A slight deviation of Sleep Paralysis

Hey there. As an introduction, I have had several cases of Sleep Paralysis (of which I am quite sure that they are in fact that and harmless, and nothing else). The first time I had it I was terrified, about 15-16 years old and sure that something out-of-the-ordinary had just happened. A few years later and quite some paralysed sessions later, I've yet again come across something that I can't really explain, which doesn't quite fit as SP.

As usual, I was sleeping and woke up from the middle of a dream. This time, however, the usual "entity" was now standing straight in my field of vision, "spoke" with me (the only meaning that I could deduct was "I acknowledge you", so I wouldn't call it a mutual conversation, with me being scared out of my mind), and felt more like it was interacting than just observing (as per usual).
Whatever I thought I saw was >2 meters tall (reaching the roof of my bedroom) and the only thing I would relate it to (being a skeptic and feeling rather silly about it, too) would be some kind of demon.

What felt like just a few seconds later the whole room lit up and I felt some kind of hostility, I was hearing screams (possibly my own in my mind as that's usual when I have SP) in the background, and apparently managed to crawl up into fetus-position and (my mom is a bit "new-age" in lack of better terms, and having had lots of nightmares I've learnt this trick since they didn't want me sleeping in their bed anymore! :lol imagined this glowing bubble around me. At this time I suppose I had my eyes closed but all of a sudden I didn't feel the bed, and all the sounds just stopped in an instant. Instead I heard this white noise, kind of like when one of those electrocardiogram (spelling? :x) flatlines, but completely canceling out everything else.

Soon after that I woke up sweating with my heart pounding, completely terrified. A friend also commented that my eyes were completely bloodshot when I went shopping with her later during the day, which is usual for me when I don't get any sleep, but this night I had slept for at least 7-8 hours.

It hasn't happened again so far, but it's been a few days since. As I mentioned I tend to be skeptical, and I've become fairly adapted to nightmares and SP, but nothing has come through to me like this..

I just felt like sharing since it still bugs me that I haven't gotten over it yet.. Feel free to try to make heads or tails off of it, because I can't!

reply to post by aboveGoos


Wow.. that sucks. I have regular sleep paralysis. When I was younger I used to have it more often, about once a week, now it's down to just a few times a month (knock on wood) What I have always done to get out of it is focus all my energy on one movement and eventually it will break. Also I don't sleep on my back or left side as that increases the odds of SP exponentially for me (in most people it is just sleep on the back that increases the odds).

So far I've been lucky, I've never seen anything which honestly makes your story creepy to me as that's how you were before this incident. I always get the sensation that something malevolent is just behind me door or just out of my field of vision (where i can't turn my head to see due to the SP). A few times when I've had it at work recently (working midnight and fighting sleep) I will get it while sitting in a chair and hear "warped" audio like someone talking and of course the feeling that something, honestly, evil is there. I've heard that when people do see something they usually liken it to a demon.

reply to post by aboveGoos


Ive heard a lot of people talking about sleep paralysis. Ive never experienced it myself. What causes it, or does'nt anyone know. It sounds pretty terrifying. I assume you wake up and cant move. Are you really still asleep, or can you just not move your body.

I would look on the internet, but from the horses mouth is usualy better.

I had sleep paralysis a few months ago for the first time and it was very scary,

I remember waking up but could hardly move i was shouting as loud as i could to my wife laying next to me which eventually after a minute or two woke her and she told me it just came out as a very loud mumble but in my head i was shouting wake me to her.

The scary thing is i was absolutely terrified of something that was going on during this period before my wife woke, but of which i have no memory , and i dont scare easily.

It still puts there hairs up on the back of my neck now.

reply to post by KrypticCriminal


You are awake, but there is some confusion, dreamlike qualities to it. It's almost always accompanied with a feeling of something/someone terrible being present. A lot of people say they see something awful some even claim they see "it" sitting on their chest and as the source for their paralysis.
The explanation I've read and believe is that our bodies release something to paralyze our bodies so we don't move around and injure ourselves while reacting to our dreams during sleep. When sleep paralysis happens you wake up but you are still under the effect of this paralysis. You are/can be aware of everything in the room, I have remembered instances where someone is in the room and in my mind i'm yelling for them to wake me or forcing small movements to try to get their attention to wake me. For me, when I wake and am having it i immediately start trying to "wake" myself from it, and am generally terrified. I dont think I've ever had it over a few minutes, but its hard to tell time really. I've heard it can go on for over an hour.

reply to post by RyandeaN


Haha.. I've been telling friends about it for years and just recently I had a few friends have it and they said it was the scariest thing they've experienced. I really don't know why there is always that feeling of dread or evil. They best thing I can think to explain it is that it's like a bad trip. The terrible experience while still somewhat under the influence of dreams makes the dreams immediately sour and the partial wakefulness makes the instinctual and actual real life fear set in. All those conditions together make for a terrifying experience. A chain reaction.

Edit: To throw a crazy idea out there for everyone to think about. I've read/been told that '___' is partially responsible for dreams, so if you are awake, but your body is still acting as if you were asleep it could be releasing '___' still. If you are familiar with stories of people who use '___' as a drug (it can be extracted and smoked) a lot of them have the same trip and claim to meet aliens or people from another world/dimension. Is it weird that all the people that use the drug see/feel the same thing, and all the people who have SP also feel a presence when they wake? Like I said, I believe my theory as to why the experience is the way it is, but that is something to mull around.

