Sleep paralysis

[Ancalion]

Hey. I found out a couple of months ago that i suffer from a condition called sleep paralysis. Dunno if it's psychological or neurological, but nonetheless it had some major impact on my psyche. Here's the definition:

What is sleep paralysis?
Sleep paralysis consists of a period of inability to perform voluntary movements either at sleep onset (called hypnogogic or predormital form) or upon awakening (called hypnopompic or postdormtal form).
Sleep paralysis may also be referred to as isolated sleep paralysis, familial sleep paralysis, hynogogic or hypnopompic paralysis, predormital or postdormital paralysis
What are the symptoms?

• A complaint of inability to move the trunk or limbs at sleep onset or upon awakening
• Presence of brief episodes of partial or complete skeletal muscle paralysis
• Episodes can be associated with hypnagogic hallucinations or dream-like mentation (act or use of the brain)

Polysomnography (a sleep recording) shows at least one of the following:

• suppression of skeletal muscle tone
• a sleep onset REM period
• dissociated REM sleep

Is it harmful?
Sleep paralysis is most often associated with narcolepsy, a neurological condition in which the person has uncontrollable naps. However, there are many people who experience sleep paralysis without having signs of narcolepsy. Sometimes it runs in families. There is no known explanation why some people experience this paralysis. It is not harmful, although most people report feeling very afraid because they do not know what is happening, and within minutes they gradually or abruptly are able to move again; the episode is often terminated by a sound or a touch on the body.
In some cases, when hypnogogic hallucinations are present, people feel that someone is in the room with them, some experience the feeling that someone or something is sitting on their chest and they feel impending death and suffocation. That has been called the “Hag Phenomena” and has been happening to people over the centuries. These things cause people much anxiety and terror, but there is no physical harm.


For me is really really frightening because i have these hallucinations with monsters and i always feel like someone is in my room (i sleep alone for the last 9 years). And i get this feeling of evil. Dunno how to explain. Is anyone else suffering from this? If so, how do you cope? Btw i hate hospitals and doctors, and that's why i haven't visited one. Plus i dunno how to say this to my mother. She's more the type "if it's broken, throw it in the dumpster". Hope i didn't bother anyone to death.

 

[Jesin]

I've read about this. I thought it was more an event than a condition. Well, grammatically, at least. People who get it once are likely to get it again.

 

[Fukyo]

I've read about this recently,it happened to me once and it freaked the shit out of me.I was taking an afternoon nap,and suddenly I woke up but couldn't move at all,I could see only in front of me and I had a felling like someone was standing above me and I heard voices and people walking.It stopped soon and I've never experienced it again.I told my mother about this and she told me she had the same problem when she was young for a long time and then it stopped by itself.It seems to be a family thing for us,because recently my sister told me it happened to her,and her hallucination was pretty bad,she told me she was practically scared to death,and couldn't sleep at all that night.

 

[Dissident]

Hey. I found out a couple of months ago that i suffer from a condition called sleep paralysis. Dunno if it's psychological or neurological, but nonetheless it had some major impact on my psyche. Here's the definition:
[...]
For me is really really frightening because i have these hallucinations with monsters and i always feel like someone is in my room (i sleep alone for the last 9 years). And i get this feeling of evil. Dunno how to explain. Is anyone else suffering from this? If so, how do you cope? Btw i hate hospitals and doctors, and that's why i haven't visited one. Plus i dunno how to say this to my mother. She's more the type "if it's broken, throw it in the dumpster". Hope i didn't bother anyone to death.

Yes, I had that, I think I mentioned it a coupple of times. For me it only happened after becoming lucid while dreaming, then the dream ended, I became fully (or amost fully) conscius but my body would stay asleep. It is very unpleasant, I felt suffocated. Dont worry tho, spleep paralysis happens every night, you just dont realize it because you are asleep, its like your brain gets "uplugged" from your body and signals dont get to the muscles to move, without it you would be doing all kinds of funny movements while dreaming. My suggestion: Try to calm down, remember that nothing is really wrong and try to get your mind to sleep again, then you will wake up normally later. I almost dont have those anymore, it will probably go away eventually.

