The waking nightmare of sleep paralysis

[TallGeekyGirl]

Imagine awaking to a strong sense of a 'presence', pressure on your chest, intense fear and hallucinations, but being incapable of moving a muscle

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/20...leep-paralysis

[Floater]

Can't say I have ever experienced anything like that, but it's terrifying enough waking up while sleepwalking. Me no like.

[Mr. Furious]

It's been a long time, but I've experienced sleep paralysis. It's absolutely goddamned terrifying.

[quink]

I've fought with a sleep disorder all my life, and I've had this a few times when my sleep cycle has gotten out of whack. I've only ever had one incident with the hallucination part of it - I saw my laundry moving and trying to rearrange myself. I blame the medication I was on at the time. It's been a while, thankfully.

What I get now are what I call alarm clock nightmares. I set three alarms for myself in the morning to make sure I wake up, but some mornings I'm completely aware of the alarms while being unable to break myself out of sleep to turn them off. It usually shows up as a dream where something is happening - usually a horrible noise - that I can't stop. Extremely frustrating, since I almost always know what it is, even in the dream, but I can't pull myself out. I've actually been in tears occasionally when I do wake up.

[mags]

I had sleep paralysis on a regular basis at our old apartment. I would nap in the afternoons on our old couch, and after awhile it would cause my hip to hurt, which woke me up- only no one told the rest of my body.

I think I am very unusual in that I don't experience any fear, though. I would try to move my hand to make sure what was going on, and to possibly wake myself up, but couldn't. I could hear the TV on, but couldn't open my eyes to see it. After a little bit, my subconcious seemed to float pleasant images at me to lure me back into dreaming, and eventually that would work and I'd just go back to sleep.

I understand why people would be afraid, though. There was always an impression that there was someone (or usually, more than one) in the room with me, even though I was home alone. I didn't feel like the presence was malevolent though, more comforting.

The scary thing was when, during a nap on that couch, I experienced my first earthquake in California. It was just one quick shake, and I was momentarily convinced some sort of wild animal broke in and was behind the couch. When I realized that was impossible, I turned to ghosts. Finally I woke up enough to realize what it was.

[Banrion]

Originally Posted by quink

I
What I get now are what I call alarm clock nightmares. I set three alarms for myself in the morning to make sure I wake up, but some mornings I'm completely aware of the alarms while being unable to break myself out of sleep to turn them off. It usually shows up as a dream where something is happening - usually a horrible noise - that I can't stop. Extremely frustrating, since I almost always know what it is, even in the dream, but I can't pull myself out. I've actually been in tears occasionally when I do wake up.

I used to have this happen to me, aware of the alarm, but still manage to incorporate it into the dream and not being able to wake up. What has worked for me has been getting an alarm clock that continually changes it's rhythm. It varies between 2 slow beeps to 4 quicker beeps to a fast pulsing beep and back. I find it is harder to dream fire alarm etc when the stimulus keeps changing.

[candy from strangers]

Fortunately, most people never experience sleep paralysis, and of those that do, most only experience it once or twice in their lives, usually in its most basic form.

I'm shocked to read this, I thought it was much more common. I learned the term during our sleep unit in high school psychology, but I guess we didn't cover how often it occcurs. For as long as I can remember I've experienced sleep paralysis. The last few years it's happened (with minor, quickly-disappearing visions) at least 3 times a month. More intense, long-lasting visions happen at least once a month. The last one happened a few weeks ago and disturbed me around bedtime for several days after. I awoke (not fully though I guess), sat up, turned on my lamp, turned to the side of my bed to get up and saw a 5 1/2 foot version of one of those white plaster Jesus garden statues, but his eyes were an electric blue color, his facial expression looked panicked and menacing and his mouth was moving like he was talking, but faster than physically possible. I screamed and tried to kick him in the chest, but ended up falling off the bed . It's funny now but it took me awhile to calm down at the time!

I think I should go to a sleep clinic sometime. When I was a kid I had night terrors, and I've always had crazy dreams (that's another one that surprised me, I thought everyone had dreams like mine until I heard so many people describe dreams they had that they thought were weird, which make my tamest dreams seem like a bad trip). I know I've heard a lot of other people say they can't lucid dream too, has anyone here seen any information about how common that is, or how much control is average in lucid dreaming? I'd be interested to find out.

[Namowal]

Originally Posted by Mr. Furious

It's been a long time, but I've experienced sleep paralysis. It's absolutely goddamned terrifying.

