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YASPT: Yet Another Sleep Paralysis Thread... but scarier this time...

Arcadio

Arcadio

Diamond Member
I've always experienced sleep paralysis about twice a year, more when I was a child. But last night's incident was the scariest I've experienced in a long time. I usually just let it run its course, but last night I felt genuine fear.

It was about 3:00 in the morning and I was awake, but trying to fall asleep. I was sleeping on my side. Suddenly I open my eyes and realize that I can't move. First thing I thought was, "Oh well, another SP event. No big deal." But then I literally FELT something sliding over my covers. It was as if there was some snake over me. I felt it sliding for a few seconds, starting from my back and sliding towards my chest and face. At that point I just lost it. I felt fear I've not felt in a while. After a few long seconds I regained motion and just threw my covers away. Took a while to fall back asleep..

Makes me wonder if there is more to sleep paralysis than what psychologists think they "know".
 
Sleep Paralysis really sucks. You can't explain to people who have never experienced it what it feels like. It usually happens to me if I've gotten a lot of sleep, but then decide to take a nap or sleep longer than I should have.

Waking up but being completely paralyzed is a terrifying experience even if you know what is happening to you. The first time it happened to me was probably the most terrifying few seconds of my life. It probably only lasts 2 or 3 seconds, but it feels like an eternity as you are struggling to move. Panic sets in and it feels like you are starting to suffocate.

edit: As a side note, they say that most alien abductions are really episodes of sleep paralysis.
 
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Only happened to me once, and I felt a weight on my chest - I saw a humanoid figure made of black smoke sitting on my chest, looking down at me. It scared the bejeesus out of me, and that was the only time I tried to scream in fear, only my mouth opened but I couldn't breathe out (which made it exponentially worse). And that's when I woke up, all freaked out.

But apparently that's a pretty well documented/common instance of sleep paralysis, so I'm not completely wigged out about it retrospectively; but it sure scared me silly at the time!
 
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I've had it a few times in my life, usually I can't move and I can feel something walking around on the bed, like a cat or something.

I always start praying and it goes away.
 
happens to me several times per year. the worst was the first time when I was convinced my alarm clock was a demon staring at me. Now I am somewhat aware that it's a dream-like state when it happens, but it is still awful to be "trapped."

If I ever had locked-in syndrome I would want someone to pull the plug on me. It would literally be my worst nightmare:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locked-in_syndrome
 
a snake isn't scary... thinking a demon is coming over you is scary... I think the last one I was starting to think it was some shadowy figure.

What I really want to know is if another person sees you, are you just staring blankly into space? Do your eyeballs move? What happens if they touch you, do you feel it?
 
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The worse I've had is when it's been in combination with freezing temperatures. I could feel my body shivering and my hair standing on end.

Scariest shit ever. Every single time I feel like something is sitting on my chest or hovering right over me.
 
highland145 said:
So how was the OP?
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A tad on the tight side :whiste:


Makes me wonder if there is more to sleep paralysis than what psychologists think they "know".
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Saying weird shit like this is why you deserve to be date raped.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis
In addition, the paralysis may be accompanied by terrifying hallucinations (hypnopompic or hypnagogic) and an acute sense of danger.[9] Sleep paralysis is particularly frightening to the individual because of the vividness of such hallucinations.[8] The hallucinatory element to sleep paralysis makes it even more likely that someone will interpret the experience as a dream, since completely fanciful or dream-like objects may appear in the room alongside one's normal vision. Some scientists have proposed this condition as an explanation for reports of alien abductions and ghostly encounters.[10] A study by Susan Blackmore and Marcus Cox (the Blackmore-Cox study) of the University of the West of England supports the suggestion that reports of alien abductions are related to sleep paralysis rather than to temporal lobe lability.[11] Some authors have warned of the possible misconnection between child sexual abuse (CSA) and hypnagogic/pompic phenomena and have noted that some clients after having described such an event to a fortune teller or psychic that the psychic may have suggested CSA.[12][13]
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bignateyk said:
Sleep Paralysis really sucks. You can't explain to people who have never experienced it what it feels like. It usually happens to me if I've gotten a lot of sleep, but then decide to take a nap or sleep longer than I should have.

