Sleep Paralysis

So. This is kind of a Speakeasy/Rubik's Cube type of thread, but I'd prefer it to be more intelligent.

Sleep Paralysis, in it's simplest definition, is where a person regains consciousness before the chemicals in the brain tell the body to 'wake up'. A person is usually conscious, but has no control over movement of the body. The only things (usually) that are moving are their lungs and their eyelids, but you will have no control over.

Usually when people experience sleep paralysis, they usually feel an evil presence in the room. Some will hear voices, some will feel the pressure of demons sitting on them, and others will actually hallucinate shadows in their rooms. Sleep paralysis is also linked to most cases of alien abductions and encounters.

It typically occurs in a persons lifetime once or twice. It is related to narcolepsy. If it does frequently occur, it occurs more frequently in adolescents than in adults. It can last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes to a few hours.

How many of you have experienced this sensation?

I actually experience it quite frequently, and in the recent week or so, I have actually perfected the way to provoke it and have it happen to me 100% every night. It involves taking a caffeinated drink before bed, listening to music for a few minutes after getting into bed, and attempted to fall asleep on my back (supine position). Thankfully, throughout my life I have never actually felt the presence -or seen - any demons or other-worldly creatures. Usually what accompanies this is just voices, shouting my name. My sleep paralysis only lasts for at most one minute.

The interesting thing about this when it occurs to me, is that after it occurs I can remember the exact moment where I fall back asleep again, and I can describe what it feels like. I actually like the sensation of sleep paralysis, the exact moment of falling asleep is truly amazing; it's a (somewhat) natural high.

So how many of you have experienced sleep paralysis in your lives, and if so, how many times? Does it occur frequently? Do you see other worldly creatures or perceive unexplained phenomenon while in this state? If you experience it frequently, do you have other sleep disorders such as narcolepsy or insomnia, or are you sleep deprived and stressed?

I'm just dying to know.

...the hell...? o.O; Learn something new every day xD And my parents think this is no way to socialize >_> (they're probably right, but my tea parties aren't their tea parties)

The closest I've ever felt to any of this was being unable to move my arm because I slept on it. It's like swinging around a soft club for about 30 seconds.

I only remember experiencing sleep paralysis once, but when I did it was pretty freaky since I was sleeping on the couch that my grandpa died on.

I don't remember what I was dreaming or even if I was dreaming, but when I woke up I remember feeling like there was a weight on my chest keeping me from moving. My grandpa was a wonderful awesome person, so I didn't think it was his spirit haunting me, but I was really freaked out regardless. It lasted maybe a minute, maybe less.

That's pretty nifty that you've found a way to have it happen consistently, but I personally hope it never happens to me again. I don't enjoy the feeling of being helpless and having difficulty breathing.

If it is what I think it is, I occasionally experienced this near wake-up. It's as though my brain automatically registers and processes information in the surroundings without my consent.

Scenario: There are people talking in the room.
- If I'm awake and concentrating on something, or even when I'm not thinking of anything in particular, I won't be hearing them at all.
- During that period, my brain actually follows the conversation whether or not it is to my liking. Later when I'm wide awake I can recall the exact words I heard, despite the fact that I wasn't thinking at all during the conversation, and, judging subjectively, I considered myself when in that state still asleep.

Other times included this time a mouse was making subtle noises as it made its way into my room (I stayed in a wooden room back then). I could hear its movement, I could feel its presense, and I KNEW there was something there, but I didn't wake up, nor did I want to, nor did I even have the idea to wake up. Suddenly I was like "pineapple this" and sat right up and the mouse ran away in surprise.

The closest I've ever felt to any of this was being unable to move my arm because I slept on it. It's like swinging around a soft club for about 30 seconds.

LOL I've done that a few times. And yeah, that's exactly how it feels to me too.

It's so hard not to do though, where on earth do your arms go when you sleep? I tend to rest my head on one of my arms

The voices/demon thing is probably your mind attempting to explain why you cannot move, or could be remnants of your dreamstate invading your waking mind. Anyways, I've managed to have this happen once or twice, but more common for me is the waking up to a falling feeling.