Whats interesting is that I had the hypnopompic hallucinations too but not while paralyzed, and even though the latter stopped the hallucinations remained (luckily mines are not usually frightening and dont happen that often). I can imagine having both things at the same time must be really awful.

For what Ive read the hallucinations happen because the same mechanisms that act while dreaming keep working after you woke up, basically you are dreaming awake. I beat those with curiosity, they are quite fascinating.

Anyway, I hope that helps.

 

[Ancalion]

The hallucinations have something to do with REM (rapid eye movements) state.

 

[Dissident]

Elaborate?

 

[Ancalion]

When you are dreaming the subconscious is active. In the subconscious are store all your memories and, more importantly, all your primal fears. When sleep paralysis occurs, you are still in the dream, is like a continuation, way more vivid. My most frightening hallucinations were an embodiment of my primal fears. Once i saw a monster with one glowing eye, that was trying to say something to me. After a few minutes it was over, and the monster was nothing but a bit of light and my furniture. Another one was, like i said, a continuation of a dream. I was in a village (i think) at a party and i was in a jacuzzi (don't laugh now ) with a girl. Suddenly she bit my neck and then ate (literally) my face. After that it was over, i had my eyes open already and my hand were wrapped around an imaginary head.
So in my opinion, my sleep paralysis kicks in the stages of the sleep when i go in deep sleep. It's like light sleep -> deep sleep -> light sleep and then waking up.

 

[Dissident]

Maybe, I actually didnt bother trying to find a pattern or anything, but it happens sometime in the middle of the night (I think it never happened in the morning).
How long do your hallucinations last? (fuck, we sound like a couple of schizophrenics ) I think mine dont go further than 5-10 seconds, as for paralysis its hard to say, sometimes I managed to snap out of it and wake up, sometimes I fell asleep again, I guess around 5-10 minutes.
One detail I missed till now: I couldnt have both things at the same time since I couldnt even open my eyes while paralyzed. Are you able to open your eyes but not move while you see the weird stuff or do you see stuff after the paralysis?

 

[Ancalion]

Hehe schizophrenics. Well my hallucinations happen when i am paralyzed. And my eyes are wide open, i can move them. And they last till i snap out (not going back to sleep for hours) meaning a couple of minutes, but for me is like an eternity. It's like this: i'm dreaming something nice or not at all, then all of the sudden my eyes are open, i can't move and i see or feel all sort of things. And the "best" part is that my whole psyche is engulfed in sheer terror. Not terror like you when you are, for example, startled by a dog or person or watching a horror movie. It's the purest terror, i find myself shaken after it and can't go to sleep after that.

 

[Devercia]

I've heard that this is a malfunction of a system that is ment to prevent you from acting out your dreams. Personally, I tend to be on the cusp of the other extreme. I've slammed my legs into my foot board, and when relieving myself on a tree, did so in my bed. I've actually noticed this while awake, I will unconsciously act out imaginary situations with facial expressions or gestures. The extreme of my situation would be sleepwlaking I suppose, but lickily I've never known myself to experience it. Doubtful I do, I sleep nude and live with my family and have not been spoken to.

My sister supposedly rode her bicycle while sleeping among other things.

I've also experienced wakeing hillucentations. The worst being my own voice chanting in my ear. I was asleep when it happened but awoke immediatly and still thought it had been real for a good minute or two. I could even place it in the room.

 

[echoplex]

I experienced this quite a bit when I was younger, but after changing the way I slept, it rarely happened again.

I'd suggest not sleeping on you back but on your side instead.

 

[Minuend]

Yes, I had that, I think I mentioned it a coupple of times. For me it only happened after becoming lucid while dreaming, then the dream ended, I became fully (or amost fully) conscius but my body would stay asleep.

Do you mean you never experienced sleep paralysis until you started lucid dreaming?

