Question and my experiences during sleep paralysis

First of all I would like to find out how many members on ATS have experienced an episode of SP at least once in their lives?

I've been having it all my life and it comes along with visuals of beings I'm not able to make out clearly (99% of the time) and voices and noises around me. I had an episode last night and to be honest I'm in no mood to fall asleep tonight, It scared the s*** out of me. I was uneasy and unable to sleep until around 3:15 and suddenly felt extremely tired and fell asleep, A few minutes later I feel the pressure on my chest and I automatically start to panic.

I've had them ever since I was 7 so I know how to wake myself up. I tried my best but could only move my hands and my voice was faint, I could move my head as well and I remember seeings two beings around 4'5-5 foot in height communicating with one another. I heard one ask a question about me and the other replied "I'm asking him, I'm asking him, I'm asking him" Over and over again. It started driving me crazy and after 15 minutes it finally stopped and it was around 3:30am. I stayed awake for another hour or so before I could finally fall asleep.

I've noticed this only happens to me at 3 am, Has any other member noticed anything strange happening to them at this time?. When was the last time you experienced SP? What happened?. I'm not saying this was any more than a dream but it's damn strange and hard to explain.

reply to post by Serizawa


I've experienced SP and also funny lucid dreaming episodes, there's a few threads on my profile somewhere that describe exactly I went through (that statement makes it seem so bad , it wasn't..)

Ultimately, sleep paralysis is normal (albeit rare to most people) and so is Lucid dreaming; read up on the subject and enjoy, no need to be scared...

reply to post by Serizawa

I have these several times a month now thanks to a lucid dreaming induction tech.
My first few ones were scary like yours, but it turns out that this part can be controlled just like how you can control a dream in a lucid dream.
Next time you end up in SP try to think positive instead and be confident in your ability to control it.

reply to post by Death_Kron


I'm not scared it just doesn't feel good to lie down in bed with little or no control over your body.

I've read about it but I want a rough idea as to how many people have it. Thus far 100% of the people I've asked have had it at least once.

You've inspired me to share my sleep paralysis story with you. It's only hapened three times in my life but it always leaves a lasting memory. It starts out as a dream but then i become aware of the room I'm in and i feel something isn't right. I then notice theres a hand crawling up the bed towards me - not a person just a frikkin hand !!

Only had it a few times but it's been different times of the day - twice at 2-3 am and once at about 7am. Haven't had it for years but i do often have lucid dreams so i figure it's connected to some level of awareness intruding into my sleep state.

reply to post by Serizawa


The funny little episodes I've had included pins and needles feeling all over my body and euphoric waves of what I can only describe as sickly pleasure, like I said; it's a strange encounter but nothing to be seriously concerned about.

reply to post by Hopeforeveryone


I never have any dreams before it happens, One minute I'm lying in my bed and the next its happening. It would be nice to see a hand for a change , Tired of seeing these short figures debating on whether they should dissect me or not lol. Glad you shared your experience.

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FYI

reply to post by Death_Kron


Do you think our greatest inner fears are project to us during SP?. I dread aliens, Anything bald with a big head and big eyes that's below 5'1 inches. It always has to be something of the sort during these episodes, It's interesting reading everyones comments.

Sleep Paralysis tends to hit me at least 5 times a month. I too, have suffered from this since the age of 5 and i can clearly remember the first episode like it was yesterday. They used to be really scary since i would hear a very loud noise in my ears that sounded like a phone that was left off the hook and that would make the experience even worse. Most of the time, i didnt really see anything other than the room since my eyes would be open but i couldnt move at all. The most recent episode however, left me in shock

I was at my boyfriends house and i started falling asleep. Usually they tend to occur more often when i lay on my back. So, as i drifted off too sleep i suddenly felt that feeling you get when its about to hit and i opened my eyes and couldnt move at all. I tried to move my hand so my boyfriend could wake up but i simply couldnt. It was then that i noticed a grey skinny hand reaching from the other side of the bed getting closer to me. I had never seen that before at all during any of my episodes and i began to regulate my breathing and telling myself to calm down before finally waking up. After 23 years of suffering from this, i am actually able to bring them on as soon as i lay down. I hate knowing that i can and sometimes just even thinking about them when i got to sleep brings them on.