It sounds like what Chinese people traditionally refer to as "ghost holding you down". I never had experienced that, but I do see things occassionally, and have personally experienced unexplicable phenomenons. I feel presences of people/spirits, thus I always sit in the back of the room where there's no one behind me or else I feel agitated. Sometimes I catch a whiff of perfumes or sweet scent in my room that I know I don't own. The latest weird thing is sometimes when I listen to music/audiobook in the middle of the night, I feel like I can hear someone else other than the voice(s) coming from my MP3 player talking, sometimes even more than one voice, but I could not hear what they say no matter how hard I concentrate. Meh, hearing voices, I must be insane. XD

For a more serious and to the topic note, the waking up to falling sensations part I experience quite a lot too, usually happens when I fall asleep while feeling agitated. Like the night before an exam etc.

If it is what I think it is, I occasionally experienced this near wake-up. It's as though my brain automatically registers and processes information in the surroundings without my concent.

Scenario: There are people talking in the room.
- If I'm awake and concentrating on something, or even when I'm not thinking of anything in particular, I won't be hearing them at all.
- During that period, my brain actually follows the conversation whether or not it is to my liking. Later when I'm wide awake I can recall the exact words I heard, despite the fact that I wasn't thinking at all during the conversation, and, judging subjectively, I considered myself when in that state still asleep.

I get that sometimes too, but more often when I was sleeping somewhere other than my house. I remember exactly what sounds I heard from the second I feel like I am unconscious to the second I open my eyes and wakeup.

Lastly for the TS's sake, I experience insomnia sometimes. I can't fall asleep before a certain time.

It sounds like what Chinese people traditionally refer to as "ghost holding you down". I never had experienced that, but I do see things occassionally, and have personally experienced inexplicable phenomenons. I feel presences of people/spirits, thus I always sit in the back of the room where there's no one behind me or else I feel agitated. Sometimes I catch a whiff of perfumes or sweet scene in my room that I know I don't own. The latest weird thing is sometimes when I listen to music/audiobook in the middle of the night, I feel like I can hear someone else other than the voice(s) coming from my MP3 player talking, sometimes even more than one voice, but I could not hear what they say no matter how hard I concentrate. Meh, hearing voices, I must be insane. XD

You've experienced quite a few fascinating moments.
The only paranormal event I've encountered, not even directly, was when my grandmother died. My mom was assertive that she "visited" her in her dream, and my aunt also said so the next day, they both saw the grandmother wearing the clothes they put on her after she passed away.

As for my sleeping conditions, I think I sleep quite normally and regularly. Except for recently when I would take a long nap from 4 or 6pm to 8 or 9pm, then stay up until 2 or 3 in the morning. Generally, I sleep when I feel tired and have had little to no difficulty.

I also know the feeling of "falling" asleep, which make me wonder if they used the word "fall" unintentionally or it was implied. Yes, as a matter of fact the feeling that tells me for sure I'm about to drift asleep is quite like "falling" or "sinking", or more like my surroundings are floating up. There were times I couldn't sleep immediately when I decided to, of course, I would lay there for 10 minutes, half and hour, maybe an hour and whenever that feeling came I would know for sure that would be the moment to kiss my pillow goodnight. (see:gf's placeholder).

The latest weird thing is sometimes when I listen to music/audiobook in the middle of the night, I feel like I can hear someone else other than the voice(s) coming from my MP3 player talking, sometimes even more than one voice, but I could not hear what they say no matter how hard I concentrate. Meh, hearing voices, I must be insane. XD

I used to have a window unit air conditioner in my room, so for years I slept with white noise. After we got central air and didn't need the window units any more, I lost that source of white noise, so instead I would usually turn on the radio when I fell asleep. Oddly enough, the characters in my dreams would usually start speaking the lines coming from the radio when I was about to wake up. It wasn't just "Hearing" the radio. It was the voice of the person in my dream, saying the words of the radio DJ/musician/etc. Unfortunately morning DJs are all retarded and my dreams are usually epic so it's a rather anticlimactic ending. I don't sleep with the radio on any more and I haven't had that happen since.

I get that sometimes too, but more often when I was sleeping somewhere other than my house. I remember exactly what sounds I heard from the second I feel like I am unconscious to the second I open my eyes and wakeup.