I'm considering trying lucid dreaming, I'm reading a book about it. I've also read that one might experience sleep paralysis because of it. But I think that's rare if you've never experienced it before (?). I've never been sleep paralyzed, but it doesn't sound too appealing. It would suck if I started experience sleep paralysis regularly, even when I wasn't lucid.

Even knowing that, I'll still give lucid dreaming a try.

 

[Perseus]

If you get attached to a mare (ESFJ) expect nightmares when it all goes awry.

 

[Dissident]

Do you mean you never experienced sleep paralysis until you started lucid dreaming?

Yes. There are good chances you will experience it if you try to induce lucid dreams but I dont think it would become something regular. To have a lucid dream you have to be in a state of equilibrium with your "body" asleep and your mind only half way conscius, if you become totally conscius you will probably feel the paralysis, if you slip too much into the dream you may lose consciusness and it would turn into a regular dream. So I think it would probably only happen the first times until you get the hang of it.

In my case it happened when I was basically a kid, I didnt know what the hell was happening and I got very scared, if it happened now that I know what it is and that there is no danger Im sure it wouldnt be so bad. I will eventually try having lucid dreams again since I couldnt explore its possibilities back then, I think its worth it. Try and report back

 

[Minuend]

I will. I guess it'll take some time before I'm successful, though.

 

[abandonship]

i used to get sleeping paralysis a lot, still do but it's rare.
they were mainly because of my screwed up and irregular sleeping schedule. i noticed they happened more when i was sleeping very little in the night and taking a couple of naps during the day (also have DSPS which might affect). most of my paralysis happen during naps.

i only get sleep paralysis when i'm falling asleep and my sense of time is completely distorted. so what must be a couple of minutes feel as if i am hours without being able to move and trying desperately to fall asleep.

the first couple of times it freaked me out, not being able to move, feeling pressure in my chest and the rest of my body as if being pushed into the mattress, all without knowing what the fuck was happening to me was quite disturbing. specially one time when i felt as if i couldn't breathe for hours! it was such a relief when i finally found out what it really was (i thought it might be the opposite of a false awakening and i was dreaming of trying to fall asleep).


after finding out it wasn't frightening any more and i actually enjoy it now. i like experiencing the natural altered state of mind and use it as an opportunity to try and induce lucid dreaming (http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Lucid_Dreaming:_Induction_Techniques#WILD).

but then, my paralysis are not as bad as yours. i never felt any evil presences, once i felt/saw some shadows and have had some hallucinations but they were never menacing. i only felt scared because i didn't understand it.
sadly there is not much a doctor visit will do to help, there is not really a "cure" except healthy sleeping habits (google it and you'll get a lot of advice) and there is nothing to worry medically speaking.

you could try some methods for fully awakening your body like concentrating on one fingers and try moving it (toes are what work for me). if you successfully awake your body don't try going back to sleep! you'll probably be stuck again in paralysis.
if nothing works you might find more methods in sleeping disorder boards.

 

[mjgjr706]

Okay guys this is something I am very familiar with as I have experienced it several times in my life... I think there are different types of sleep paralysis, I am sure that some of these experiences occur in REM sleep and is nothing more than an odd short circut of the brain occuring in the process of sleeping... Mine were not that, I am aware that almost everyone reading this is going to be INTP and therefor critical and probably laugh at the possibality of anything existing outside their "vast" pool of knowlege and reasoning ability... So before I get a million responses on this saying I am an idiot just stop and realize that I dont give a crap and the fact that you dont allow in your logic for anything to exist outside of what you think you know exposes massive weaknesses in your system of thinking.

I address this to the one who posted this thread... My question is do you believe what you have experienced has anything to do with REM sleep? As I have read these different posts the purest form of fear accompanied with these leads me to believe that it could be what has occured to me. The fear is not because you cant move ! The fear is thick and heavy and even there after you wake isnt it? It probaby leaves cold chills all over your body and makes you wish you could crawl under the covers and hide. Like I have said there are several different manifestations of this and therefor
it is difficult to give a huge list of what happens but the fear thing stood out in a big way in my mind.