reply to post by aboveGoos


Hey my friend, i have never posted this on here but uve given a good enough venue. I to have sleep paralysis with cognitive dreaming. Which is what you have because you see the "entity". Have you seen the demon before? I am just as you i started around 8 i came to live with them as a normal part of my life, just a few years ago i began some research into it and became astonished by how many ppl have had similar experiences.
To you experience i have never had him speak to me, but same exact creature, tall, like a demon crossed with a lizard. Have you ever seen will ferrels land of the lost? i felt kind of like those green guys with way smaller eyes and not the hands. Question when it spoke to you was this the first time youve seen him/it?
ive read alot of the stories cant recall how many involved conversations. I know in my reading i have found some people have found comfort in sleeping with a bible/cross/anything that makes them feel comfortable. Which would be your "bubble" zone, thats a greta idea because it allows you to calm down and get the blood/chemicals flowing in the brain to come out of the state quicker. I suggest google searching and reading all the other stories, i can tell you from the bottom of my heart i know how terryfing these are, i hate them, i dont sleepmuch if you ever need an ear im here for you. Its scary as hell but your safe

reply to post by GogoVicMorrow


Wow, i hope i never experience it then. The worst ive had is waking up and not recognizing my own room for a few minutes. From what your saying it sounds like pannicking may make it worse, although if your paralysed im not sure what else you would do. Does it happen in conjuction with any other illness or disorder like depresion, or stress or can any one no matter there frame of mind or whatever experience it?

I had SP once, and I remember everything that happened... This is what I felt.


I woke up at around 4am, normally...for few seconds... Then I began getting cold... Colder and colder, I felt like it was -50 Celcius in my room. I couldnt move, I was cold, I was horribly scared. And then I felt like someone was watching me, talking me... I was cold, I couldnt move, someone was watching me, talking to me... I felt like it was a demon, a presence that didnt want me there, something very very angry and mad. Then, all of a sudden, everything stopped.

I woke up, shocked as hell, scared, cold, and went upstair, got on my computer, checked up on google for some place to explain what happened, and that's how I found out about ATS !

My first topic is what happened to me, I wanted an answer to my hard awaking...

Good day Atsers!

Originally posted by KrypticCriminal
reply to post by GogoVicMorrow

 

Wow, i hope i never experience it then. The worst ive had is waking up and not recognizing my own room for a few minutes. From what your saying it sounds like pannicking may make it worse, although if your paralysed im not sure what else you would do. Does it happen in conjuction with any other illness or disorder like depresion, or stress or can any one no matter there frame of mind or whatever experience it?

Anyone. You should read the wikipedia page on it, it's really interesting. A lot of countries attribute it to a demon or pressing ghost. There are actually cases of people dying from it. I'm not sure if that's true or how anyone would know, but I imagine it could be possible if A.) you had sleep apnea or B.) you had never had SP before and get it the first time and because maybe age or health (heart) have some sort of complications.

reply to post by KrypticCriminal


I dont know for other ppl, but as for myself, the first time it happened, I really thought I was gonna die

reply to post by GogoVicMorrow


Well my interest has been spiked so i will do. Thanks.

reply to post by GogoVicMorrow


It is also depicated in ancient artwork and the term "Hag" reffers to one of the most common occurences for people of a small creauture like thing sitting on their chest.

It has been said that stress and lack of sleep can attribute but no real known factors are outthere. I have never heard of anyone dying as mentioned above but agree complications could arise indirectly.

reply to post by aboveGoos


So just out of interest, is there anyone here that think its something paranormal. I would love to hear your take on this aswell.

reply to post by KrypticCriminal


Personally, No.

It can be explained scientifically and it most definitely does occur naturally. Nothing paranormal about it as far as I'm concerned.

(That's in regards to sleep paralysis itself I mean as I'm not 100% sure what you as directing your question towards)

reply to post by Hack28


The deaths that have been attributed to sleep paralysis are SUNDS deaths or Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome. I don't personally think SP is dangerous, but maybe someone waking up never having had it before could think they were dying or paralyzed and possibly have a heart attack. I know that's a reach, but people have claimed others have been scared to death so I guess it's not impossible.

en.wikipedia.org...

en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by Rising Against


That does'nt usually stop some people.

After reading about it, it sounds like a lot is known about it but not how to stop it happening. Anyone have any tips or methods they use that may work.

reply to post by KrypticCriminal



I have read lots of people who believe its biblical or paranormal. They point to the worldwide similarity in the experiences and seeing the same creatures.
Before i did more research on it i truely believed i was being visited by something, as i understand it for me personally when im awaken and am in sleep paralysis my brian believes it is still dreaming, so what your dreaming manifests itslef in the room. Since most people as children were scared of their closets the dreams take a nightmare tone. Since the brain can recognize the surrounding room and assosciates it with closest memory (being scared).
This is my own little theory i dont know if its accurate at all, it certainly does not explain why most people see similar creatures/expereinces.

Originally posted by Hack28
reply to post by KrypticCriminal

 

I have read lots of people who believe its biblical or paranormal. They point to the worldwide similarity in the experiences and seeing the same creatures.
Before i did more research on it i truely believed i was being visited by something, as i understand it for me personally when im awaken and am in sleep paralysis my brian believes it is still dreaming, so what your dreaming manifests itslef in the room. Since most people as children were scared of their closets the dreams take a nightmare tone. Since the brain can recognize the surrounding room and assosciates it with closest memory (being scared).
This is my own little theory i dont know if its accurate at all, it certainly does not explain why most people see similar creatures/expereinces.

Yeah, seeing the same creatures throughout the world does strike me as odd. Unless our imagination or dreams are'nt as individual as we think they are.

reply to post by KrypticCriminal


Well, no I personally don't think so, but ask anyone in southeast asia and they will tell you it is haha.
There of course are people that would say succubus and nonsense like that, but really it's natural.

Actually, interestingly enough, people have attempted to use sleep paralysis to debunk alien abductions (and i think it's plausible) because in the majority of recorded cases people sense an "alien/foreign" presence. So people with imaginations may think they were paralyzed by beings that were actually there to abduct them.