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.
Hi,Im 22 and I have been experiencing this for the last 10 days.Initially I reassured myself that this is just a hallucination and I let it go.I generally stay calm till I am able to speak and then I scream just to assure myself that I am back into the world. But things got worsened when the nightmare itself shows a sleep paralysis of mine. I could not realize whether I am experiencing this in sleep or in reality. I see a strange black smoky like creature whispering something to me in dreams. I am unable to sleep peacefully.
This is all new to me. I’ve been very stressed about school and all of the other difficult things going on in my life. I believe I had sleep paralysis a few weeks ago, but this morning I definitely think I had to have sleep paralysis. I woke up at about 5:40 A.M. and I felt something like leaning on my side of the bed. Then it felt like whatever it was crawled across me to the other side of the bed and sat in a position as if it were a dog and was like breathing in my face. I don’t remember if I tried to move or just stayed where I was in terror, but when I did open my eyes everything went away. Do you think this was sleep paralysis? The first time I think I may have had it was a lot different. I was taking a nap during the day and woke up to what felt like the whole bed shacking back and forth. I did not see anything this time just felt the bed moving back and forth.
Hi Halie,
It’s hard to say whether it was sleep paralysis or not if you don’t remember if you couldn’t physically move despite wanting to. It could have been, or it could also have just been due to hypnagogic hallucinations.
Regards
Ethan
Hey Guys/Gals
I’ve had my experiences of different sleeping episodes its been a while but they are starting again. Last night as I laid in bed I kept feeling tense, for the first few minutes every minute or so it was as if a flashlight hit my eyes when they were closed, i opened my eyes and nothing in my room, (my room is dark.) WellI its getting late i turn towards my wall but start hearing a very low growl coming from the opposite end of the room the way im not facing. Everytime i turn that direction it stops. Its now about 3:00 am i finally am about to pass out and Im awakened I heard my name yelled loud now im awake and I must add that ive felt an erie feeling since i started to try and sleep. Its now 3:14 im once again falling asleep on my stomach and i get this dark feeling behind me and picture my blanket go up and slams against my back and I can not move im frantically trying and i cant yell. I dont know if im awake or dreaming because i only see my wall as if im awake, i then feel panicked and like im being dragged through the hall, my mom sleeps on the couch in the living room and i see her but cant say anything to wake her, then snap everything goes black but i still cant move and everything repeats itself but my mom is crying this time as im dragged by her , then black, this keeps repeating over and over till one episode i manage to grab my moms crucifix on the way out, and whatever is dragging me is mumbling something i manage to get a tiny hellllpppp out and my mom looks u and says oh Anthony why did you have to leave me so soon. Now i lost memory of what happened next butit felt like forever i just remember seing evil things. Not like murdering but just an overall evil and im still pinned down now i see my wall but now its as if something tazed under my shoulder blade my hole left side of my back spazes out then i feel the blanket go up as if someone just crawled out and my heart is pounding, my face is soaked with drool i get up turn on the light and its now 3:22. Im shocked 8 minutes ive been asleep? No way it felt forever. Has anyone had anything similiar hapen
Hi my name Margaux, and I just experienced a Sleep Paralysis last night.
But this one was different.
My past experiences of sleep paralysis, I usually find myself in company of a black entity, demon or maleficent form. It doesn’t hold me down, it just stares at me and watch me struggle to move my body or cry for help. I usually fight so hard to get the control of my body back. Try to open my eyes to really see the shape or face of the entity. Try to touch it, feel it. And after fighting that hard, convincing myself I am in control of my own body, I am finally relieved, and the entity floats away.
But last night was different.
The experience wasn’t that scary at the beginning and the entity wasn’t the same. The entity was bright, It was a female; And she wasn’t alone.
I was laying on my stomach, with my arms along the side of my head. From the moment they intruded in my room I was paralyzed. That bright entity came on my left side of the bed, (the opening of the room, right side against the wall), she was floating next to me. Then she put this voice inside my head explaining me what was going to happened. It was like the entity was that intelligent that It took every material I had in my brain and mixed it together to create a communication for me to understand it.
She spoke in French.
The voice was like mechanical, I had never heard that voice before. She told me to stay calm and relax, that they were going to introduce something in me, that it wouldn’t be painful and would be very quick. But I have to stay still, I was not allowed to move.
Then the voice started fading away and getting lower and lower, I couldn’t quite hear what she was saying, but she was talking to the other entity around me. They where walking fast around my room, talking and writing stuff down. When I asked her to speak louder, of course no sound would come out of my mouth but I tried to communicate in telepathy. She didn’t listen to me.
I started panicking.
She was holding my wrist and legs down, but I struggled to get her off me. The voice came back, she was more angry and asked me to calm down, that I had to stop trying to get out. So I tried harder, then I felt this two point electric teaser placed on the side of my neck, and they turned it on. It electrified my whole body, paralyzing me even more. I tried to yelled for help, I couldn’t. Then I relaxed and accepted it, I said: “ok, ok, I understand I am calming down”, and it stopped.
Then when I tried to move again, tried to open even more my eyes to have a look of what was happening. The room was bright. She was glowing bright.
They pulled the teaser on again, and even harder this time. It rolled me over to my back, or at least I had the sensation of rolling on my back from the power of the electricity.
I begged for it to stop. I managed to move my hands in form a prayer and asked to stop. And It did. It suddenly left. I was free. I could finally move and see. I jumped out of bed turned the lights on and of course nothing was there.
I do believe in parallel dimensions, I believe in hyper connectivity between energies. I, until now, still believe of an act of the outer space. I understand and agree on the scientific explanation of sleep paralysis, which you are in a different state of mind than your body, but what if this state of mind was actually an opening to an other dimension?
We all have our believes and way of accepting these weird phenomenon that keep happening to us..
Pure hallucination or unexplainable extraterrestrial experiment, It is so relieving to find other people with similar experiences and being able to share our stories without any judgment…
If anybody has experience a close experience, with a bright entity, please contact me, I would love to hear all about your believes and feelings.
This was my story of the night of September, 21st, 2015.
DON’T TRUST THEM WETHER LIGHT OR DARK!!! If they are scared of what God would do to them for what they are doing to you then you shouldn’t let them do it–FIGHT THEM!!!