My next question is are you a Christian? If so then I would pray and ask God to lead me to a church where there is a deliverance ministry. This is a subject that is vast and deep so if you want any info you can email me at www.mjgjr706@yahoo.com or look up Incubus and Succubus... If you are not a Christian I would highly recommend it because Jesus is the only one who can deal with this...

 

[Kiss the Culprit]

Does anyone else hear things when they get an episode? When I first started having them, I would either see things or have an out of body experience. I still roll out of my body sometimes while struggling to move, but mostly I hear this weird clicking/moaning/growling voice always in my left ear. It sounds vaguely human, vaguely animal... and always intermittent. Also intermittent is this weird rush like a very strong wind that goes all the way through my body and shakes me.

 

[TimeAsylums]

I originally thought what I was experiencing were lucid dreams, but it was sleep paralysis. I suffer from this so frequently.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis

Spoiler

he two major classifications of sleep paralysis are isolated sleep paralysis (ISP) and recurrent isolated sleep paralysis (RISP). Of these two types, ISP is much more common than RISP.[2] ISP episodes are infrequent and of short duration, approximately one minute. Sleep paralysis might even only occur once in an individual's lifetime.[2] As the name suggests, recurrent isolated sleep paralysis is a chronic condition. The individual suffers from frequent episodes throughout their lifetime.[2] One of the major differences between ISP and RISP is duration. RISP episodes can last for up to an hour or longer, and have a much higher occurrence of perceived out of body experiences—while ISP episodes are generally short (usually no longer than one minute) and are typically associated with the intruder and incubus hallucinations. ISP episodes can, however, persist for up to half an hour.[2] With RISP the individual can also suffer back to back episodes of sleep paralysis in the same night while this is unlikely in individuals who suffer from ISP.[2]
It can be difficult to differentiate between cataplexy brought on by narcolepsy and true sleep paralysis, because the two phenomena are physically indistinguishable.[2] The best way to differentiate between the two is to note when the attacks occur most often. Narcolepsy attacks are more common when the individual is falling asleep; ISP and RISP attacks are more common on awakening.[3]

^Chronic condition is right. I rarely get a perfect nights sleep, that is without suffering from one of these, but when I do, my day is perf.

Prevention: While many factors can increase risk for ISP or RISP, they can be avoided with minor lifestyle changes.[5] By maintaining a regular sleep schedule and...

Oh, nope. Can't do.

Anyway, it's really interesting to me, I can feel myself still thinking and dreaming but I know I'm "half awake." Most of the time I'm physically aware of my body and surroundings, I can't move or open my eyes, but I can think and my five senses (excluding eyesight) are still some-what active.

 

[crippli]

I had them regularly. First time it was very unpleasant, and it felt like a long time. I learned to recognize what it was through educating myself. So I started to not become scared. Surrender to the fear/destiny. Accept what was to come. Instead of the regular waking up, hostile presence in the room, and not able to move. And then very slowly be able to move fingers etc again, one little movement at a time. First time was very very bad. These days I'm more hallucinating/sleeping. Not as awake, so more like a dream. Don't get scared as I quite quickly realize I am hallucinating. So my mind slips into a dream like state, with a more interesting scenario then the cold reality with a hostile presence in the room lurking at the edge of your periphery. I will still be paralyzed. A few years ago, I even relaxed so much that the presence came all the way up and touched me on my back. And maybe it's really there, don't know. But hasn't hurt me so far. That was the last time I was visited, and haven't seen it since, at least not in that form. I suspect it's my mind playing tricks on me, but who knows?

It is the complete helplessness that creates the fear. Even when you try to scream, the mouth doesn't work except some tiny squeaks, if it's been going on long enough so the body start to wake up. Even the more you struggle, the less the body will respond. Relaxing was always the key, but took me a while to figure out.

It sounds easy to surrender. But one experiences this as real. It would be similar to the victims of Dexter(don't like this series), on the table. Except all innocent. It doesn't come natural to just give up. But then and there it is no doubt, that ones life will end. With no warning, that one had it coming, for whatever reason. Nothing like that, that can make surrender to certain death more smooth. I believe it is possible to enter a panic state and die, organs shut down, if the fear comes out of control during the paralyses.

