my husband felt a presence sitting on his chest last night and was unable to move?

Question

this has happened to him before one time a few years ago. he feels that it is a bad presence and it holds him down. he also said that he could not breathe or move. what could this possibly be? is there a logical explanation?

he also saw the blankets rise of his chest a few inches for a couple seconds.

im sorry... he says it was not SITTING, it was PRESSING DOWN on his chest. and his body was numb and the only thing that he could move was the tip of his forefingers

Answer 1

He has been experiencing sleep paralysis like million of other people...it is a frightening experience of being in a transition between sleeping and waking, you want to move but your body will not respond and often it feels like something is sitting on your chest. There is an old painting by Fuseli that depicts this rather well. I'll add a link when I come back.

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/John_Henry_Fuseli_-_The_Nightmare.JPG/752px-John_Henry_Fuseli_-_The_Nightmare.JPG&imgrefurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:John_Henry_Fuseli_-_The_Nightmare.JPG&h=599&w=752&sz=53&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=-Lj31XH_RCk7uM:&tbnh=112&tbnw=141&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfuseli%2Bthe%2Bnightmare%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

Answer 2

It's known as sleep paralysis and is quite common. When you sleep the body "turns off" the ability to move, which is why you don't run when you're dreaming about running. You are not normally aware of this, but occaisionally part of the brain can wake up while the mechanism is still on. Because the body may or may not be conscious you can experience all kinds of strange things as the brain tries to explain what is happening to it. This is where the word nightmare comes from - it means 'night ridden' where the person was believed to have had a demon riding on them - characterised by a perceived preassure on the chest etc.

There are some techniques which are believed to help with sleep paralysis - moving the eyes from side to side or the muscles of the face is believed to reduce the time of the attack. Getting enough sleep, reducing stress and having a regular exercise program are also believed to reduce attacks.

There are plenty of websites out there which deal with the condition, like this one for example http://www.dreamsnightmares.com/sleepparalysis.html

Answer 3

Yes there is an explanation. And you will find it by talking to a doctor and not a priest.

Get his heart checked out. It could just be sleep paralysis.

Sleep paralysis is sometimes called 'Old Hag Syndrome' because superstition and religion used to be commonplace and a common resort to explain away medical conditions or illness. The pressure on the chest was expliained away by saying it was an old woman sitting there.

But disregarding superstition and religion, please get him checked out by a doctor, it really is a better bet than hokum pokum people trying to sound smart by citing demons or saying 'avoid sin and all will be well'. They are literally a liability.

Answer 4

He most likely was having a night terror, or was experiencing sleep paralysis or BOTH. Both of these are phenomena that make you feel/see everything that he mentioned....

This presence goes way back in history...there is artwork showing it...it is an "incubus"....a being that people have nightmares about, sitting on their chest and taking their breath away.

I experience night terrors because of a problem I have of reaching a certain level of consciousness during sleep. I learned this by going to a sleep clinic, where they monitor you all night.

They also found that I start breathing very shallow, and the lack of oxygen makes my body force me to wake up while I am in my dream state. This causes me to "see things"...usually horrific things that make me scream, and I swear I am awake, or it makes me sleep walk.

Sleep and consciousness are very real things that cause many problems for many people.

Last...is your husband overweight? Does he snore? Sleep apnea could cause this incubus nightmare as well, and apnea happens if you have sinus problems, or have gained weight recently.

Answer 5

Could be some sort of sleep paralysis which is a normal thing - you can search the previous answers posted here to get more information.

However, it could also be spiritual as well (especially with the sheet moving up and down). Have either of you (or the kids) been involved in anything related to the occult? If so, get rid of any of it (ouija boards, pentagram, etc.) Don't just give it away or just throw it in the kitchen trash - burn it, smash it or otherwise destroy it - and get the residue of it out of your house. Are you Christians? If so, then you pray about it as well. Command it to leave, in Jesus' name. Pray for protection.

Answer 6

That's because he's too tired in the day time. Human body and nerve system do not always wake up at the same time. Sometimes when his nerve was kind of awake, yet his body was not fully awake yet, then he felt that he couldn't move.

Try not to sleep on this back, do not put his hands on his chest while sleeping, and try to relax during the day a little bit.

Answer 7

Usually when you're having a heart attack people describe the pressure as "someone sitting on their chest"

And if he was unable to breath I'd definitely go get it checked out. He could have just been a mild heart attack. Especially if he feels it is a bad presence.

lb

Answer 8

I know exactly what this is: it's a djinn/jinn called Jathoom. His name is derived from the Arabic word "jatham" which means crouch down. Yes, he's a djinn that crouches down on a human's chest when they are asleep. Anyway, it all sounds a bit crazy, but where I live (United Arab Emirates) and in the Arabian peninsula generally, Jathoom is common knowledge. It happened to me personally a couple of times before and it is terrifying. You feel like you are paralyzed and are relieved beyond belief when you awaken. If he or you ever experience this again you may say this: A'oothu bi'Allah min al-shaytaan al-rajeem in your dream (if you realize what it going on) or after you wake up. It literally means "I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed satan". Yes, you are not Muslim, but try it if you feel you need it. It has always helped me. Visit the link below for more info.

Answer 9

This is a known medical condition which can be sorted by a visit to a GP. It is rare, don't know the technical name for it but it causes alarm because of the old 'incubi/succubi stories of old. These stories blamed spiritual entities for the condition but please do not give these stories any credence, it is a condition that feels like being being sat upon. See the GP.

Answer 10

I would have his heart checked out. If he is short of breath with pressure to the chest and numbness of his arms it sounds like a medical condition.