Also I find it interesting how you explained how it communicated with you. When I had my experience I too had a shadow being that floated away, and it was trying to touch my face with four elongated and fingers that looked almost see-through (your typical REM-Realm being: ghost or demon or alien? no one knows which). When it or they communicated with me it was as if a soundless voice (almost collective) was put in my mind but it was only saying “We’re not going to hurt you” over and over, until I said God help me (just before it touched me). As soon as I started to say God it released me and floated away, it released me either because I was about to die from a heart attack or it too fears God.
They way I figure it if they flee when one calls to God for help then they are evil (both light and dark beings)? I too know what it feels like to do every thing in my power to bring my hands together in prayer while evil is at my back. And I am sorry you had to go through your experience and I pray it doesn’t happen again. May our struggles give us wisdom and May God bless us and our homes.
And I too believe in the all the science behind it except that the being are not real– they are real but not from our realm. I have heard of people having taken drugs and been visited by the same beings and I think that when you are in an altered state of mind a door way is opened to parallel dimensions.
Well this happened to me a few years ago. I had a day surgery and they sent me home on pain meds. So when i got home i took a shower and took my meds and went to bed. About a half hour i think later i woke up or at least i thought that but i heard a noise like something heavy being dragged around the room an at the same time i was being held by my feet and dragged around my room but i couldn’t yell or get away. I felt my mouth moving but there was no sound and after about five minutes it like the noise stopped and i was let go so i ran out the room and told my mom and said that i was calling her but she said she didnt hear anything. What happened am i crazy?
Hi Corina,
Thanks for your comment. Although sleep paralysis can be very scary and make you think you must be ill for seeing what you did, it is a normal thing to experience. If you only had it once, years ago and after taking strong medicaiton, I don’t think it’s a sign that you’re crazy.
Regards
Ethan
I’ve had sleep paralysis ever since I was a kid. It comes and goes but usually is every month and when it does happen it happens a few times in a row lasting up to a week straight. I’m pretty used to it by now and can wake myself back up by saying calm and focusing on waking up and moving. I think this is why it happens one after another because I am able to fall back to sleep but am once again caught in this state and have to wake myself up again. Changing positions doesn’t help I can get it anyway even laying face down. My last experience was today. I woke myself up twice from a heavy weight and figure around me but the third time I was caught between this and a dream. I was laying on my stomach with my face to the side paralyzed. I could feel someone hugging me from behind. I didn’t panic I was just trying to focus on waking up. However this time I could briefly see a crowd of people in front of me and a knife in one of figures hands around me pointing towards the crowd. The crowd stepped back and I could feel the heart beat of the figure on mine and him realizing I was scared of him. He told me not to be afraid that I was safe but I could sense the knife getting closer to my face and the heart beat getting heavier on my back so I shut my eyes but then realized he had the tip of the knife around the socket of my eye as if he was about to cut it out. Then I woke up. I’ve had the figures, always men, talk to me before but never a whole dream play out. I was wondering if this is a common thing?
Hi Hannah
Thanks for you comment. I’m not sure how common what you describe is, but I guess the depends somewhat on exactly what’s going on. It seems that you’re experiencing both sleep paralysis and bad dreams. Perhaps you’re waking up and still having the dream playing whilst you properly wake up, and so it’s mapping onto reality. Or it could be that you’re dreaming about waking up and having the crowd of people. Sometimes it’s hard to work out whether you’re still asleep or just semi-awake.
Regards
Ethan
Hey, I believe I had something similar to your situation. I was having a nightmare, waking myself up and falling back asleep to re dream it all over with a few different details I was focused on (unintentional, I was looking for something positive to wake up from)… Wake up was really hard the last bit of it and it left me in such a strange state for the whole day. It was like watching seasons of a tv show (horror, some not too bad though) I got into the second episode of the first season again before opening my eyes. Every episode was a different person but everyone was connected in some dark/twisted way. Thankfully I had someone shake me awake because that was the worst feeling(s), feeling like waking up dead from a few different scenarios and knowing you killed was truly terrifying though. Also I woke up hearing a muffled scream, but it could have been myself trying to scream. Any other time I’ve woken up unable to fight back or make any noise I’ve always heard this, but I think I’ve always been screaming in my nightmares. Haven’t had this happen in a while, but definitely felt stress induced. This was last night, finding it hard to let myself fall asleep ever since.
I will never be able to unfeel what was happening. I was 12 and there was a nasty sandstorm. Unusual for the area. No lightning no rain. Just wind and sand. I remember it was around midnight when all of the power goes out. I end up starting to try and sleep and that ringing In the ears sound starts. Very electronic like how a cellphone charger can sound if you listen hard enough. But that’s the thing there were only land lines and the power was out. Just the rush of wind and it sounded nothing like that. But it gradually gets louder and louder. Its getting harder to take a breath. The darkest dark I have ever seen and I swear my eyes are open.. I’m struggling fighting it. Something is taking me. I don’t know why I know but I do. But another thing I know is that if I can make a noise I’ll be okay. I have no idea how I know any of this. By this time the electric buzzing sound is so loud its making my hair stand on end. But I know if I can just make a sound…. I’ll be okay. So I fight, fully conscious of everything that’s happening and what I’m trying to do. but It’s stopping me it doesn’t want me to make a noise. I use all of my will and manage the slightest “huuu” in almost a whimper. At which point I feel completely fine. The ringing subsides. I go back to sleep….. It happens again. I fight to make another sound to stop the ringing. And the same thing…. I wake up fully conscious . this process repeats itself until the power returns. I don’t know but the over bearing presence. It just drains energy. But how I knew what to do… I don’t know. Making a noise? But it worked. But how hard i had to struggle to get out the slightest bit of air to make a noise. I cant explain the difficulty. It reminded me nothing of an out of body experience that ive had under anesthesia. And I have 3 more experiences I remember just as clearly. These happen for a reason though.
I have only just realised that what I have experienced since childhood could be Sleep Paralysis. I described my experiences and those of my family going back several generations to my 14 year old son. A couple of months later, after he had studied sleep cycles in science at school, he came across an article about sleep paralysis. He told me to “google” it, as he thought this could explain my symptoms. I was very surprised as I am a nurse and had never heard of it. Through the generations, my family have shared and passed down their stories of “ghostly” awakenings from sleep, “pulsing buzzing” in the ears and an inability to move whilst having theses visions. Probably due to our Celtic heritage, we call it “the Gift”. The experiences have often been associated with prophetic or clairvoyant dreams. Both my mother’s and especially my father’s side of the family have experienced this, so there must be a large genetic component in our family!