 

[GodOfOrder]

Yes, I used to get them every once and a while. They carried an awful feeling of dread and malevolence with them, indeed it was almost a demonic level of such. They could last for a long time, but whether that was in reality or in my mind I do not know. You try to move, but you can't, and all the while it feels like something is daring you to. The first few times it happened I nearly cried. Fortunately, this was a part of my younger days, and hasn't happened for a few years.

 

[Duxwing]

Oh! So that's why I had those dreams wherein my legs felt like lead and my mouth couldn't scream. Fascinating. I've had true sleep paralysis once during a night of five dreams--some epic, some false awakenings--and little sleep. I saw, plain as day, two little girl ghosts coming toward me, and then I woke up for real.

-Duxwing

 

[GodOfOrder]

I think it is an adolescent thing. That, or it's stress induced.

 

[TimeAsylums]

According to wiki yeah it's partly stress, irregular sleep patterns, sleeping the wrong way, not getting enough sleep, sleep apnea, narcolpesy, disrupted REM sleep, etc.


I may have been scared the first few times I had it, but I've now had it too many times to even count, I can easily figure it out. Always in my "half awake" state, half of my mind seems to be dreaming, and the other half focused on my body/current thoughts. This is the best time for me to remember a dream because I can remember it in entirety. However, if this is interrupted, just like REM sleep, I will become extremely irritated - if it's allowed to finished its course, I remember the dream and feel so refreshed. So ig it becomes easy to deal with - allows me to capture most of my dreams for my dream diary anyway. Weird part is that, I'm like, "Oh, I'm awake! Why don't I get out of bed? ...I can't move" but I'm thinking this while still dreaming - but it's not a lucid dream because I don't control any aspect of it...Like watching a day dream but you're immobile.

 

[aphelion]

I have episodes of sleep paralysis regularly (about twice a week). I've found I can generally induce the state by abstaining from sleep and then beginning to fall asleep fully clothed. Something about the sensation of being clothed this keeps my conscious mind alert as my brain enters a REM state. I induce to observe and analyze the phenomenon.

The involuntary episodes, while they vary in severity, are not nearly as frightening as they used to be because I know what I am dealing with. My hypnogogic hallucinations (if they occur- many times it's just inability to move or speak) are both visual and auditory. There is sometimes a feeling of a presence of malevolence. On average, the hypnopompic episodes are scarier. Sometimes, there is speaking in a language unknown to me. Many times, my eyes are open, and I see the room with random things "wrong" like a chair knocked over, or someone walking in and staring at me. On one occassion, I had an episode that could be called precognizant (upon waking, a specific, detailed part of the hallucination happened while I was fully awake - a sentence from a book that was delivered later that evening, verbatim.). Draw your own conclusions on that.

My (unqualified) advice is to go limp and experience. It's easier, and there's never been any harm for me personally. Alternatively, if you're a fighter, it's possible to force yourself awake with sustained, calm effort. Be warned that there's something of a "hangover" if you do this. Brain fog.

 

[Pyropyro]

A few days ago, I was unable to sleep because of a caffeine overload so I was quite stressed at work and was sound asleep as soon as I entered our house.

Anyways, during the middle of the night I found myself half-awake and unable to turn to my right (I sleep on my side). I felt there was a male presence that was blocking my body from turning. It wasn't hostile, it was just blocking my movement by lying next to me. I finally managed to turn to my right side and felt that the presence disappeared.

The next day, I shared it with my roommate and quipped that I should've experienced an encounter with a succubi instead which might have been more fun. Of course, I explained that the stress at work at lack of sleep might have been the trigger of the sleep paralysis.

He said. "Dude maybe that body lying next to you was mine."

I'm like, "I think I'm now comfortable with my incubus theory now."

 

[QuickTwist]

...

 

[computerhxr]

Suffering from sleep paralysis? Don't fight it, just let it happen and it's an awesome experience.

When I start to feel it coming on, I'm like... Fuck Yeah! Wooo!

You can trigger them with practice. I haven't had an "episode" in weeks.

In my experience the hallucinations are reflective of your mood. If you struggle and have a lot of stress, then you have demons crawling on you. If you go with it, and you're feeling good, then you see angelic figures.

You can hear voices or feel rubbing between your shoulders. Sometimes your eyes are open, and sometimes they are closed. You can wake up several times into different levels of paralysis.

It goes by several names but it's essentially the same thing. OOBE, Sleep Paralysis, Astral Projection, Etc... It's totally safe and it's a form of meditation.

It's bad-add Jedi shit!



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astral_projection

 

[QuickTwist]

I can't believe this is a thing. Its like people know or something. I don't get it.

 

[Fat Bread]

Has anyone experienced sleep paralysis without any sort of hallucination or sensations that there is a presence in the room?

It's only happened to me twice - both times in college and probably within a week or two of each other. I was used to staying up and waking up late, but I had to go to this (what I considered at the time) absurdly early class, so I would wake up after maybe two hours of sleep, down a ton of caffeine, suffer through the class, then crash for an epic nap. I'm pretty sure the caffeine and severe sleep deprivation were the triggers, as I had never experienced this before nor have I since.

The first time I made it home before falling asleep, and when I woke up, I felt my chest tightening with such force that it was actually rising up into the air, or at least felt like it was. This was accompanied by a disturbingly rapid pulsing sensation in my chest, which I thought was my heart beat. This coupled with an apparent inability to breathe made me think I was having a heart attack, so I tried to cry out to my roommates for help. I realized I was completely unable to speak at all, let alone yell, so I tried to bang on the wall to get attention, but I could not make my arms do anything more than twitch slightly. When I finally woke up, I realized that my heart beat was actually very slow - the pulsing I felt was just spasms generated by all the muscle tension, I guess - and that I had been breathing normally the whole time based on the fact that I wasn't gasping for breath.

The second time I just passed out in the lecture hall lounge immediately after class. Basically the same thing happened again, except I recognized what was going on this time and kept the anxiety under control.

There were no hallucinations or phantom presences during either episode. I just saw the room I was in exactly as it was, and though I felt like I couldn't breathe as is often the case with sleep paralysis, I didn't feel like anyone was sitting on my chest or strangling me. In fact, it was the feeling of being completely alone and cut off from any potential source of assistance that made it so terrifying.

 

[Yellow]

I have had a number of sleep issues, including night terrors and sleep paralysis, throughout the years. I'm happy to report that I am finally "growing out" of my sleep paralysis. It's fucking awful. However, it was a relief when I learned that it was an actual disorder and not my own insanity. It doesn't help in the moment, but it helps speed up the recovery when you do fully come to your senses.

Either way, I can absolutely see how more primitive times called these episodes "incubus attacks".

 

[rainman312]

Has anyone experienced sleep paralysis without any sort of hallucination or sensations that there is a presence in the room?

Although it wasn't without hallucinations, I have experience sleep paralysis without any sense of fear or terror. Many times when I enter sleep paralysis (usually for lucid dreaming, not as a medical condition), I hallucinate some very mild, non-threatening thing, such as my cats jumping on my bed and walking on me.

 

[J-man]

This used to happen to me a lot. It was terrifying but I got used to it over time.

It mostly happens when I don't masturbate for extended periods of time (10+ days).

I opened my eyes and hallucinated at least once. I saw demons on my curtains at like noon, when the sun was really bright.

 

[SpaceYeti]

I had sleep paralysis once ever. I couldn't move, couldn't breath normally, and there was a presence, above me, making it hard to breath. However, at the time, I was just "Meh, I guess this is happening, now." After I woke-up I realized I should have been panicked, but... eh. I think I have a problem with feeling fear. That is, I've never felt fear at actual threats, only blatantly imaginary ones.

That's not courage, that's likely an actual problem.