• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Just had my first ever encounter with sleep paralysis

Status
Not open for further replies.
Very interesting that demons/angels are often involved a lot with this. Certainly science can explain a lot of it, but that part always interested me beyond anything scientific.
 
Very interesting that demons/angels are often involved a lot with this. Certainly science can explain a lot of it, but that part always interested me beyond anything scientific.

What you hallucinate is a byproduct of your brain. It's why people raised in western cultures see demons while East Asian people see long haired ghosts ect.
 
My earliest memory was when I was 10-11, I would start seeing mutilated faces or people with eyes gouged out looking down at my bed or in bed with me, just staring at me. I think that's when I started waking up early for no reason (around 5 am)

It happened a bit in highschool with people whose faces had no features except eyes would stare at me. Plus I watched my brother play Silent Hill so that became nightmare fuel for my sleep paralysis.

My worst cases were when I was in college and living in a basement apartment. One time, it felt like some was strangling me and crushing my body at the same time. I think I woke up when I thrashed myself out of bed and banged my head. The other time it started off with something touching/caressing my neck (I assumed my blanket got behind me) then suddenly it feels like something is drilling into my neck

.______.""
 
It's no fun at all, haven't had one in a while, thank shuttlesworth, but they do suck...

Trying to talk and your brain trying to send signals to your mouth to talk and it just won't work, until you finally "break through" and wake up with a yell and a gasp and elevated heart rate... Yeh not fun
 
Have had it happen 2 or 3 times. One time I had the covers over me and it felt like concrete and I felt like I was suffocating. Scary stuff. It was only for a few seconds though.
 
I've had this twice. First time I had it I was very, very tired and had starved myself of sleep. I opened my eyes and saw the room arranged differently, with a strange blue glow. I then heard a motor noise getting louder and louder behind me, and felt an evil presence getting closer. I started to panic, and then I could move.

Second time, I could feel it coming on, and kept slipping in and out of it. I could feel a strange 'charged', buzzing sensation in my muscles. Not long after, I'd gone into a lucid dream, and felt myself floating upwards from the bed. I concentrated on this feeling of floating, and then found I could fly. It was a rush, but didn't last very long before I awoke again.
 
People who get this - do you sleep on your backs? I only ever sleep on my side and have never had this happen to me.

I stated earlier that I only sleep on my side and I frequently have sleep paralysis.
 
I have it often. Once it happens you can tell when it's gonna hit. I have exploding head syndrome which is kinda similar so once I hear the buzzing I start moving my legs and it kicks me out of the sleep paralysis.
 
I've had it a lot. Not at all recently. What I do is basically get myself really angry and force myself awake. It doesn't last more than a few seconds but it's still very terrifying.

I don't know if this works for anybody else but I turn on my lights whenever this happens and just go back to sleep usually. I guess having the lights on calms you down and gives you a peace of mind about security since you can see your surroundings.

I cannot pinpoint the exact reason why it happens. It just seems random because of all the scenarios. I've had it happened when I had good days, bad days, when I'm super tired, when I'm just trying to take a quick nap, etc. So who really knows what the cause is.
 
Hadn't had it happen in years but it started when I was 11 and bothered me till I was 19....

And it wasn't a common occurrence but when it happened. Fuck!

I grew up in a very religious family so when it first happened it had me thinking I was being possessed and I had to crawl in bed with my Mom, at 11 I already grew out of that shit for quite a while but the fear man, reverted me back to age 5.....

Me too. Both times I was lied on my side.

Ditto, is there a pattern?
 
Sleep paralysis, while being a horrible thing is the gateway to Lucid Dreaming which is the best thing that your brain can ever do.

Google it a bit and next time give it a try. Turn that negative into a positive.
 
Only had it once but it was the most terrifying thing ever. Woke up in the middle of the night and thought I could hear people talking in my room. Not just one or two people but like 20 people whispering and murmuring. When I opened my eyes I saw shadowy silhouettes surrounding my bed looking at me. I tried to move and scream but nothing happened. At some point my body jolted up and everything stopped. Had I not known what sleep paralysis was I might have thought I was possessed.
 
The first time I experienced sleep paralysis I was pretty damn terrified. Thought I was dying and shit.

The thing which freaked me out the most was that after struggling for a while, I thought that I finally freed my right arm. As I flailed it in front of my face, I realized that there was nothing there. In reality, my arm never moved, and yet my brain was telling me that it was moving, and should be right there in front of me.

Shortly after that I woke up in a panic. It happened to me a few times afterwards and I realized it was no big deal so I stopped struggling against it. It's been a long time now since my last SP experience.
 
its pretty terrifying. I woke up one night and my belly was flat on the bed and my head was facing my left and i felt like i couldnt breathe or move... I was panicing so bad... Then next thing I knew, I went right back to sleep.
 