Hi Tess,
Thanks for your comment. It’s very interesting what you say about the lore which has passed down in your family. I’ve read several accounts from researchers who also say that sleep paralysis and hypnagogic hallucinations are probably responsible for vast quantity of things which have now become part of different cultures. Everything from ghosts, demons, witches, aliens and religious visitations are seen by people when they have sleep paralysis. Given how real these things seem, it’s not wonder that in the absence of common knowledge about what sleep paralysis, many people conclude that the thing they see must have been real.
Regards
Ethan
I happen to have this sleep paralysis that I can recall once, however when It happened that one time I can recall – in my mind as it started to happen, I said to myself “oh no here it comes again and in my mind I remained calm (it was like a deja vu kind of feeling where this had already happened in the past and I knew what to do while I was in this sleep paralysis state) and started praying the “Our Father”, “Hail Mary”, “Glory Be” that I can recall twice. I laid still without moving or fighting it physically. With this experience it was as if a giant bat or a giant bird, (it was pitch dark) wrapped its wings around my body tight and therefore I could not move nor speak and all I could hear was the loudest noise of flapping wings in my ears, it was so loud I could hardly hear myself praying. I said my prayer’s twice and it went away and all of the sudden it’s like the darkness went away. However believe it or not I felt great after that because in my mind I defeated this sleep paralysis without being afraid. Then I went back to sleep with no problem. It’s amazing how I recall this experience like it was yesterday.
Ive just experienced this monday.. mine was happened around 7:20 to 7:40am, before I sleep Ive played a music and the music was sugar by maroon5, then I put it beside me and slept, I dream I was in the church sitting in the front and a guy in black sit beside me then knelt. and he took out something, perhaps, it was a black notebook asking me to read it. and when I read it I couldnt understand it because it was latin. and I read it again then understand it. after that Ive woke up I cant move someone is holding my forehead and my mouth, I still hearing the song Ive played, They want to come inside me and Im refusing they are inside my head, then Ive prayed.. lord help me take away this evil spirits around me. then little by little i could move . and when i look at my cellphone its still 7:40am and the sound is still the same but its in the shuffle mode .
I have these experiences a few times over the course of a few months.They have been happening since I was young. Tonight was probably one of the scariest times I’ve had with the thing. I am 3 months pregnant, and very tired a lot of the time. I had dozed off in my bed a few hours ago and suddenly I couldn’t move, I could hear a noise in my right ear like a woman talking, but she was speaking so fast I couldn’t make out the words. She sounded wrong to me, almost evil. I knew what was going on having experienced it before; but it was still terrifying. I thought maybe I opened my eyes and saw a group of shadows on my ceiling standing around me. They were quiet other than the woman talking. I could feel my hand on my lower abdomen and instantly I was scared for my developing baby. I kept trying to focus my mind on something positive. I am not religious, but my head went to singing Jesus loves me. And suddenly the woman stopped talking and said “there is no love.” and went on babbling. I was shocked and freaked out by the response. I came out of it sweating and freaked out in my dark room by myself. I really wish there was a way to stop these episodes from happening; they concern me.
Hi Bailey,
Thanks for your comment, and I’m sorry to hear you’re going through some sleep disruption with the sleep paralysis. I can understand how it must be especially worrying being pregnant and having an episode like that. I think the main thing is to remind yourself that no harm can come to either you or your baby. And to take some of the tips from this article. Many of the readers tips are very helpful and can help either reduce the episodes, or at least deal with them better when they happen. And of course, if it keeps happening and concerns you, there’s no harm in speaking to your doctor to get some peace of mind and see if they have any ideas that might help you.
Regards
Ethan
Thank you for creating this page. My wife (25) has for the last three months had several episodes that are very much like those described by you and others. And again tonight. Seemingly, it only happens when she is falling asleep. She is unable to ask for help or move at all, and feels there is a weight upon her. Tonight, however, this weight moved her arm, as if pinning it back and down. This happened, she said, mid-experience. She says these experiences are becoming longer in duration. I don’t believe in any religion, or in the existence of God, but I cannot discount entirely the existence of demons, even while I don’t believe in good and evil per se. I worry that the “scientific” explanation is simply a way of explaining symptoms logically, whereas she may well be experiencing a common behaviour among demons. It is hard to dismiss as pure imagination, because it literally happens just at the second where she is losing normal consciousness and entering sleep. Tonight’s movement of the arm is something I struggle to explain on a scientific basis. She says she desperately wants to open her eyes, to see the presence she feels. But she cannot. This is utterly terrifying for her, and she fears that she will die in one of these episodes, without being able to ask for help. Two bruise-like marks have appears on her legs, but without any pain as might be normal with a recent bruise. Alone in our bedroom tonight when she was tending to our eldest son, I challenged the presence to focus on me. Hard to explain, or know the meaning, but I know at some point in my past I had black wings. I will report back here any further instances. But I truly wonder, and I’m among the most rational, materialist (in the sense of schools of philosophy) persons I know, do demons exist? I would say yes, and it appears one has entered my shared life.
Hi Immanence,
Thanks for your comment. I don’t know whether your wife shares your views, but I would suggest the best help you could provide during this time of experiencing sleep paralysis would be to share the tips in this article. There are lots of practical suggestions which can make a big difference to how much someone suffers due to sleep paralysis.
Regards
Ethan
I have such episodes of someone crushing me down a lot, I pray, and sleep. Then it happens again, then I’ll rub some holy oil on my forehead and open my Bible and put it next to me, that way, I know for sure it won’t happen anymore. I am usually able to open my eyes just fine, but luckily for me, I don’t see anything but the ceiling (if I sleep on my back) or the wall if I’m sleeping on my side or tummy. These are not nice because it forces me to lose my sleep and it takes time for me to sleep all over again. Lol. If I don’t do that (above), it will happen more than five times. Unfortunately this started happening to me when I was around 10 – 11. This doesn’t scare me, but I kinda feel bad because my sleep is interrupted :-)
So last night I think I may have had one of the worst experiences yet.
