and get out of bed. I am terrified and can’t believe this sensation has happened two early mornings in a row.
To be very clear, I never SAW an entity In my experience. Hallucinations included only the sensations of touch and sound, but no visuals. If anyone has had a similar experience, please share. I have read that everyone’s experience is unique, but I am curious to learn of any similarities to my own experience.
A number of similarities with my experiences over the past 25 years. No entities for me, but the buzzing you describe is almost identical to what happens to me.
Hey Robert!! first of all…I know these experiences are very scary… the reason i’m replying to you is, there are a few common things about your experience and mine…
1- it happened to me twice and both the times when I was sleeping on my left.
2-my first and second experiences were similar to that of yours. first was about some male person sliding his hands slowly and trying to grab me. second one was about some ghostly creature right in front of my eyes and this time i can hear it scream with anger, but i was aware that it’s sleep paralysis so i didn’t react much. it was kinda funny, because i wasn’t able to move my body but i could move my lips, so i was trying to blow the ghost away and at the same time kept telling myself that this is not real, it’s just sleep paralysis.
3- in the second experience, i felt as if there was some rhythmic noise coming from outside my room.. like a big fish flapping when its out of water. I thought one of our fish jumped out of the aquarium, so after i woke up from sleep paralysis i went out of my room to check, but the aquarium and the fish were fine. It turned out that it was actually the big fish in our tank that was making that noise but it wasn’t out of the tank. because i heard the fish later in the morning and the sound was similar to what I heard during sleep paralysis.
No matter how mature I was in reacting to sleep paralysis in my second experience, my mind was still not convinced, it kept thinking about ghosts and spirits, but these thoughts slowly settled down.
I have suffered from sleep paralysis for over twenty years, it has been getting worse recently. I am scared of going to sleep, in my waking nightmare I am attacked by demons. They are swarming all over me, poking and prodding me with theit sharp claws, ripping into my flesh and feeding on me. I can hear and feel them tearing into me, I am fighting them or trying to but I cant move. I have never been so terrified in my life, especially now as my children have begun to feature in this horror. I found your article very interesting and it is a relief to know that I am not alone.
This article is a great resource for anyone who is starting to experience this phenomena and is frightened or confused by what can feel like the most absolute loss of control.
I had my first episode of this in 1993 and it was absolutely terrifying. I was 22 and in my last year of school before receiving my degree. The stress of all my years of study coming to a head accompanied by late bedtimes produced numerous encounters with sleep paralysis and frightening hallucinations. I would fall asleep (or so I thought) and them almost immediately feel as though I had awakened. The first time, I didn’t immediately panic, because I thought I was actually awake. There was no intruder or demon and I could “look” around my bedroom. Every detail was perfect, except (I would later notice) one thing would be totally wrong (e.g. a poster was upside down, my desk was in the wrong place). Within seconds of feeling “awake” an unseen force would begin pulling me by my ankles, off the end of my bed, across my desk, up the far wall, and across the ceiling …until I was looking down onto my (in my brain) empty bed. Heart racing, struggling to stop it, I would realize I was still asleep and try to force myself awake. Impossible for me. This would cause an extremely loud (think front row at a rock concert) buzzing in my ears. The harder I would struggle, the louder it would become. This terror would last until a point where I could “sense” that I could pull myself awake. If I didn’t stay awake for several minutes, there was a high probability that I would slip into another occurrence immediately. This would occur multiple times a week until I discovered that it only occurred if I went to sleep after midnight.
Once I received my degree, it stopped for several years. My 20s were not a stressful time as I found my first job and began to work towards advancement. I met my soul mate, got married and thought this terror of unknown origin was behind me…until at 30 a stressful professional situation brought it back in force.
I was responsible for opening and managing a new site in a highly regulated industry. Everyone kept telling me how young I was for the job (although, this was intended as a compliment, it added to the stress), how eager the regulators would be to critique our every decision, and how many people were depending on me to make this a success. A month in, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. The stress was nearly tangible. This time, I at least knew that it would pass, but I still would fight against it with all my might. Rarely, fighting would work…mostly, it would just make it worse and extend the experience. I decided to relax. The buzzing would grow quieter, my heart rate would slow and I would patiently wait for the “exit” I could sense. As things improved at work and we began to experience success, it got a little better. Mom had surgery and treatment was positive and not terribly hard on her, it got a little better. Toward the end of that period, I actually had the paralysis start and I relaxed so much that I fell into a deeper stage of sleep and I didn’t have to awake to stop it. Finally, it was gone.
I have not had a concentrated period of episodes since. It still happens infrequently and always at a stressful time. Sometimes now, the loud buzzing will start for a few seconds and I will involuntarily jerk awake. But now, it is not scary at all and I simply wait for the exit.
My experience might be totally different from others, but what has helped me is a personal understanding that this is one of my bodies reactions to stress and that I have to not fight the loss of control to escape it. A scientist by training, understanding helps more than spiritual cures. While I am a man of faith, I understand this better as a physical phenomenon. I have found no personal connection to sleeping on my back.