For me this is usually a specific kind of sleep. It doesn't happen very often, but I feel as though I'm resting, yet still completely aware of my surroundings and even thinking normally. It's no different than regularly sleeping as far as restfulness after waking is concerned, but it generally isn't pleasant just due to the overwhelming boredom of being conscious for the whole sleep cycle. Even stranger, I tend to overhear other people's conversations while in this state and attempt to reply, but I can't actually say anything. It may in fact be some sort of sleep paralysis; I rarely try to move while in this state, but when I do it's never successful. On the other hand I don't feel like I'm being oppressed or otherwise restrained. It's more like Kaj said, that all of my limbs are in that numb state and I simply can't force them to move. I imagine that if I tried long enough eventually I would be able to move. Maybe I'll test that theory next time.

Now if you want to get into sleepwalking... I'm the king of that.

I also know the feeling of "falling" asleep, which make me wonder if they used the word "fall" unintentionally or it was implied. Yes, as a matter of fact the feeling that tells me for sure I'm about to drift asleep is quite like "falling" or "sinking", or more like my surroundings are floating up.

Many times when I'm partially asleep I'll suddenly be startled and feel as though I've just impacted the bed. Sometimes this leads to me actually rolling out lol.

I don't think I've ever had sleep paralysis, but I've had something similiar, and it happened alot while I was 14.
So, basically this happens when I went back asleep after I'm fully awake (say i woke up at 5am in the morning, but no1 else was awake so I decided to sleep again)
After falling asleep again, the next time I wake up, I realized I can't move, so I just looked around the room (I had full control of my eyes) I realized that some things are misplaced, (e.g a pencil that I saw earlier on the floor was gone or something hanging on the wall was hanging slightly too high or too low than what it's suppose to be) so then I realized it's just a dream, so I try my best to wake up by opening my eyes, when I try that, everything turns gray, as though if your watching a broken TV. Then after serveral attempts, I finally think I wake up, like everything was back to normal, then I realized I'm still dreaming when I realized something are still not right. This continues for something that felt like hours, but actually it's jut minutes (cause I checked the time before and after this).
Later on, I managed to manipulate these dreams, e.g I can start moving, and later even walking but I'm afriad to walk too much cause I'm afraid that I'm sleep walking.

i used to get it a lot when i was younger. i haven't experienced it lately though. it came with all the usual stuff, not being able to move, talk, etc. and i'd always see this same shadow figure next to my bed. i used to sleep on a couch downstairs a lot when i was younger. it seemed to happen more often down there for some reason. we added an upstairs and stuff to our house several years ago and i finally got my own room again. it's only happened a few times up here. there has always been a little light coming in from the streelights/moon/etc. but the dark figure was always just pure darkness. it used to scare me so much that i'd go sleep elsewhere or not go back to sleep. it's kind of interesting the more i think about it now that i'm older though.

edit: it also came after a dream dealing with woods/some building (like a school or something?) but i really don't remember those dreams all that well.

"Usually when people experience sleep paralysis, they usually feel an evil presence in the room. Some will hear voices, some will feel the pressure of demons sitting on them, and others will actually hallucinate shadows in their rooms. Sleep paralysis is also linked to most cases of alien abductions and encounters."




Ah good grief I have experienced all of these. It happens to me maybe once every few months. However, it also seems to occur more often the earlier I try to sleep. I haven't sleep earlier than midnight in quite a while now for that reason. The weird thing is I always thought my room is haunted, such as I don't feel comfortable sleeping unless my closet doors are closed. It's more comforting to know that it's just Sleep Paralysis. It's seriously a problem for me, because it's seriously the only thing that comes close to scaring me. Once I hallucinated a strange robed shadow by my open door that resembled Death minus his scythe. Most of the time though, it's usually a chain reaction where I feel an evil presence in my room that coincided with something in my dream and I then wake up, unable to move or even shout. I go back to sleep and shake off that feeling.

Well. Last night was the 5th night in a row of sleep paralysis. One thing I've noticed from all the times; it usually happens after an emotional dream. Whether it be scary (most of the time) or not.

I can describe the sensation of falling into sleep, but I think of it as more of a 'sinking' into sleep....Here's something you can do to give you that same sensation:

1) Lay flat on your back on the floor
2) Put your arms straight up, close your eyes, and count to 30
3) SLOWLY start to put your arms down

Eventually, your arms will feel like they are passing through the floor. Just put that sensation that your arms experienced into the brain. It's like your brain is passing through your skull, in that sense.

