Does anyone suffer from sleep paralysis?

Question

I have had this since i was a child and it is very scary. It is where you get stuck in between sleep and being awake. Your mind is awake but your body wont move. In this state people usually have the same kind of crazy dreams. Depending on where i fall asleep, different things pin me down on the bed and choke me and i am powerless to stop it. If i fall asleep in my bedroom its a black shadow, downstairs its a hag, others include goblins and some pr1ck who has no teeth and scruffy black hair, he is the worst. He pulls me around the room by my feet like there is no gravity and across the walls. When he does this i can see my own body in bed. If you do suffer this horrible problem, what happens to you?

Answer 1

I too have had out of body experiences since I was little. It got worse again when I was 18 - the sleep paralysis, vibration of my whole body, glowing ambient light of the room and no control whatsoever. I have felt someone shaking my bedframe up and down, have actually moved my arm through the bed whilst my bodily arm stayed still, have literally 'melted' my whole body through the bed and floor and have heard screaming and wailing in my bedroom. NIGHTMARE!!! I don't care what non-believers say - it is scary as hell and totally real. I started going to Spiritualist Church and it helped me understand for a while but in the end it stopped and I didn't like the cliqueness of the church. I was told that it was because my chakras were loose and energy was seeping out of me and attracting spirits to me. Apparrently you can close your chakras - I'd look it up on the internet for more info.

If you think that it's more a psychological problem, analytical hypnotherapy can help people with sleep disorders - look for an IAH therapist on www.successfulhypnotherpay.com. Unfortunately, I straddle two worlds - I am an IAH therapist who is told that everything is rational and explaiable via logical factual explanation. The other side of me believes strongly in spirit; sometimes we can attract spirit without knowing it. I would look to both the psychological and the parapsycholigical arenas and see which you find the most believable. You can stop this problem but it depends on your belief system how to go about it.

Having suffered it myself, people telling you that you are dreaming and that part of your brain is tripping out via an electical balance etc. sounds like a convenient copout offered by someone who hasn't gone through it and doesn't believe in parapsychology. I don't know what causes it, but I do believe that being pulled out of your body by an unknown force is certainly not something you'd not know the difference between sleep/dreams and waking. I was TERRIFIED when it happened to me! I really hope that you can sort it out. Good luck and God bless.

P.S. It's always a good idea to say a prayer of protection before you go to sleep if it happens regularly. Happy new year!

Answer 2

First, I will argue Bill's idea that you cannot move while sleeping. Everyone moves while sleeping. The phrase "tossing and turning" refers to a shifting of position while asleep. Your sleep doesn't need to be restless for this to happen. If one does not shift positions once in a while, then a full eight hours of being in the same position will cause your joints to stiffen and your body to ache. To answer the question, I have had experiences with sleep paralysis. It is, indeed, a natural process, though it can sometimes be unnatural. A spider bite can trigger sleep paralysis, as I discovered several years ago. All spiders have venom, though some have little effect on humans. The Daddy Long-Legs, a seemingly harmless spider, is actually incredibly poisonous. Its fangs are simply too short and flimsy to pierce human skin. My experiences with sleep paralysis sometimes precede, accompany, or follow Astral Projection. I suspect this is a symptom of having what seems to be one's spirit disconnect itself from the body. Other times I simply woke to find myself unable to move anything but my eyes. I always have control over my eyes, but nothing else. The first time it happened, I was a bit worried. I was a preteen and had just experienced my first Astral Projection. It wore off, though, and I found myself curious about the paralysis. I wanted to feel it again. My wish was granted many months later. I had another paralysis experience and, knowing that it would wear off, found myself at ease. I made it a sort of game, trying to move my arms or legs while paralyzed. I still challenge like that every time I wake up to find myself locked in position, legs straight, arms at my sides. My most recent Astral experience ended with an unusual occurrence. I returned to my body by accident, which happens rather often. Unfazed, I tried to leave my bed, but my body was apparently paralyzed and my spirit not yet properly bound to my body. I tried again with similar results. This happened several times in a row before I managed to move my physical body rather than my Astral body.

Answer 3

Yes, I've had that experience all my life. When I was younger, I used to associate some dream content to it - usually like I was being smothered or buried alive or something like that. As I've gotten older, I still have the experience and it is still scary and unpleasant, but I don't really associate any dreams to it. It is usually when I am about to awaken and I guess, over the years, I've learned what the experience is and my mind understands it will pass and doesn't try to put any meaning into it. Believe me, it's better that way. The specific types of dreams you have are very typical. It's interesting that people tend to have the same kinds of content to their dreams when the go through this. You may have done all the research you need to do on sleep paralysis, but if not, here is a good link on the subject: http://watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/S_P.html

All the best to you.