I sometimes get waking dreams and other sleep freakiness.
It's crazy!
It seems to happen mostly when I sleep on my back, but I don't know why.


More about my experience here and here.

[llewtrah]

It's common for me and there are times when it happens every night at least once. Before I understood what was happening it was scary. Even now I prefer to head into either full sleep or full wakefulness, but it's not longer scary. Luckily I seem to detach a logical part of myself and can even enjoy what's going on including one episode that felt like alien abduction and where I was certain I'd floated up to the ceiling (I wonder if that explains many alien abduction stories). As long as I don't get the cackling laughter (I used to get that a lot as a kid, along with grinding bus noises) I can even linger in the mixed consciousness state and enjoy what's going on.

I'm another one that has amazing dreams and have a section of the website devoted to them (a friend enviously claimed I have in-sleep movies rather than dreams ).

[Horse Chestnut]

I remember having these weird sensations in bed when I was little, which I now understand was sleep paralysis. The only way I could explain it was feeling as if I were stuck in a corner, and the entire universe was stretching out from that point. I don't remember being particularly scared by the sensation though. I felt rather detached, but intrigued.

Now that fact that the ceiling of my upstairs farmhouse bedroom was shaped like a coffin lid - that DID scare me!

[star_splinter]

I get the hallucinations. Last night's was two dogs on the floor instead of the one (real) dog. Breathing and everything. I reached out to touch it and found...a rolled-up blanket. I'm not sure if I was more startled that there was actually something there, or that it wasn't actually a dog.

They happen a few times a week to me. It's usually some sort of animal in the room, although they vary. I'm never paralyzed, and there's no fear; I generally turn on the light to see the animal and realize that--of course--it's not there. Even the creepiest one (a floating black balloon in the corner of the room that turned into a face) wasn't actually scary at all at the time. So really, it could be a lot worse!

[Silas Sparkhammer]

Originally Posted by llewtrah

It's common for me and there are times when it happens every night at least once. Before I understood what was happening it was scary. Even now I prefer to head into either full sleep or full wakefulness, but it's not longer scary. Luckily I seem to detach a logical part of myself and can even enjoy what's going on including one episode that felt like alien abduction and where I was certain I'd floated up to the ceiling (I wonder if that explains many alien abduction stories). As long as I don't get the cackling laughter (I used to get that a lot as a kid, along with grinding bus noises) I can even linger in the mixed consciousness state and enjoy what's going on. . . .

I don't have them that often, but I have them often enough that I can sort of sense them coming. I can feel them "in the offing," and take steps (usually turning on the beside lamp) to make them not happen. Sort of like feeling the build-up toward a sneeze.

What I find most intriguing about them are the hallucinations. In one case, I saw -- clearly as I see the keyboard before me now! -- a ninja, dressed all in black, creeping on hands and knees atop the bookcases in my bedroom. But...there isn't room up there for a cat, let alone a man!

In another, there was a spider -- enormous hair spider! -- on the ceiling, and I jumped up and smashed it with a bed-pillow. But...it couldn't have happened, as I was sleeping on my tummy at the time! I couldn't have seen it, let alone taken any action. The whole episode was purely hallucinatory!

The second most fascinating aspect of these is the emotional aura of pure menace. It feels as if there is a mind in the room with me, and it is poisonously inimical. It hates. This is what makes such dreams and hallucinations so terrifying: an enemy, monstrous and implacable, is right there in the bedroom! What could be more terrifying?

Hypnopompic and hypnogogic hallucinations. About as much fun as leg cramps...

Silas

[Kizhe]

I get this. It's absolutely terrifying because you can't breathe. So you can't scream to let people know something's up. Neither can you move. All you can do is lie there and think "I'm going to die, I'm going to die".

Though I did have the variation where I could breathe, once; I just couldn't move. That was less scary, more peaceful and a little sad.

[rhiandmoi]

I have a wide variety of sleep disturbances, but the one that bothers me the most is when I have a full bladder and I have a dream about going to the bathroom. Very not cool.

[Dactyl]

Originally Posted by quink

I've fought with a sleep disorder all my life, and I've had this a few times when my sleep cycle has gotten out of whack. I've only ever had one incident with the hallucination part of it - I saw my laundry moving and trying to rearrange myself. I blame the medication I was on at the time. It's been a while, thankfully.

I have experienced sleep paralysis in the past when I was on a particular medication. I moved off it and haven't had it since.

What I get now are what I call alarm clock nightmares. I set three alarms for myself in the morning to make sure I wake up, but some mornings I'm completely aware of the alarms while being unable to break myself out of sleep to turn them off. It usually shows up as a dream where something is happening - usually a horrible noise - that I can't stop.