Im still scared of them but hope that one day i am able to control them and according to some threads ive read the next step is outer body experienced which i have only done twice with the sleep paralysis episodes.

reply to post by Serizawa


To be honest I would have to say no; from my knowledge our dreams are usually a combination of feelings, thoughts, attitudes and encounters experienced on a daily basis then twisted together with personal interpretation and emotion.

Literally, a sporadic combination of our daily thoughts thrown together into one big jumble that could mean nothing, could mean everything and also somewhere in between regardless of the importance.

SP, for all I know, people experience the same things which would lead me to believe it's nothing more than an irregularity that few people see but that doesn't necessarily make it "real"

Although I'm fairly sure that it wouldn't be silly to suggest that one's personal worries couldn't manifest during a sleep paralysis episode, just from what I've read it seems like a fairly generic experience.

reply to post by Serizawa


haha yeah it really freaked me out the first couple of times but the last time i was of the frame of mind "oh it's that hand again, yawn " Haven't had it since. I do relate the image of a hand to seeing a scary movie when i was young where the actor got a hand cut off so i think the image or sounds you experience is related to cultural influences.

I think this is the basis for many of the abduction experiences, people have reported as it does seem so very real at the time and hollywood has put the idea of aliens and abductions out there into the world.

I've suffered from it my entire life. It can be very frightening if you can't grasp what is happening. When I was a teenage I was scared to sleep for fear it would happen again. There have been times in my life where I have had up to 5 episodes a night. I would wake up...try to scream, but nothing would come out except for a soft moan. I felt like I was trapped in my own body. I read somewhere once to focus all of your energy in moving just your pinky rather than your whole body. Once you can move the pinky the rest of the body breaks free... It has always worked for me. I've also noticed that it usually only happens when I sleep on my back and when I am alone... Weird, I know.

reply to post by Death_Kron


Just a blackmetalmist stated earlier, Just thinking about it before falling asleep can cause it to happen. This has to do with some sort of fear I think.

I've only experienced it once. I had heard friends talk about it, and my girlfriend at the time who use to experience it quite often. All and all it was a pretty interesting experience. I was awake but I wasn't awake. I could open my eyes and see the room around me, but it wasn't a room I was familiar with, although at the same time it was my bedroom. I was unable to move. I heard noises although there was nothing visible. There was also a horrifying feeling that my life was in grave danger. The entire time I felt like there was some looming danger I could not escape from. I actually expected to die at times completely frightened of something, but there was nothing there to be frighted of. Like I said all and all it was kind of interesting, and almost thrilling... frightening, but thrilling. I've actually attempted to fall asleep in similar positions, and recreate anything that could have taken part in causing the experience in an attempt to understand it better.

reply to post by blackmetalmist


How strange you see a hand as well, darn i thought that was a unique hallucination i was having I wonder if it's a frequently experienced form of sleep paralysis ?

reply to post by daymarez


On one occasion I had over 30 episodes, It was a few years ago and I didn't sleep for two days after that. As soon as I would close my eyes (2-5 seconds) I would hear a crowd running towards me and screaming but I couldn't see anything. The close they got the stronger the pressure on my chest became, This really freaked me out.

reply to post by vexxev


I never feel like my life is in danger I just feel like I'm not in control. I had a feeling it would happen last night, I can always sense it and somehow I placed a baseball bat by my bed just in case. I have a feeling something may happen tonight as well.

reply to post by Serizawa


Exactly.

So you are essentially creating your own reality, like I said; have nothing to fear and I'm sure you will sleep a lot easier. In my opinion there is more to it, but at a basic level it's tricks of the human mind...

Try counting down from 1000 when your in bed, or doing the same but imagining your climbing down the steps of a mountain....

It works, try it.

I was been a sufferer all my life until I learned how to prevent it. I have also always been a natural lucid dreamer. I wonder if there is a connection. If you want to end your SP, a quick and easy cure is to just sleep on your stomach. Most SP sufferers are side or back sleepers. The majority of episodes happen when you are sleeping on your back. As far as 3 am goes, I have never noticed a connection. However as an insomniac 3 am is usually the time I am falling asleep, and most of my episodes were not long after I fell asleep.