Answer 4

Gosh, this is so common and at first I thought it was just me. Ancient civilisations reported some of the images you mentioned, particularly the hag sitting on one's feet and the spectre lurking at the bottom of the bed.
I don't get this any more but it used to frighten the life out of me. The more you struggle is the more distressed you become so I just tried to relax and make gentle movements like moving my finger tips, eyes or toes instead of the typical agitated movements. It seemed to work as I don't get tempral lobe paralysis as it's sometimes known as any more.
I don't know if it's the same as those dreams you get when the more you try to move os the more difficult it becomes as these dreams are different in as much as you are usually active and not lying down. Facinating stuff but night terrors or fearful dreams can wreck your day and really mess you up. All the best.
Peace

Answer 5

Yes, and I thought almost no one else did! C'mon put a good site for you to visit in his comment, also I'll put the wikipedia link on mine. I've only started having these episodes in the past few years, but every time they get progressively scarier. The same "demon" visits me every time, and last time he brought two others with him. I can see him and hear him growling. I heard the others moving around downstairs and then heard them coming up the stairs. I don't actually get "moved around" by them, but I've heard that is common. Also, these things are NOT dreams as some people like to suggest. Since your mind is awake, you are actually experiencing hallucinations. The only way I can describe how terrifying the experience is, is that I would find jumping out of a plane without a chute more pleasant.

I've found that never sleeping on my back helps, and I also let my dog sleep on my bed. I've only had one with him on the bed, and it wasn't as terrifying as some of the others. Also, people believe it may be genetic. I found out my mother experiences the same thing.

Answer 6

This has happened to me a few times before. I usually have dreams where I'm being chased and all of a sudden I fall and I can't move so I try to scream, but nothing comes out. That's when I realise the dream is just a dream and I'm really just sleeping, but when I try to move, I can't. So I continue to try to scream because I'm scared that I can't move. Eventually my scream breaks through and I wake up completely.
One time I woke up fully conscious, except I had no control of my left arm. I couldn't lift it, I couldn't move it. I couldn't even wiggle my fingers. It was dead weight. So I picked it up with my right hand and shook it around and massaged it until slowly I could feel it again. It was more weird than scary.
This doesn't happen enough for me to be worried about it though. It's more kind of amusing.

Answer 7

I've had a couple of episodes of this. I get a feeling of dread and an inability to be able to move just before waking.

Although I can't see what's supposed to be there, I can hear people around me are telling me that there's a witch coming to get me in the direction I'm facing and I can't move my head, unable to look away.

Once I had a dream that I was been chased by a dinosaur and all of a sudden I just stopped, crouched on the ground, felt like I couldn't move and actually let the thing dinosaur me (don't ask me why!!!). I could physically feel it's teeth in my back, (although it wasn't painful, just a sensation of something digging into me) as it picked me off the floor and then I woke up with a start.

More frequently I grind my teeth in my sleep, but instead of just the normal feeling of slight pressure you get when you grind your teeth when awake, it feels magnified like a million times. It feels as though the pressure is going to make my head explode, it's as though my mouth is wired shut. I feel like my teeth are going to crumble it feels so bad and I'm literallly terrified in my sleep!!


I suffer badly with anxiety and it's supposed to be a common cause of sleep paralysis and teeth grinding.

Sweet dreams!!!!

Answer 8

When I first experienced sleep paralysis, I had never heard of it; I awoke but could not move, and I was overwhelmed by terror and confusion. Now I know that sleep paralysis is a normal component of REM sleep. Certain effects might accompany wakeful sleep paralysis. During sleep paralysis, many people say that they are assaulted by images which resemble people or monsters or a general fiendish presence. They might also experience hallucinations, sounds and bodily sensations (vibrations, electricity, and a sense of being touched).

Answer 9

I used to when I was a teenager sometimes. It was scary. If it happended these days, people would put it down to aliens cos it was one time a typical 'alien abduction' scenario with bright light type creatures dragging me across the bedroom. (Maybe it was real, but they aint been back lately.) But I was psychotic and paranoid as a teenager. Dunno a cure; for me it was much therapy and lil green pills. Im ok now, touch wood, but I still get that thing where you suddenly wake up with a start in a blind panic.

Answer 10

right now your just getting lazy!!!! i have answered this one b4.... to be honest i do think your dreams are down to your past, being powerless is something you dread, for then you would no longer be able to fight (sports wise) if you look deeper at the creeps they will be people who have at some point got the better of you and this is how your subconscious portrays them.. and the hag well that is more then likely me cos i told you i was gonna get you.. and i did without lifting a finger... be afraid be very afraid.... your powers are weak compared to mine..... by the way happy new year, make it a good one... and next time you dream of me make me Cinderella...