You get used to it.

Until you start seeing ghosts straight out of The Ring and hear people screaming

Ugh that shit is the worst when it happens. Hearing people screaming/whispering straight into your ear at 2am when no one else is there is fucking creepy. :(
 
I have had it happen multiple times to the point it's not that big of a deal anymore. I can get myself out of it by just being calm and snapping out.
 
Ditto, is there a pattern?

Nah, it can happen no matter how you sleep.

I feel it's worse when I sleep on my side when it happens though, because my little demon friend likes to yell into my ear and I can feel his breath, it's creepy. lol
 
Sucks doesn't it? I get it a few times a month, which is a lot less then it used to happen. Thankfully I can make enough noise that my girlfriend knows to put her hand on me and say something and I my body will wake up.
 
Yes had a good bunch of them in my lifetime already. I learned to take control and snap out of it. Its very fucking hard though, i can only describe it feels like as i imagine someone being paralyzed forcing every fiber in his body to make movement.

I always end up covered in sweat. And you have to be carefull you dont snap back to sleep paralysis if you let yourself relax for a moment.

Intense.
 
I think I had sleep paralysis once, I think I was like 13 or 14. I woke up in the middle of the night, but no matter what I did, I just couldn't move at all.

Was that sleep paralysis or was I actually paralyzed for real?
 
Have it quite a bit.Use to it now though, so fine with it, do occasionally have one that the normal method doesn't solve, which freaks me out a bit.


First few times though, christ, terrifying
 
Yes had a good bunch of them in my lifetime already. I learned to take control and snap out of it. Its very fucking hard though, i can only describe it feels like as i imagine someone being paralyzed forcing every fiber in his body to make movement.

I always end up covered in sweat. And you have to be carefull you dont snap back to sleep paralysis if you let yourself relax for a moment.

Intense.

This happens. I get out and then the next thing you know it has me again.
 
Your best bet is to keep your eyes closed during sleep paralysis lest you see something you'd rather not see. I get it every other month or so and I've found that the sooner you attain clarity and realize you're dreaming the sooner you can drag yourself out of bed. Just keep trying to move your head and eventually you'll snap out of it. The worst is when you feel something beating or pawing at your chest or hear voices. It's happened to me so many times that I feel desensitized by it.
 
This happens. I get out and then the next thing you know it has me again.

I remember way back when i was six or so, my mom told me whenever i had a bad dream that i just needed to shake my head to wake up. That advice is embedded in my brain and thats what i do!

Or whenever you realise that its not real, just embrace the fear and it will go away. I love stuff like this and lucid dreaming, fascinating thing our little brain.
 
I've had this happen to me once, didnt know it had a name. Couldnt move but was aware of stuff around me. I know what it is now.
 
Had it a bunch of times as a little kid (eerie shadow figures) and recently had one where I was like, suffocating or something. Pretty scary if you can't move at all.
 
I think I had sleep paralysis once, I think I was like 13 or 14. I woke up in the middle of the night, but no matter what I did, I just couldn't move at all.

Was that sleep paralysis or was I actually paralyzed for real?

Certainly sounds like sleep paralysis.

Yes had a good bunch of them in my lifetime already. I learned to take control and snap out of it. Its very fucking hard though, i can only describe it feels like as i imagine someone being paralyzed forcing every fiber in his body to make movement.

I always end up covered in sweat. And you have to be carefull you dont snap back to sleep paralysis if you let yourself relax for a moment.

Intense.

Yep, when it first started happening to me I didn't know wth was going on and I kept drifting back to sleep and going right back into the sleep paralysis. lol now I just get up and walk around for a few minutes and then go back to bed.
 
I just found out that this was a thing. Ill copy and paste what I wrote earlier in the myth thread. I got a visit from the Mare or the old Hag back in high school.


"Man, reading about that freaks me out. I've "experienced" this before back in 2002, tho it wasn't a nurse, it was a young girl with black hair in a green dress and she had no face(eyes, mouth, nose and so on) in my dream I was standing in the middle of a city highway and I saw her down the road. I approached her, then she jump onto me. Her face was inches away from mine and saying jerbberish and I felt so much weight on top of my chest, I was awake but not in control, and she was holding my left forearm down, and it felt so real, I felt her hand around my arm with her grip getting tighter. Still freaks me out to this day. My mother back then thinks it was my sister who past away two weeks before, even tho I don't believe in that kind of stuff I doubt it was her, it just felt so violent."

I haven't had one sents then
 
First time it happened to me was when I lived with my aunt in Scotland. The room I slept in had a wall of mirrored wardrobes. The bed I slept in faced them directly.