Waking up but being completely paralyzed is a terrifying experience even if you know what is happening to you. The first time it happened to me was probably the most terrifying few seconds of my life. It probably only lasts 2 or 3 seconds, but it feels like an eternity as you are struggling to move. Panic sets in and it feels like you are starting to suffocate.

edit: As a side note, they say that most alien abductions are really episodes of sleep paralysis.
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Same here. I get it is spurts and it scares the bejeesus out of me. Sometimes I try to groan so my wife hears me and tries to "wake" my body up. It's never worked.
 
This happened to me a few times. I always thought it was inter-dimensional mantids coming to get me. Cool thing its not.


The day I saw the movie Jacobs Ladder I had one of these too. Scared my shit silly.
 
I get it about once a month regularly ever since I was little. It doesn't bother me anymore. I pretty much just go "argh not again.."

Sometimes I get physical sensation like you described, sometimes auditory (hearing weird sounds, 'someone' whispering, or worse, actually screams right to my ear) as well.
 
It's also worth mentioning that the bottom of the wiki page links 2 separate drugs as related pages. Amitriptyline and Seroquel (quetiapine).

Interesting enough, those would both help with the nightmares. Amitriptyline is an old style cyclic antidepressant. It is the very definition of a "chill pill" because it antagonizes everything. It reduces serotonin activity, so you'd be moody like a kid who needs to sleep. It reduces adrenergic activity, making you tired and sleepy. It blocks histamine and acetylcholine, so overall body sensitivity is severely reduced. I've taken this before. I slept great.

Quetiapine is a little different but the same general idea. It antagonizes dopamine, serotonin, adrenergic, and histamine receptors. It kills the imagination; it's given to schizophrenic people because it stops the hallucinations. It also makes people sleep like a rock.

See your doctor today! Tell him some guy on the internet told you to take more drugs.
 
ShawnD1 said:
It's also worth mentioning that the bottom of the wiki page links 2 separate drugs as related pages. Amitriptyline and Seroquel (quetiapine).

Interesting enough, those would both help with the nightmares. Amitriptyline is an old style cyclic antidepressant. It is the very definition of a "chill pill" because it antagonizes everything. It reduces serotonin activity, so you'd be moody like a kid who needs to sleep. It reduces adrenergic activity, making you tired and sleepy. It blocks histamine and acetylcholine, so overall body sensitivity is severely reduced. I've taken this before. I slept great.

Quetiapine is a little different but the same general idea. It antagonizes dopamine, serotonin, adrenergic, and histamine receptors. It kills the imagination; it's given to schizophrenic people because it stops the hallucinations. It also makes people sleep like a rock.

See your doctor today! Tell him some guy on the internet told you to take more drugs.
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This guy knows how to party!


Man I miss ludes...kids today have no idea...
 
Kev said:
happens to me several times per year. the worst was the first time when I was convinced my alarm clock was a demon staring at me. Now I am somewhat aware that it's a dream-like state when it happens, but it is still awful to be "trapped."
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I used to have that with glow in the dark stars that were left on the ceiling when I changed bedrooms. Since I took them down it's never happened again. I have a towel over my alarm clock too.
 
I haven't ever had sleep paralysis exsctly as explained above, but several times per year I have something nearly as bad:

My mind wakes up, but I cannot wake up. I am aware that I am awake, but I cannot open my eyes, or move any limbs, and it feels like I am suffocating w/ only seconds to live. I give the mental command to move my limbs, but it feels like there is a giant weight on them that prevents them from moving.

I guess the big difference is that my eyes are not open, and I am somehow stuck in dream state with an active, panicking mind. I've never met anyone else that this happens to. It seems to happen to me when I sleep too long or am overly tired. I absolutely hate it. When I do finally snap out of it, my whole body hurts, my heart is pounding, and I am visibly shaking. And I'm paranoid for hours afterwards.

[edit] just read the wikipedia article. wow I guess I have experienced Hypnopompic symptoms all of those times but never knew what it was called. I dont see hallucinations, but I do experience an absolute dread/impending danger. Thanks ATOT for teaching me something today. Too bad it sucks so much.
 
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Am I the only one that actually enjoys it? Whenever I get it I start to just accept it and take control of the situation. Makes for some vivid moments.

I had it one night after playing Halo for a few hours, and was able to actually picture Halo enemies quite vividly with me trying to kill them.

I also used to try (hard) to get my hands into my field of view to see if they actually are moving or not.

Haven't had one in a few years.
 
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