I was feeling tired at around 12 and I already hate being in the dark so I leave the TV on to help me sleep. As I fell asleep, I instantly got the sickest feeling possible; I couldn’t breath, speak, move, nothing. I looked over to the corner of my room and there was a figure just standing there. 7ft tall, dark red eyes, long sharp fingers pointing towards my chest region.
I was petrified; considering that I’m an 18yr old lad, it wasn’t pleasant what so ever.
After I tried to scream for help, it slowly walked over to me and I could hear the pattern of hoofs against my floor. As it got to the side of my bed it just reached out and dragged its hand like claws across my chest until the point I woke up.
I have a wardrobe on the opposite side of my room with mirrors on the front so I used this as soon as I sat up to check to see if I was okay.
I have 4 deep, dark red scratches going from my right collarbone down towards the left side of my hip and I seriously have no idea what to even think or how to explain it to the girlfriend if she sees it.
Hi Marc
Thanks for your comment. Have you spoken to your doctor about this? It’s worth getting yourself checked out to make sure you don’t have a sleep disorder such as REM sleep behavior disorder. It could be that you’re causing yourself harm in your sleep because your muscle paralysis mechanism isn’t quite working right. I think if you’re waking up with injuries, the first step is to talk to a professional about it.
Regards
Ethan
Karen Roberto Here Again, I don’t know how but I forget to mention that in All my Experiences, I Cannot Move , once I was lying on my Back & was pinned down, couldn’t move a finger or even my Lips, I involved Saint Michael, every time it happens I can’t Move it’s Terrifying , this time I Shrugged it off Went back to Sleep & it happened again, couldn’t move a muscle, something was one & Grabbing me & sucking my neck & and I could feel the hands rubbing me, I finally moved my fingers , I am so freaked out, & sometimes I see things like in the corner, can’t move , but my Robe is moving where this strange creature is waving at me. I even had my Parish priest come & Bless my house 3x.
Hi Karen
Thanks for your comment, and sorry to hear the sleep paralysis has been freaking you out so much. I would strongly suggest not watching horror films – especially ones like the conjuring which is particularly creepy and sticks in the mind! Try doing something relaxing and positive before going to bed instead, and trying to set your mind up for a peaceful night’s rest.
Regards
Ethan
I woke up terrified Again, I was having Nightmares all night, Sleeping on my Side, in my Dream I was hiding From something Sinister( I watched The Conjuring, Before I fell asleep) my Cat was on my Left sid of My Neck, what I felt woke me, Two HANDS sliding under my Side, something up against my Back & biting my Neck, it happened Twice this night, it’s been happening to me since I was 30, sometimes 5,6 times a week, sometimes 5 times a Year, I usually Say The Rosary, & I take Skeeping Pills now Trazodone, but I just starting taking them last year, so it’s extremely hard to wake up but I Force my self because I’m just Terrified
I’m 17 and I’ve had between 60 – 70 sleep paralysis episodes since my 16th birthday. My episodes are very rarely scary. I’ve probably had only 5 scary monster intruder hallucinations. My typical episodes are actually kinda funny and last between 2 – 3 minutes. Most of the time I hallucinate cereal mascots. Like the Trix Rabbit and the Cocoa Puffs bird. For instance, a couple days ago, I had the Lucky Charms leprechaun dancing in my room. He kept asking if I could see why children love the taste of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I kind of look foward to my episodes. I mostly accept the science explanation, but I don’t think science can explain why The Mascot for Lucky Charms was advertising a different cereal.
Hi Maxwell
Thanks for your comment. Can I ask if you’re physically unable to move during these episodes? Or is the only thing out of the ordinary just seeing these serial cereal manifestations? As for why you had the advertising change, I have no idea. The brain is a mysterious thing!
Regards
Ethan
I have had this happen to me since I was 3 or 4 years old my mother as well I am now 30 and have these more often than id like. The most recent was exactly the same as when I was 3 or 4 no change…. I wake up in my room I feel something over me slowly put all its weight into my body and slowly crush me. Every breath I lose more and more strength screaming but no noise or air escapes my breath. Just random parts of words and sounds and the words I’m screaming are Get Off Me. No calling for anyone or help me it’s always been get off me…
I first experience this last month. First I had a dream and when the woman got angry she chased me and turns into shadow then suddenly she was above me and choking me. Though she’s choking me I don’t feel panicked, I just try to let go of her hold. I just don’t know why I can’t moved my hands since both her hands was on my neck. However I still try to move, that’s when I woke up. After I woke up I, it feels like her hands was still on my neck. It feels so real. I told it to my brother, and he told me about the post he red at fb about Sleep paralyze. I was in awe while reading the description, ’cause it almost the same to what I had experienced. And last night I had sleep paralyzed again. This time, there was no dream, I just felt someone above me and I can’t breath. But I just know that there’s someone above me (a shadow one). Like last time, I’m just calmed and try to moved my body and I did woke up. Whenever I woke up from this I didn’t do anything,I just turned to my side and continue sleeping. I just noticed that whenever I had sleep paralyzed, I was sleeping on my back with my arms on my eyes. So I think I better stop sleeping on that position. I just don’t know why this is happening to me now ’cause I’d used to sleep (sometimes) on that same position. Anyway, I will try to read more about sleep paralyze.
I experienced this for the first time last night. It really spooked me out. I’m unsure whether it was just be dreaming and a culmination of fear from being burgled and tiredness from returning from China. But let me know what you think… I think I had been dropping off to sleep and soon after I experienced the sensation that something was beside me at the bed. I couldn’t breathe or move and I felt like whatever it was, this presence was looking at me deciding what to do. The part that spooks me out is that I felt it pick up my arm. I realized that there wasn’t anything I could do so I just let it happen and then I felt the sensation disappear at which point I ran to my friends room and my heart pounding. I like the scientific explanation and it all makes sense except for feeling that it had picked up my arm. What do you think? I say a presence because it seemed human like but no details at all, it was a lighter mass against the dark room and I couldn’t pick anything out of it or look further up because my head was on my side looking down. So spooky it really freaked me out!
Hi Hannah
Thanks for your comment. I know it must have been very spooky to have felt like your body was moving, and that a presence was doing the moving! I think some of the previous readers who have been the most terrified by their sleep paralysis experience have also had feeling like they were being moved. It’s understandably going to add an extra dimension of fear beyond just seeing or hearing things.
