I have heard of this but never really knew what it was. The other night my daughter’s friend was visiting and we were listening to some of her paranormal experiences she had since she was three years old. (I will be blogging some of those stories in a series of articles.) She said that some of her experiences could be the results of sleep paralysis for which her sister suffers from as well. Many nights they would wake up to the feeling like they were being choked and someone was pressing down on their chest. They also experienced seeing shadow figures or apparitions near them and were too paralyzed with fear to scream. She remembers one time when they were sharing an apartment that her sister experienced a terrifying night of seeing an apparition of a man standing at the end of her bed. This man appeared to be getting closer as she tried so desperately to scream April’s name. April was in her room sleeping and heard her name being called very faintly. She wasn’t sure if she was dreaming but decided to check on her sister anyway. She went in and woke her sister up who was so devastated by the frightening incident. Was she dreaming or did she experience an apparition appearing to her in her room?Sleep Paralysis occurs when the brain awakes from the REM (rapid eye movement) state, but the body paralysis persists. This will leave a person fully conscious, but unable to move. The paralysis can last anywhere from several seconds to several minutes for which a person can experience panic symptoms. The paralysis state may be accompanied by vivid hallucinations and could interpret the experience as a dream. There are a few scientists that feel those suffering from this condition could explain some stories of alien abduction and ghostly encounters. Very little is known about the functioning of sleep paralysis. Some feel it could be linked to the post-synaptic inhibition of motor neuron in the pons region of the brain. There are studies being conducted on what actually causes the paralysis and how to deal with it. Most people will experience sleep paralysis at least once or twice in their lifetime.
I had an incident that happened several years ago while I was still living at my parent’s house. I just got back from a date with my now hubby and went right to bed. I fell asleep right away but woke up hours later. I was on my back, a position I don’t normally sleep on. I opened my eyes and saw an old man looking down on me. As he appeared to be moving closer, I tried to scream but was too frightened. Finally I was able to get a scream out and my parents came running. My Dad checked over the room and found no one there. They said I was probably dreaming, but to me it seemed real. I have told this story in a couple of post but now think that experience could have been sleep paralysis.
Fantastic post! I have suffered from sleep paralysis (rarely, thank goodness). I hate it. Even worse, I tend to get night terrors--they are very similar, except you can physically respond. I've been known to sit up and scream at the sight of a gray face over top of me and started kicking, screaming. The sound wakes me up, thankfully. My heart beats a zillion miles an hour. I had one just the other night, but I think it was instigated by the fact the house alarm kept going off by accident and at one point I looked out and thought I saw someone in my living room walking through the wall. I sat up with a loud gasp of fear, heart pounding. I even went and felt the wall cause it felt so real. I hate sleep disorders. They suck. Thanks for covering it.
ReplyDeleteI suffered with those just about all my life. Thank goodness I haven't had one in a while. And they have always occurred when I was sleeping on my back. It seemed the harder I tried to move my body the more difficult it was to "wake up". I always felt that someone or something was just above my face and body and it was about to touch me. I would have to try to relax myself (while feeling the panic of not being able to move) and then push myself up out of bed. Just an awful thing to experience.
ReplyDeleteDue to my erratic hours and bizarre sleep patterns, I've had numerous bouts with the "Old Hag" myself. At one time I even found a method for determining if I was really awake or having an episode.
ReplyDeleteWhile attending college, I lived with my aunt. My room was also her library. She had one particular book in a bookcase called "Crime Times Three". The title was in bold red letters. I wear contacts and I take them out when I sleep. During sleep paralysis, I found that I could read the title of that book, but if I was in bed without my contacts, I couldn't make it out. So I learned to look for that book.
But, even knowing what was happening didn't make it any more unpleasant.
I was hoping to get some stories about others who have experienced this paralysis and you guys didn't disappoint. Thanks, love the comments. I only had the one experience and since it was so frightening, I don't want anymore.
ReplyDeleteJulie