Originally Posted by Banrion

I used to have this happen to me, aware of the alarm, but still manage to incorporate it into the dream and not being able to wake up.

I also get "alarm clock nightmares". It's amazing how creative the brain can be in incorporating an alarm clock sound into a dream. Like quink, it usually renders itself into something I can't turn off and grow frustrated with.

What has worked for me has been getting an alarm clock that continually changes it's rhythm. It varies between 2 slow beeps to 4 quicker beeps to a fast pulsing beep and back. I find it is harder to dream fire alarm etc when the stimulus keeps changing.

My solution is to change my alarm tone every few weeks. Fortunately I have a clock with about four different "tunes" so I to cycle them whenever I find my mind getting used to one.

My boss is an light sleeper and wakes up early and easily. He completely doesn't understand how anyone could sleep through three alarms.

[PallasAthena]

Originally Posted by Silas Sparkhammer

The second most fascinating aspect of these is the emotional aura of pure menace. It feels as if there is a mind in the room with me, and it is poisonously inimical. It hates. This is what makes such dreams and hallucinations so terrifying: an enemy, monstrous and implacable, is right there in the bedroom! What could be more terrifying?

Yeah, I was trying at one point to describe to DH the fear, and I found that it's just so difficult to verbalize. But that's it. It's horrible and it's there and it hates you and wants you.

I had one one time where the feeling of presence was so strong and horrifying that I was convinced that Satan himself was in my room, and I was not a religious college kid. Not red, cloven hooved, pitchfork Satan either. The closest thing I can come up with that even comes close to the sense of evil I felt was from that movie Event Horizon. It was that same sort of chaotic, all-consuming kind of evil that preferred you ripped up into lots of little pieces. From my bed, I could see the black figure standing by my door with the glowing pit open at his feet. I couldn't hear the screaming, but I could feel it. I slept on the floor of my parents' room for a week.

A few years back, I had one and the black figure was back although not quite as bad as the one before. It still wanted to shred me up. This time I knew what was going on. I breathed really fast through my nose and managed to tickle DH with my pinkie. He woke up and complained which woke me up, thank god.

Originally Posted by rhiandmoi

I have a wide variety of sleep disturbances, but the one that bothers me the most is when I have a full bladder and I have a dream about going to the bathroom. Very not cool.

Yeah, I had that kind of dream as a 4th grader. With predictable results. In my own defense, I was seriously jet lagged having just flown from the US to Hong Kong, so that could explain it. It was really embarassing though.

[rhiandmoi]

Originally Posted by PallasAthena

Yeah, I had that kind of dream as a 4th grader. With predictable results. In my own defense, I was seriously jet lagged having just flown from the US to Hong Kong, so that could explain it. It was really embarassing though.

Fortunately I've been having these dreams so long, that my bladder pretty much refuses to relax. So I have the dream, and then I notice that I still have to go pee, and then my waking self chimes in that this is a dream and I ought to wake up. But I am still super paranoid about it.

[zman977]

I also have the occasional bout with sleep paralysis. I have not had any halucinations yet. With mine I have the feeling that I'm in a super awake state. I'm aware of everything going on in the room but I just can't move. I breathe just fine I can even think clearly, hear the radio or tv. it is just I have to fight to move any part of my body. Super awake is the best way I can describe the feeling I have. I do eventually fall back to sleep. It used to scare me as a child but I now know what it is and I'm not scared I just have the feeling that if I could just roll over or move something I'd snap out of it. I just have to let myself fall back to sleep.

[kit_n_caboodle]

The last time I experienced sleep paralysis, I had the very real sensation that Nathan Fillion had walked into the room. I wasn't frightened at all, but I was upset and panicky that I couldn't wake up. I mean, if Nathan is going to be in my bedroom, I'd really like to be awake for it.

I would much rather experience something like that than the feeling of evil and foreboding that I usually feel during sleep paralysis!

[Silas Sparkhammer]

Full bladder dreams aren't much fun... I'm reminded of the "Potty Emergency" episode of Animaniacs. My dreams work out much the same way: I've really gotta potty, but the restroom will be totally filthy, or else there will be people watching, or my zipper won't work, or something. Basically, it's my mind putting forward reasons not to let go, so I won't wet the bed. Two different strong desires in the unconscious mind are battling it out, using visual symbols as weapons. Stressful and anguished and melodramatic...

But, seen more objectively, looking back on it afterwards, it's kinda funny.

Silas