It seems that you experienced a tactile hallucinations. It’s not as common as seeing or hearing things, but it does happen. It still falls under the scientific explanations, so I don’t think you need to worry that what you went through is evidence of something happening beyond your own brain creating the feeling that your arm was being lifted.
Regards
Ethan
Hi.im only 13 and sp is interesting to me and also im doing a school project about it.I WANT TO HAVE SP.is there a way to trigger it or just sleeping on your back and not drinking water before sleeping..
Hi Fabian
As far as I’m aware, there isn’t a way to trigger sleep paralysis. I wouldn’t recommend it either even if there were, because usually it’s a pretty terrifying experience!
Good luck with your project,
Ethan
Hi, I’m Eligio, I’ve had a few of these in the recent weeks, the first time was a demon experience and what really shocked me was that I was running from it because it tried attacking and as i tried to open a door that beamed light, my brother was on the other side of it and when he opened the door in my dream, he opened the door to my room and I awoke from the dream which was really crazy. And just yesterday i had another one where i saw a guy that i had never met before in my house as i crashed out in my living room and asked, what are you doing here, in this occasion, i calmed myself down and realized that it was only my dream, so i tried physically getting up, and i did, mentally, which was really astonoshing in my opinion, the first thing i did was look at my hands and realized that i wasnt the average mexican skin tone, so i ran to the quickest mirror, looked at it and saw myself as a different entity. I can’t really describe it to perfection, but i was a lot taller and i was blue in color, to me realizing this i rushed back into my body that i saw lying on the ground, got inside and tried getting up. The most interesting feeling i thought was that i felt me whole body asleep, kind of like when your foot falls asleep, but i felt it throughout my whole body. I tried moving my feet to let me physical body move and awaken in reality, and when i did, i launched myself about 4 feet to the left and questioned on how much effort i was making on moving myself. Thats my story, havent heard too many like it, but I’m sure theres other unfortunatte people who get worse.
Hi Eligio
Thanks for your comment. It’s a fascinating story, but not one which I think falls under the category of sleep paralysis. It sounds more like a lucid dream to me, in which you become aware that you’re dreaming. It can be quite disturbing too, but many people actively try to have lucid dreams because they can then enjoy controlling their dream and have all kinds of amazing adventures! If you have a look at my article about false awakenings, you’ll find some info. on how to work on having lucid dreams.
Regards
Ethan
I have had experiences like this for around 9-10 years now. Not too frequently but still more times than i would like. Every time, i am lying in bed, just woke up randomly in the middle of the night and i can’t move at all. Depending on the time depended on which side of the bed out was on. But there is always a pitch black figure that was darker than the pitch black room, about 7 foot tall in a black robe with extremely long fingers/fingernails (can’t see details well without contacts so i don’t know which) and it’s face is even blacker, there’s nothing where it’s face is supposed to be and then it raises it’s hands and points one of its fingers at me. In one of them he had glowing red eyes and a scythe but not in the rest. In one of them i started repeating the Lord’s prayer and he/it growled at me and another demon looking thing appeared in my face before disappearing and i woke up. In another i just focused on moving so i could fight it and woke up/got released. I don’t know which side of things to believe but i believe that science and religion can be together to come to a logical explanation hopefully not involving demons/malevolent spirits
I’ve had this happen to me three times, the first I had no clue what was going on and it was the whole demand thing and I totally thought I was dying or being possessed, until I did research on it. I didn’t have it again for a few months until last night and when it happened I knew what was going on. So I knew all the scientific explanations and believed them but that didn’t stop me from “yelling” out to my roommate or trying frantically to move. The biggest fear was that I was In this state and couldn’t get away from the intruder which turned into the creature. I’m in the military and when this accrued I had a vision that an officer was in my room asking me who the heck I was and I was trying to tell them I was going through sleep paralysis and could jump out of bed or answer them. He left but then I heard people trying to get into my room. Later someone appeared next to me on my bed and was talking to me. the whole time I could tell that it was just the creature wearing a mask. I didn’t feel like I couldn’t breath or anything but before I became visually aware of my surroundings I had felt like I was floating. I brushed it off when I awoke though. It happened again today when I went to take a nap before duty. Which I thought was strange. I again felt like I was floating. It didn’t last as long and I focused on moving my fingers and toes when I stopped floating and eventually woke up. But I still felt a presence I couldn’t see and I visualized it was night when I had fallen asleep during the day. Even though I know what’s going on it’s still scary because I feel powerless and vulnerable. The whole time for all these occasions it’s been so completely vivid, it’s ridiculous. I just think it’s strange I’ve had it so often now.
Last night I had my first experience of sleep paralysis. I had been having a nightmarish dream, something about a woman with hooves, a face that looked like it had been knitted and a perfectly round green veiny eye that was spinning. (I have no idea where this dream came from). I woke up lying on my side with my foot dangling over the bottom of the bed. I felt uncomfortable and could sense a ‘demon’ in the room lurking at the bottom of my bed just out of sight. I tried to pull my foot back away from this presence but I couldn’t move. I tried to sit up but i couldn’t do that either. I swear I could hear the monster breathing. I resorted to putting all my energy into pulling in my foot and eventually after what seemed like about two minutes I managed to move it. I sat up very shaken and actually had to remind myself that I don’t believe in demons. I think I had been somewhere between my dream world and the real one. Anyway, I didn’t want to go back to sleep for fear of it happening again, so I have been very tired today.
I often experience it but I am not satisfied with scientific explanation. I feel it’s something paranormal entity because before its happening, I always had a dream in which I saw something black and weird, sometimes a black cat and screaming sound, and then suddenly I woke up and felt. Something is pushing me. I remain calm and start moving hand’s finger. The timing of my sleep paralysis is always early morning between 5 to 7 and sometimes in afternoon sleeps.
Hi Sam
Thanks for your comment. I know the scientific explanation isn’t always easy to accept. But to be honest, nothing you describe there sounds like anything other than quite typical sleep paralysis to me. Many people have dreams or nightmares which then manifest as, or influence, their sleep paralysis content. So dreaming of those things and then having sleep paralysis is quite a normal way for it to happen.
Regards
Ethan
i was in elementary maybe 8 or 9. My brother was a bit older. We both slept in our moms room because we were comfortable there. I was always getting sick as a kid, and this day I had 2 really bad ear infections. I cried myself to sleep in my moms bed around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. I remember waking up in the middle of the night with my brother to my right and my mom on my left. I noticed I was under the sheets and I was very very hot. The room was pitch black and I couldn’t move or turn my head. It was raining very hard, thundering and lightning. I had this crazy feeling of dread and fear. I couldn’t turn my head but as I looked around the room with my eyes I noticed this black hooded figure beside on the right beside the bed. I automatically was completely paralyzed and scared for my life. It seemed like hours passed and I was just clenching my eyes shut harder than I ever have before and praying to God to make this spirit leave. The strangest thing was that we had always kept the fan on, a night light, and an air purifier on because it kept the room cool and made it not so eerily quiet. But all the electricity was off. Every time it would lightning it would flash through the window and the figure would light up white. The figure was blacker than you could imagine and was purely evil. My brother ended up tossing and turning, a pillow fell off the bed, and the figure vanished. The weirdest thing was when it left the night light came on. The AC came on. The fan came on. Everything was back to normal. It even stopped raining. Creepy, creepy, creepy. Please reply. I don’t know what it was. But I’m sure it wasn’t science.
Hi Steven,
Thanks for your comment. I can understand why you were freaked out by all of this, especially because you were so young. If you’re sure it wasn’t science, then there’s probably not a lot I can say which will give you the kind of reply you want to hear! To me it would seem like the storm simply knocked out the electricity temporarily, and around about the time the storm passed and the rain stopped, the power came back on and all your appliances started up again. To me, there’s always a logical explanation to these things. And when you combine that with the power of the mind to create hallucinations, and especially a child’s creative way of seeing things which aren’t really there, you have a recipe for one scary night.
Regards
Ethan
I had it bad as a kid. I was less than 5yo I think. Got really horrible when I was a teenager. In fact it got so bad it would even happen in broad daylight if I lay down on the couch in the afternoon to watch TV. It ruled my life for many many years. I would avoid going to sleep. I refused to go to bed and this used to get my parents really angry because I had school in the morning. I tried to tell them about it so they sent me to a shrink who gave me drugs. I hated them worse.I learned that it would mostly leave me alone if I stayed awake until the point of complete exhaustion. It still happened sometimes when I was married and had children but infrequently. I’m 47 now and it hasn’t happened for years. But it still has an effect where I want to go to bed at 9:30 – 10:00 but I have a psychological block where I simply don’t get up and go. I stay up until after midnight even though I don’t need to anymore. I have lived most of my life constantly on the verge of mental exhaustion from sleep deprivation. What I did learn many years ago which helped a lot, if your head space has any negativity, you will take it with you. eg: when it happened I would feel a very bad malevolent presence. If I had a good day and had only happy positive thoughts in my head, I would not feel a bad presence. To this day, I am a very happy positive person. It’s second nature to avoid and purge any negativity in my life. I’m only here writing this because it has recently reared its ugly head in my 19yo daughter. At least I have been able to talk to her about it. I had no one when I was young.
Oh, by the way, there is an upside to this. All the years I spent mentally pushing myself to the limit to ward it off, I am now considered a high achiever. I ended up at 25yo at University. I failed dismally at school because of it but excelled at Uni because by then I had developed the ability to focus and function on so little sleep and was totally driven. As a Scientist I have really wanted to explore this phenomenon with the knowledge I have but I can’t even make it happen now. I was at Uni for 6 yrs and on one course we all got psychologically tested. Apparently I have off the scale coping abilities and can function well under extremely high stress. One guy at uni used to put a rat on a treadmill and every time the rat got tired and slowed down he would get a shock so he’d have to speed up to stop it happening until he just collapsed. That’s how how felt for so long. Every time I slowed down and take it a bit easy, the sleep paralysis would happen. The shock for me was in the early days I felt like I had floated away from my body and I could see my body. This only happened twice. The terror of that for me was so great that I never let it happen again. As soon as I heard a soft buzzing sound, I went straight into fight mode and gave everything I had into moving my little finger. The second time I floated away it was because I didn’t react quickly enough to that soft buzz. So from that time on my reaction was instant.
Hi Carleen,
Thanks for your comment. I agree that it’s great having someone to talk to about this kind of thing. I’m sure your daughter will appreciate having someone there who understands.
That’s an interesting idea about the negative or positive thinking. Perhaps that’s something which can be worked on just before going to bed – some positive thinking exercises.
Regards
Ethan
i dont know if i should believe this article, because when i wake up and gain control of my body, i feel my bed being push repeatedly
Hi TWiiN
It’s your choice what to believe of course. The bed pushing could just be a continuation of the hallucinations, even though you’re gaining muscle movement again. Your brain can still continue to hallucinate even without the paralysis.
Regards
Ethan
I had have the scariest sleep paralysis i ever had in my life today. I probably had just started these events last year. I always thought if as my dreams be trying to tell me something. But last year around Sept. I was sleep paralyzed on my side I experienced the not able to move i was able to move my arms but couldn’t get up not able to talk or anything. I had seen a black figure but it had went into the other room first thing i think my home is being robbed and some reason im not able to get up. So i think i just tried to close my eyes and go back to sleep. moments later i was able to wake up n went to check to see. But i kid you not a month later my home did get robbed into. And i was totally freaked out by it.
But today had to been the scariest weirdest sleep paralyzed event i ever had. I was trying wake up when i seen a black figure this time entering my room right next to my bed and again i was sleep paralyzed, only able to move my arms n i admit i was scared at first but i was talking to the tall male figure and it was talking to me. I knew it was there but i couldn’t see it. It literally was playing toss the pillow with me. Until my phone rang and woke me up. I was totally relieved. Because i was scared as hell for real.
Note that during my sleep paralysis i was in the same position when i wake up, it mostly happens when i’m alone sleeping and it happens during day and night. And i do think I be worried, stressed, and depressed most of the time.
I used to think i was going crazy and that my life was soon to come to an end i didnt know what sleep paralyzed was until i seen article on Facebook which i then later google my sleeping experiences, its definitely a relief that its just not me and that others experience the similar events.
Hi Andrea
Thanks for your comment and for sharing this story. I’m glad you’ve found the article useful. You’re definitely not the only one who experiences sleep paralysis.
Regards
Ethan
I’ve had random episodes of sleep paralysis ever since I moved out of my family’s house. Anytime my roommate went of town I would have it. Now I live an hour from my familys home and I just drove back at 3 in the morning because I had an episode and was way too scared to go back to sleep. I was in my boyfriend’s dorm room, he was at work for the night. His best friend was playing his video games and i was sleeping in the bed even tho I had slept in until five in the evening that day. The night before I had gotten so drunk that my friends couldn’t wake me up and they almost took me to the hospital so I had slept all day to keep the hangover away. So even though I had plenty of rest I was still trying to sleep. My friend playing video games turned the tv off and left and I woke up as soon as the door closed, really confused when i saw the empty room. I fell back asleep and started having a really weird/creepy dream that I didn’t want to have so i tried to wake up. I immideately knew something was off and started having weird thoughts about death and creepy stuff. I decided to sit up and turn the light on but as soon as I tried to move it caught me. I’ve had hallucinations before where the dark space in front of me turns into the figure of a person but this was different. First it was the figure and then it got closer to me and turned into a short person who looked similar to the friend that had just been in the room 20 minutes before but also kind of like a gremlin. He got right next to the bed and was rumaging through my boyfriend’s nightstand drawer. He started snaring at me and I knew I couldn’t yell so I started snorting like a pig at him. I wasn’t dreaming, i knew he really wasn’t there but I still saw him and I really was snorting like a pig haha. I knew if my boyfriend came in he would think I was crazy lol. I stopped focusing on the gremlin and started praying and chanting help me God. It was just quiet mumbles at first but I persisted and eventually was able to yell it as i sat up. I’m not a very religious person but I usually turn to God anytime this type of thing happens. Almost every time I have sleep paralysis I think that someone has snuck into the room with me. I’ve heard my locked hotel door open, heard something say pssst in my ear its just always creepy and not a fun experience. I’ve been reading other people’s experiences but the demon ones are just too much for me hah
I had a very weird experience last night and have been trying to figure out if it was sleep paralysis. I do believe in supernatural entities based on some pretty convincing personal stories I have heard from a close friend.
First off, I am unsure if I was asleep or awake when this happened. I immediately tried to figure out if it was a dream or not. I woke up (or dreamed) in the middle of the night, and I wanted to roll over on my side. This I did (or dreamed I did). I immediately felt a firm poke in the middle of my upper back, like a finger poking me. I shrieked (I definitely heard myself). I lay on my back for a minute or so, looking at the bedside, scared to reach out and get a light. (Not sure if I had rolled onto my back at this point, or if I had been dreaming all along and was always on my back.) I got a light and went out to the other room, where my boyfriend was half waking up (from hearing the squeak I made, I am sure, since he is a heavy sleeper).
So–I never felt paralyzed, except sort of frozen with fear for a minute while I was definitely awake. And I was able to shriek out and move. I have never had any sort of dream where I am being touched just out of the blue like that. It was very much just like something wanted to wake me up–when I wanted to role over I wasn’t scared or anything, until I felt the touch.
Of course, a myriad of strange things have been seen by other people in this particular house, so I am prone to be a little anxious.
Anyone else with similar experiences? Think it might be sleep paralysis?
Hi Chai
Thanks for your comment. It could have been sleep paralysis, even if you just felt you couldn’t move because you were afraid. It’s difficult to say really. Perhaps other readers will have experienced something similar?
Regards
Ethan
After finding this article and seeing that there are other people who have experienced the same things that I have, I feel a sense of relief. It is nice to be able to see the things that can contribute to the episodes of sleep paralysis such as stress and sleep deprivation. I work full time night shift in a hospital so my sleep schedule isn’t the best and I do experience stress because I also go to school and am applying to nursing school in the spring. But when I have these episodes of sleep paralysis they feel so real. I accept the scientific explanations for the causes of it but I’ve had two episodes in two days and they feel so real. In my first episode this week I was asleep and trying to wake up but I couldn’t breathe or move. I tried screaming for help but I couldn’t and I could clearly hear loud, hard footsteps coming down the stairs. My second episode was the creepiest one yet which happened today when I was home alone. I could clearly hear two little kids singing a song and I felt so frightened. But to me it wasn’t a hallucination because I could hear them clearly yet I couldn’t move around or breathe well. I finally came to it and just felt scared after that. I think that there is a scientific explanation as well as a paranormal explanation. I am a realistic person and these experiences have felt too real. I feel crazy even saying these things but these events are too real for me.
Hi Maria
Thanks for your comment and for sharing your sleep paralysis stories. I think that’s the biggest issue that most people have: how to accept the scientific explanation when it just feels so vivid and real? But I think it is something which is important to accept, if nothing else for your own peace of mind and mental health. For those who have repeat experiences for years, believing that they are being haunted or attacked by evil creatures is not going to do any good for their minds. Accepting that it’s another example of the amazing power of the human brain is far better for you in the long run I think. And also makes it more likely that the techniques you try to stay calm and deal with it are likely to work effectively.
Regards
Ethan
Obviously have never seen a demon cast from somebody with your own two eyes.
Hi Gary,
You’re right, I haven’t seen that happen before.
Regards,
Ethan
I believe the scientific explanation and I also believe the “Demonic Intruder” do coexist with one another…
I have experienced this before. I was 13 the first time was literally shortly after I turned 10 or 11..
There was a presence, of which I was well aware was nonexistent but still experienced it anyway, the creature/being we know as “The Intruder” made its presence known loud and clear that night. It left a nasty scratch on my shin, which was still there in the morning.
It also recently happened again, except this time instead of being paralyzed, which I was momentarily, but managed to move, the so called intruder made an appearance again and made itself known yet again, this time though I managed to get up and make a run for the living room out of fear and I turned around to see It standing in the darkness. And of course as the science explanation states, dreams and nightmares can overlap reality and confuse your senses. But from behind the intruder were creatures far worse and threatening, they came after me clawing their way across the floor, walls and ceiling, I must have been able to scream or something cause somebody turned on the light and I woke up completely, huddled against the door with scratches on my arm, which are healed and gone now, but I do experience sleep paralysis often at times, But its not always true to it’s name…
I’m 17 and that’s the worst it has been, but otherwise I come around to my senses by either screaming (I’m a light sleeper so its fairly easy to awake me with sounds. And I know I’m still half asleep, literally, because I don’t feel anything and I can sometimes but rarely hear the screams of the intruder) or by somebody touching my arm or turning on a light .