Actual sleep paralysis for me is just like when any limb falls asleep (i.e., leg falling asleep after sitting on it a weird way for too long), except I'm unable to move any part of my body; I'm tingly all over until I wake up. I can't flop mindlessly around without feeling anything like you can with an arm or leg that has fallen asleep.

Except something that I've also noticed in the past few days from this sleep deprivation; I get up in the middle of the night and do things. I vaguely remember a few nights ago frantically searching my room, looking for something, but unsure of what it was, then disappointed, I would go back to bed. Last night I remember this a little more clearly; except I thought I was at work. I would grab something from one side of the room, then take it to the other side, much like I do when I get a basketball that a customer wanted to rent.

Sleep is VERY interesting. I'm going to talk to my psychology teacher after school some more about my recent findings. :3 I'm really interested in finding a sleep lab, too, just for the experience. I'm also sure that my self-induced sleep paralysis can help research in one way or another.

I skimmed the thread in about 30 seconds, so bear with me when I say this, but it all sounds unhealthy. "Natural highs" and screwing with your body to get some desirable albeit unnatural effect sounds extremely damaging in some way shape or form. I wouldn't continue doing this, simply because you don't know the consequences of your actions.

 Spoiler

And we don't want you to die Kevin ! So don't be stupid ! And that goes for the rest of you!

How can one trigger this...? ;[

How can one trigger this...? ;[

I've found that the best way to trigger it is caffeine before bed. A Dr. Pepper usually does it for me.

Taking frequent naps (I take naps EVERY day from 3:30-4:00, have for almost 4 years) causes it (from what I've read) to occur more frequently. Me missing a nap (which is very rare) doesn't usually allow sleep paralysis to occur.

Also, sleep deprivation is a huge factor. I'm calling it quits for a little bit to catch up on sleep. Falling asleep during an English Test today is no bueno. I've been sleep deprived this whole time, and have been forcing myself to be sleep deprived.

And last but not least, sleeping on your back.

And Dan, it's not something to be worried about. I seem to be the only one that likes it, from a psychologists stand point. I'm just lucky and I don't hallucinate with it.

I've always wanted to know what it feels like to fall asleep, because I can never remember. I'm way too scared to try this though.

Sleep paralysis is also considered one of the leading ideas behind alien abductions. It makes sense, since it happens when you wake up during the REM cycle of your sleeping. During a REM cycle, your body is basically shut down, in order to prevent you from enacting your dreams. The REM cycle is also where most dreaming takes place. That combination alone makes it sensible that waking up during a REM cycle would seemingly create the sensation of being abducted, as your imagnation is basically in overdrive, and you are unable to move.

Since we are on the subject of sleep issues, check up on Sexomnia

I experienced it once when i was a toddler(5 or 6). i can still remember what happened. my eyes open and i couldnt move so i cried. it was very difficult to breathe at the time. lasted for 1/2 hour or so. well it felt really long and i fell back sleep instantly. oh yeah, i also tried shouting but my voice... people just cant here me. yeh, i was sharing the room with my brother.

I've had sleep paralysis for a long time, 100 times+
I've had it so many times it kind a feels enjoyable, that, I can't see anything, nor can I move. If i try to move a body part, I imagine and almost feel it moving, but, I know its not.
When I first got it, I was extremely scared, I thought I wasnt breathing (i soon realized I was, and I couldn't open my eyes.

I've only once had sleep paralysis in which I could see something, and it was my window, and I could see a blue sky and clouds through it. A few moments after, I woke up on bed (sleeping on m back >_>)

With my experience, I can share some things:

Moving your body parts with enough force and determination might actually "Wake you up", or fall asleep and soon wake up after. This has worked maybe three times for me.

Trying to speak is an anomaly. You may not hear yourself, but, in real life, if anybody is around, they might can hear you "whimpering".

Oddly, for me, if someone touches me while im in the state, I'll suddenly wake up. Its as if the paralysis is a very sensitive state, if someone touches or move me, I may wake up in shock.

Although its more likely to happen while sleeping on your back, it can happen when your sleeping in a normal position.

Heres an interesting one ive come to find: In most of my cases, just before i fall into sleep paralysis, my eyes get very heavy, as in, VERY heavy, I have to use all my strength to keep them open, but, usually, to no avail, they close and I quickly go into parylisis.