I have had this all of my life. It started when I was four with out-of-body sensations and a buzzing sound. It has intensified over the years. When I was in college I went to the health clinic to see if there was something they could do about it. The doctor there sent me to the school psychiatrist who gave me (no lie) Thorazine to put me to sleep, Ritalin to keep me awake during the day, and valium to keep me from experiencing too much a “buzz” from the Ritalin. In two weeks I was an even bigger mess, and I stopped taking those drugs. I still can’t believe he prescribed an anti-psychotic for a sleep disorder. Years later I was talking to a woman who went to the same school, and that doctor gave her that drug regimen for insomnia. Later, when I sought talk therapy thinking it was a mental disorder, the therapists either hadn’t heard of it or thought that it was a manifestation of deeper issues. I was so relieved in the late 1990’s when I found references to it online and found out it was something many people experienced. Knowing what it is doesn’t lessen the terror when I have an episode, but it is comforting to understand what’s going on. I still experience them even when I just lie down for a quick nap. Sometimes it is positional so I try to sleep on my left side regularly. But it’s happened twice in the subway when I fell asleep during a long commute. I’d open my eyes, completely unable to move. The car would seem very dark and menacing figures would float around me making these horrible high-pitched screams. This would go on for what seemed forever, and when it was finally over, the car would be normal and no one except for maybe a couple of people would even seem to have noticed.
I’VE ONLY EXPERIENCED THIS ONE TIME. I WOKE WITH THE FEELING OF BEING HELD DOWN AND SOMETHING ON TOP OF ME. I COULDN’T MOVE OR TALK, SUCH A SSCARY FEELING. I MANAGED TO CALL 911 BUT MY HUSBAND WAS ASLEEP IN HIS CHAIR DOWNSTAIRS, BUT I COULDN’T HOLLAR FOR HIM. SO 911 CALLED HIS PHONE AND HE CAME UP. I WAS STILL PARALYZED. IT TOOK THE AMBULANCE 45 MINUTES TO GET HERE. MY BLOOD PRESSURE WAS 250 OVER 150. THEY THOUGHT I WAS HAVING A STROKE. I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO SCARED. AFTER ADMINISTERING DRUGS FOR BLOOD PRESSURE WAS RELEASED, AND THANKFULLY NO STROKE..I NEVER WANT TO GO THRU THAT AGAIN…
July 29th this Saturday at around 1am or 2am. I was sleeping and have been for a while, and then started to have a bad dream. It was a young boy, around the age 12 or 13, holding both of his hands on my chest and pushing down. He seemed really mad at me and wanted to hurt me. I can picture what he looks like, but i have no idea who it is or could be. I don’t believe it was a demon. I’ve done acid a few times and learned alot about life and how it works and what happens after we die. But i don’t believe theres a god and heaven and all that. I believe in other things.. But anyways. I’m very smart with these kinds of things but i just want to know why me. And why was it a young boy. Anyways, i couldnt move and i was trying to yell to my mom into the other room, but she was in my dream, not actually in the house i was sleeping in. I could move my finger tips and then i got really mad and pushed up and was gasping for air when i woke up. I was actually sitting up when i woke up too. I’ve lucid dreamed before, but i never know how to do it on command. But like I’ve said, I’ve experienced a lot of weird things throughout my life and I’m only 21. I woke up next to my boyfriend and i just grabbed him and was scared, then eventually fell back asleep. He then woke up like an hour later and sat up really fast and said he had a weird, scary dream too. I was half asleep and didnt really think much of it. But now that i think about it, it made more sense. I truly believe it was someone trying to tell me something, but i dont know why or what and I’m not exactly sure if it was good or bad. First time ever having this but i have had dreams where I’m still sleeping and see myself sleeping and just walking around.
I ‘ve been experiencing this for a long time now and really thought that demons were trying to get me. This article is a big help but I’m still not completely convinced. I once had a dream that the demons were trying to get inside me, one of the dogs toy was floating and I started yelling to go away and the demon got inside me. I finally woke up and got out of bed. While walking to the bathroom I stepped on the same toy and my body went completely numb. It happened also walking out to go to work I felt a presence and I went numb again. One way that works for me is don’t put the covers all the way over you in bed and leave your arms out, that way what ever is holding you down they can’t put them over your head and smother you. I hope to learn more, my daughter just got her PhD in psychology.
I was in first grade when I got sleep paralysis. I remember having a dream that i can still remember to this day. The dream ended with a VERY loud buzzing noise in my head. I didn’t know what to do and I was panicking and I thought someone or something was in my room. Me not staying calm only made it worse. I went to scream for help from my parents across the hall only to find out I couldn’t open my mouth as if someone sewed my lips shut. I tried to get out of bed but it felt like I was glued onto my bed stuck there. The buzzing noise got louder and louder. I shut my eyes and opened them again and the sound was gone then after about 10 seconds later I could move. It was terrible to experience at that young of an age.
Ever since then it has happened many times. One time I heard the buzzing again but at the time I knew what to do and keep calm. I waited it out and kept my eyes shut and didn’t move. It was very scary tho cuz I felt like there was some type of demon or intruder in my room.
It happened to me tonight on July 30th 2017 and this one was very bad. I never really knew what it was or what was causing it until now cuz I looked it up. I was about to fall asleep then I hear a buzzing noise. I kept my eyes closed like last time but that didn’t seem to work. I kept seeing very clear visions or a pitch black creature coming towards me. I thought I was going to die. I tried to move but I couldn’t. I opened my eyes and it didn’t stop. I couldn’t move. It was the longest episode I’ve ever had. And now I have a headache because the buzzing screaming voice was so loud. I was terrified. It stopped when I managed to open my mouth to call for help.
I layed in my bed sweating until I worked up the courage to pick up my phone. I had fallen asleep around 1:30 or 2:00 it had felt like I had been asleep for hours. I look at my phone to find its 2:30 and i had only been asleep for an half hour