So regardless, I’ve got a pretty good reason to believe the creature does exist but also that it doesn’t.. And I guess what I’m trying to say, is that is it possible and do you, yourself, believe that both religion and science interlock somewhere in between? Because both ways through prayer and through science it has stopped for periods of time.. I don’t know how ans I don’t know why, but I do believe there are other planes of existence that we as people just don’t understand fully.
Thank you for your time and patience. And thank you for reading.
Hi Dustin,
Thank you for your comment and for sharing your story. To answer your question, I don’t personally believe there is an overlap of science and religion. Whilst I do know there are many things we can’t yet explain, I don’t believe there are other planes of existence inhabited by creatures who can harm us. That’s my view anyway.
I do wonder though when you say you have such vivid experiences and also wake up with scratches whether you’re actually experiencing sleep paralysis. I’m thinking perhaps it could sometimes be something else like REM sleep behavior disorder, which is some ways is the opposite problem: your body isn’t getting paralyzed during your dreams, which is resulting in your acting out your dreams and hurting yourself. Have you spoken to a doctor about this? I think if you’re waking up with physical damage to yourself, it’s a good idea to speak to a professional about it before you accidentally do even more damage to yourself.
Regards
Ethan
Thanks for replying, Ethan!
I’ve thought about that as well, and it very well could be. I’ve never said anything about it, because around the area I’m from they would automatically assume it’s a suicide attempt and try to restrain me in straps or whatever due to my family history.. But I do agree with your view of other planes with existing creatures that could potentially harm one.
When I think about it though, I haven’t had any physical damage since that night.. Which is strange, and I thought it could have been like a one time event, but then realize that’s a false statement and would likely occur somewhere in the near future. So I’m definitely gonna consider your advice and try to talk to a doctor.
And thank you for your reply.
Hi again Dustin,
You’re welcome, and I hope that you find a sympathetic doctor who works with you to find out what this is and help you deal with it. I don’t think there’s a lot of restraining in straps which goes on these days, especially not if you’re just having some sleep disturbances. So I’m sure talking to a doctor will only help.
Regards
Ethan
ok so i had an experience with sleep paralysis but it wasn’t scary it was pleasant i saw one of my relatives who had been deceased for years is it weird that i want to try to induce sleep paralysis to see them again?
Hi JJ
You’re not the first reader to say they enjoy sleep paralysis. Whilst most people say they find it terrifying or distressing in some way, there have been readers who want to explore it more. I guess the thing is there’s no guarantee you’d have a repeat experience. And it’s not something which can really be induced.
All the best
Ethan
I had several experiences in my freshman and sophomore years in college. I never actually had the feeling of paralysis or something on my chest, however I would wake up incredibly confused and absolutely certain there was something or someone in the room. The first time this happened the being was standing at the door to my dorm room, I sat up and asked who or what it was, it never replied but I continued to ask until slowly I gained full consciousness and the being disappeared. The next 2 times it occurred a different being from the first one appeared closer to me, and this time I was terrified of it and still thoroughly convinced it was there. I asked it what it was doing here, and tried to make my eyes focus on it to clear up my confusion. Most recently I had to turn on a light before it disappeared. I believe in the scientific explanation, but it doesn’t make it any less scary in the moment.
It happened to me once in my early 20s. I fell asleep on the sofa early on evening. I remember waking up and I couldn’t move or speak, I tried to say something to my mom and girlfriend but nothing came out. At the time I thought I was sleeping and just closed my eyes, I woke up again and I was fine. It’s never happened since.
Hi Scott
Thanks for your comment. Strangely, I think many people just have one or two episodes during their life and never again. I have no idea why, but you can count yourself among the lucky ones who don’t have it on and off for years.
Regards
Ethan
I’m 14 and I experienced sleep paralysis when I was 12. It was a very confusing dream more than scary I would say. I was walking down a road but there was no sky, just blackness.. and I came to the end of the road where there was an old church on my left and a cornfield straight in front of me. As I approached the church a gorilla with a human figure came out from behind the church and started walking towards me, it went and stood by a tree that looked very old and dead. I wasn’t scared as it approached me yet I could still feel my heart beating really fast. Then as I was about 10 feet from the cornfield I heard weird noises coming from it and something moving. I started running along the side as whatever figure it was started running with me. I see everyone saying a tall black figure, but what I saw was small and black. But I ran for maybe three seconds and then got to the end of the cornfield in the middle of the road and tripped and it jump out from the cornfield and I watched it run over and jump on me. I felt a heavy pressure on my back, but when I woke up I was laying on my back with my stomach up. When I woke up it was gone but I couldn’t move, I didn’t see or hear anything after I woke up, but I feared it was in my room. After reading everything I understand everything in the dream except for the gorilla with a human figure, the fact that the figure was short with wings, and that there was no sky. Thanks for finally giving me an understanding of this, though.
Hi Donavon,
Thanks for your comment and for sharing your experience. It sounds like it was a bad dream which then influenced what you felt when you woke up in sleep paralysis. This is quite a common thing to happen to people when they wake up into sleep paralysis. I wouldn’t worry too much about the content of the dream. Our minds are great at thinking up strange images which usually don’t make a whole lot of sense, no matter how hard we sometimes try to interpret them.
Regards
Ethan
Ive had a few different ones. When i was younger i had slender man next to my bed which was nice… the other was 2 men shadowed too much to see in my room… they looked at each other whilst i panicked helplessly, then 1 began choking me. I find i wake up like it was a nightmare but it’s always like i was waking up whilst it was happening… the lighting is always exactly the same.
most disturbingly was having the same one several times as a child (about 7) where i experienced slow motion movements trying to combat someone in normal motion. It always ended with me being shot or stabbed but i think that was more a recurring nightmare… although again in my room (daylight though).
Hi JB
Thanks for your comment. It’s often tricky to work out whether it was really sleep paralysis or a nightmare. And in your case it would seem there is more of a likelihood of it being a nightmare, at least in the last part of your story – as you point out yourself. Have a look at the section about nightmares if it continues to recur and is distressing you.
Regards
Ethan