That first attack had dark figures coming out of the mirrors, then I felt their weight on the bottom of the bed. I was literally screaming the house down but no sound would come out. I could feel the weight of these figures pressing on my feet, then onto my legs as they shifted up the bed.

Then it just stopped. I've had a few attacks over the years since then but none as bad as the first.
 
I get it rarely, but every time it happens I am shit scared of being permanently paralysed.

That can't happen right?
 
i have this so often, sometimes i want to explore my personal little world inside my head, its fun !!
Psychonauts_Psycho_Portal_by_luminousshadow11.jpg
]
But yeah, experienced what the OP explains many times, kinda. Especially the needle, tingling thing sounds familliar. Couldn't move for for a couple of seconds and your whole body feels all weird. Experienced the same stuff in nightmares, too.

Haven't had it in a while, thankfully. Experienced it quite often when I was a kid.
 
First times is scary, then you get used to it. Same with the exploding head syndrome, first time it happened to me I thought I have electrocuted myself with something.

Never had sleep paralysis but I've had a few bouts with this, I think. For me, it has always happened when I'm still awake, usually within the first minute or so of laying down and closing my eyes. One time it was like three seconds after I closed my eyes. Only other difference is that I don't remember ever hearing a loud sound, for me it is just like a lightning fast flash of light rushing towards me and a sudden burst of panic so strong I sit bolt upright. Feels like starting awake from a nightmare or something, but without the sleep or nightmare. Hasn't happened in about a year but the article is right, when it happens, it usually happens several times over a month or two.
 
Yeah I've had this happen quite a few times.Doesn't happen regularly but every so often.
Recently, my body has been catching it before it takes over but I would like to try to slip into lucid dreaming so I kind of wish it wouldn't do that.

Only problem is when I go into sleep paralysis, it just makes me super anxious and I just want to get out. I feel like someone's going to hurt me and I can't do anything about it. I hear about shadow people and the hag etc. and that's just scary how everyone gets a similar feeling. I still freak out even though I know it's just your brain doing things. I've only opened my eyes once and I saw what looked like my ceiling was melting into like some weird tie-dye multicolor whatever. Not sure about any shadow people or woman as I was too distracted by the trippy ceiling.
 
Been happening to me for about 3 years now. Worst one I suffered lasted a very long time, I want to say roughly 10 minutes, though I can't be sure.
 
I had them nightly when I was going through an incredibly stressful time. It felt like aliens. I hate that you try to scream with all your energy, but nothing comes out.

Haven't had one in a few years, can't say I miss them.

I found not fighting it makes it less scary and easier to endure.
 
You get used to it.

Until you start seeing ghosts straight out of The Ring and hear people screaming


This!

I remember my of my worst was I went to bed late (like 5am) and this is what seems to be my trigger and I literally felt like I had closed my eyes and immediately opened them again ..... then my bed was encircled by what can only be described as ghosts.

Their faces where right in mine, many of them and they where screaming.

As that happened they dragged me out of the bed and up towards the ceiling.

The flying up / dragged up out of the bed or falling through / dragged down thought the bed sensation accompany many of my episodes.



My worst I think was when I got into bed, closed my eyes and opened them again to be almost nose to nose with myself hovering over me in a coffin ...... then my dead self opened its eyes and let out that horrible scream.


Fuck sleep paralysis.
 
This!

I remember my of my worst was I went to bed late (like 5am) and this is what seems to be my trigger and I literally felt like I had closed my eyes and immediately opened them again ..... then my bed was encircled by what can only be described as ghosts.

Their faces where right in mine, many of them and they where screaming.

As that happened they dragged me out of the bed and up towards the ceiling.

The flying up / dragged up out of the bed or falling through / dragged down thought the bed sensation accompany many of my episodes.

My worst I think was when I got into bed, closed my eyes and opened them again to be almost nose to nose with myself hovering over me in a coffin ...... then my dead self opened its eyes and let out that horrible scream.

Fuck sleep paralysis.

Hahaha! Man, sounds awesome. I've only had sleep paralysis once. I wish I could experience it again.
 
I found that the trick is to not panic, it seemed to me the harder I tried to get up the more my body refused to move, then one night it happened, and I just calmed down completely, and got up almost instantly

don't know about the demons though, I've never hallucinated, to me it was just always annoying
 
I had two occurrences of this last night. Sigh...

The first time was just paralysis. Nothing funky. Just being awake but not being able to move. Finally broke out of it and tried to go back to sleep. Happened again the same night this time I felt like someone was kneeling next to me by the side of my bed and was whispering my name into my ear.

Fuuuuuu...Needless to say I didn't get much sleep last night and felt like a zombie at work.

On the bright side, I do think I had some type of vivid dream in between the two sessions of pure horror. Even though I can't remember what happened in them. lol
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom