Sleep Paralysis Victims...

Anyone can post their thoughts here, but I am specifically intrested in hearing from people who have exsperianced episodes of sleep paralysis. If you dont know what sleep paralysis is you can follow this link.
en.wikipedia.org...

anyway, my question specifically is that in the countless times that i have exsperianced it (and remebered) i have never encountered any beings that could be described in the slightest sense as being benevolent. EVERY LAST BEING reeked of pure evil. has anyone ever encountered a being that was nice or felt positive in any way?

all the entities i encountered i could feel watching me, and could sense they were trying to generate fear to steal my energy.

being that most things in the natrual world have their opposites, it would make sense that there are good entities or spirits out there...why have i never seen any of the good guys? have you?

[edit on 2-10-2007 by TheRepublic]

I have experienced what some might term the hypnagogic hallucinations.

Before fully waking, I've heard sounds that are clearly not really being produced.

I do NOT subscribe any paranormal explanation to these, although hearing voices, or knocks on the door, etc., in a hypnagogic state may explain some so-called "hauntings".

yeah i can understand your point if you had not exsperianced it intensely, but if it was a truly intense episode i think you would have a diffrent point of view.

try laying there and hearing a completly neutral voice that is not your own (not your minds "voice") say:

"there is something evil in the room"

and then seeing a giant black shadow go past you and crouch in a corner and just generate pure hate directed souly at you. (no pun intended hah)

im just saying a really intese episode makes you sure its real, ive heard knocking and footsteps before and that could be the mind, but i could not have thought up something like what happend to me... so no good spirits?

Perhaps you've never "felt" any "good spirits" because it isn't a supernatural phenomenon. I've had episodes of it myself. The fear stems from the fact you want to move and can't. The amygdala dumps adrenaline into your blood, you experience fight or flight and can't do either, so it translates into fear.

it's a trick of the mind, the brain/body connection not quite synched up. It has nothing to do with spirits. It's scary because it's scary when you want to move and can't.

That's it. Don't look for deeper meanings when there really aren't any to be had.

I go through Sleep Paralysis every time I wake up from a Lucid dream. The first time it happened, I was 10 or so and we genuinely scared because, as you know, during sleep paralysis your mind isn't really there so you're subject to hallucinations. So, what I seen was my sisters baby dolls walking, menacingly, from the closet it.

Obviously, I couldn't move, but what was really strange is that my voice wasn't working. Even though I was trying to call for help, my voice wasn't making a sound. Before completely waking up, I felt as if I was being lowered down and then finally I woke up.

It's been that way ever since. Lucidity = sleep paralysis. When it happens now, I don't have such frightening visions, but often if I'm awoken during the night and try to go back to sleep, I'm more prone to auditory and sometimes visual hallucinations. As I feel my self drifting back to dreamland, I can hear a loud roar or voice...I know it's not in my room, but I can hear it. Sometimes, I'll see a target with a monsters face on it, in addition to the voice/roar.

That usually causes me to lay with my eyes open for a bit, but the moment I close them, I can hear the same things. It isn't until I get up and drink some water than I can sleep normally.

reply to post by MajorMalfunction


i completely agree with you that it is a state of being trapped in a semi sleep state. originally i was completely horrified by not being able to move. now when i wake up i know exactly what it is and am not afraid at all. it is too familar to me by now.

that being said certain instances of sleep paralysis, you are not only paralised, but you can "feel" and see other entities. I suppose a complete skeptic could say it is a halucination, but i would say that if you had really exsperianced it to the level that i have you would feel diffrent.

trust me i am a logical person, if it hadnt happend to me i probably wouldnt belived it.
like i said now i am not afraid because it happens so much, but i can still "feel" it draining my energy...maybe others have felt this way.

regardless, even if it is a haluscination (sorry im a horrid speller) why have i never had a good one? or haluscinated good spirits?

I'm not saying you're not logical. But I am saying these "beings" are simply hallucinations. I've experienced similar myself.

Your body is locked down because part of your mind is still dreaming. That's the normal way it works -- the body is paralyzed during REM sleep so that you don't flail around and hurt yourself during the course of dreaming.

so basically, the "entities" you see are dreams being superimposed over your conscious sight.

I can see why people think it means something else; it's horrifying and seems very real. Sleep paralysis is the best explanation for people who believe aliens have abducted them out of bed.

The mind is a powerful thing. It can play tricks on a person that are so vivid that they appear to be actual, real events. And all the time it was just an illusion.

The old hag syndrome. I have had it but it is never in bed but when I take a nap on the couch or floor. I also have to be laying on my back. It is the strangest damn thing not being able to move like that and you know in your mind you can move.

reply to post by MajorMalfunction


i know most people just think they are dreams or halucinations but i wonder...

if they are halucinations why no good ones? you have good dreams from time to time and many neutral ones, if sleep paralysis is just a type of dream why no good ones?

i just want to see if anyone has had a positive exsperiance in that state, regardless of what caused it (halucination, real spirits, the tooth fairy)

but no matter what you think causes it, it sure is weird isnt it?

[edit on 3-10-2007 by TheRepublic]

[edit on 3-10-2007 by TheRepublic]

Hi,

I have this happen to me all the time. Started when I was a child (I’m 22 now), and it got really bad last year, it’s happened a few times this year.

Mine have never been good, I always wake with the evil presence there, and to me it’s a black figure.

I wake up and he is standing there in the room looking at me, I try to move but can’t as usual. He then starts to walk towards me slowly, I try so hard to fight it and scream, it’s usually over just before he makes it to me.

The worse one I had was last year, the black figure actually made it to my bed and I still couldn’t move, at this point he started to put his arm inside my arm and I could feel the hand going into my hand, it was terrifying and freaking, my partner woke up next to me and seen me breathing heavy in a panic and then the figure just went.

I told my mum about it and she told me it use to happen to her when she was a kid, she said next time it happens try think of a white light around you. So the next night it started to happen and I thought of a white light around me, then the first time ever the black figure screamed and shouted “No, I need to tell you” and then it went.

That was the weirdest experience of it I had as I never heard the black figure speak before. It has come back since, and I still have the sleep paralysis but not as much as I used to.

I never really tell people about it as it all sounds a bit crazy. But anyone I have heard who has had it, it has always been a bad and scary experience, never good or nice.

What causes it all I have no idea, I’m not sure if it’s all in the mind, if it’s something evil, if it’s hallucinations I don’t know. What I do know is when ever it happens, it’s very terrifying.



Mikey

[edit on 3/10/2007 by Mikey84]

reply to post by Mikey84


hi mikey,

i feel the same way as you. i dont know what causes it but it can be very scarey.
i think though that "they" (entities, spirits,shadow people, haluscinations) feed off of fear.

i can feel them getting stronger the more fearful i get. so i good thing to do is just not be afraid. they never can really do anything harmful to you, after realizing i always wake up after it (they havnt killed me yet)

but here is the best method i can think of for trying to end the exsperiance. just trying to move a thumb or toe. you can feel yourself reconnect with your body, which is a very strange exsperiance.

what is amazing to me is how many people have exsperianced it, and everyones exsperiance was negative, makes you wonder whats going on...

Originally posted by TheRepublic
reply to post by Mikey84

 

hi mikey,

i feel the same way as you. i dont know what causes it but it can be very scarey.
i think though that "they" (entities, spirits,shadow people, haluscinations) feed off of fear.

i can feel them getting stronger the more fearful i get. so i good thing to do is just not be afraid. they never can really do anything harmful to you, after realizing i always wake up after it (they havnt killed me yet)

but here is the best method i can think of for trying to end the exsperiance. just trying to move a thumb or toe. you can feel yourself reconnect with your body, which is a very strange exsperiance.

what is amazing to me is how many people have exsperianced it, and everyones exsperiance was negative, makes you wonder whats going on...

Another way is to try and have a OBE, its the perfect situation for one.
But Ive had these experiences before, no time to explain them, but lets just say I was awake and it felt as real as now, weird stuff.

My experiences.

A few years ago I got into the habit of attempting OOBE's and Lucid dreaming. I was succesful with the lucid dreaming (a trick if anyone is interested is to go back to bed half an hour after getting up in the morning, maybe drink a glass of water and go back to sleep - you will be in a different state of dreaming, this is why day dreams seem so vivid, they're mostly lucid).

Also Google 'Binaural beats'.

I didn't get too far with the OOBE's, only a slightly different vibrational state and a strange feeling of being heavy and weightless at the same time (I have only had one 'real' out of body experience and that was when I was feverish at the time).

Anyway, I then got a night job and worked long shifts, this affected my sleeping patterns and combined with the dark autumn and winter nights, I saw very little sunlight and got a little depressed.

A few months later I changed jobs and got back to day shifts and again my sleeping patterns got mixed up again, so I found it hard to 'switch off' and sometimes just lay half awake in bed.

My first experience of sleep paralysis was a very scary experience. I was lying on my side with my head facing the radiator a few feet away. I heard a very disturbing sound coming from the radiator, like a metallic frog that had somehow become trapped inside it. That's the best way I can describe it... This sound reached a strange crescendo and I became aware of another frequency that was in my head. It felt like it built up before releasing an electric shock through my head and body...

That's when I realised I couldn't move anything except my eyes. I then got a horrible feeling that there was a very dark and tall figure walking towards my bed, just out of eye shot. I cannot describe how I knew it was there, but i was aware of it. The feeling of dread was unbarable, my mouth went dry and all I could hear was the metallic radiator sounds and the frequency and I could feel another electric shock building up in my brain. I was terrified, I couldn't move and the thing was getting closer... and I could still sense it.

I think at one point I tried to say something or shout something and that's when I became aware of the silence in the room apart from my own breathing and I could move again!

I sat up slightly and gazed around the room into the shadowy corner and although I couldn't see anything, I still had a very horrible feeling that something was there....

But it's not over yet. I finally convinced myself to go to sleep and no sooner had I drifted off, I somehow opened my eyes (even though I was asleep(!!??) and could see my room, but stood right above me (about one foot away) was my housemate Kev, who was shining his mobile phone straight into my eyes (it had a recognisable blue torch feature)...

I remember saying (well swearing at him) to go away and let me sleep.

I did eventually resume proper sleep, and when I questioned him in the morning he denied all knowledge and looked at me like I was a madman...

I have other experiences if anybody is interested...

[edit on 3-10-2007 by mr-lizard]

reply to post by mr-lizard


the same thing happend to me a year or two back, i started to get so freaked out i could not sleep, and the lack of sleep made me more suceptible to it. it ended up with me being up all night, just sitting here reading stuff on ats.

if you ever end up staying real late by yourself, i had a real weird experiance. that same feeling of having something watching you, like you get in sleep paralysis started happening to me when i was awake!

i could feel it watching me over my shoulder. it would get stronger and stronger feeling around 3am but when 4am rolled around i wouldnt feel it anymore. then i would go to sleep, very odd!

anyway i would love to hear your stories, if you care to share. it is amasing how similar it is what happens to so many people. makes me wonder what is really going on.

if you want to read about one of my past exsperiances here is a post from a couple years ago. i was religious then, now i am just spiritual in general so i will sound a little diffrent....

here it is
www.abovetopsecret.com...

I used to get sleep paralysis all the time, and all my friends I told thought I was crazy. I still get it, just not as often (I'm 26 now).

Weird part is I used to try to OOBE all the time, so I would always (and still occassionally do) try to induce sleep paralysis. But then when I finally do begin to induce it and feel it happening (you can feel it when your body is starting to drift into that state when you experience it as much as I do) I fight against it and wish I hadn't tried it because it's so terrifying and I know what's coming.

Anyway I have had a few OOBE's and I definitely believe there is more to sleep and the mind than just merely "dreaming." Anyway, the sleep paralysis part of it I do believe is just a hallucination, but it's still terrifying, and completely agree with the poster who said you can sometimes feel yourself being drained.

I always find it interesting hearing the experiences of others, because everyone's SP is similar, yet involves something slightly different, something that they fear more than other things and that influences it I believe. Some people see and hear the human evil entity, some experience some type or creature or monster, some experience some kind of animal like wolf or what not. Some experience just some terrifying unknown force or ball of light, etc.

Myself, it always involves something that I know is human, yet is nothing but pure evil incarnate. It's sick what our mind's can make up.

Anyway I've had probably hundred of episodes, and I know others like to hear them too so here are a few of note:
------------

I remember one time trying to induce SP to have an OOBE and when I felt myself drifting into the state I fought mightily against it to no avail. Next thing I knew I was lying there with my eyes partially open, completely unable to move. Everything had an eerie night-time glow about it and I was completely cognizant and could see and hear everything happening. I immediately got a dry mouth and was close to panicing b/c I knew what was about to go down. A buddy I lived with must have had to T.V. on in the other room because I could distinctly hear it, it was like Rosanne or something, but it sounded different and weird in an eerie way. Then all of a sudden everything got "more real," the music and sound stopped, and I saw the silloute of a man walk slowly past the outside of my window across from my bed, I could see his silloute walk past the billowing tree limbs, scary beyond belief.

To my horror, I saw the shadow of the window behind the shades begin to rise, and 2 pure white, disgustingly terrifying hands slipped onto the inside window sill, then he pulled himself into my room silently. I tried to scream and yell, but nothing came obviously. He "shambled" over to the corner and was just standing there staring at me, he walked in a diseased and crippled manner. He was wearing a black robe and I couldn't make out a face, just darker there.

At this point I completely panicked as my normal means for getting out of a SP were not working at all, this was far more intense than normal. One of the worst. I somehow forced myself to avert my eyes. Then I heard what I can only describe as someone meniacally and frantically typing away and pounding at my keyboard at my desk, right next to my bed. I can't explain why, but it was probably the most horrifying moment of all, just typing in a panicked and frantic manner. So of course I looked over, and as I did he turned to look at me and came beside me. He spoke to me in hushed tones: "You see? Now I will show you why to be afraid." He began to take off his hood and reach for me and at this point I managed to fight free and jolted up with a yell.

Simply horrifying.
-------

Another time I was again of course trying to induce an OOBE, and fell into sleep paralysis. I read somewhere that you shouldn't fight it, but just give in to the evil force or whatever it is, because it's not really evil, just your mind trying to stop you from "something."

Anyway I'm lying there and not seeing anything, just building intensity. I hear murmurs and laughter, so start panicking. This same entity I described before then appears outside my room and stands in the doorway. He then crouches low and began crawling toward my bed, occassionally going out of site, making it even more scary. Next thign I know I see him rising from the foot of my bed, and he kneeled on it and began climbing towards me. At this point I'm thinking, "Ok F--- this, time for me to wake up NOW!!!" Usually I can, but of course this time is so much more intense that I can't. He gets to me and lies next to me and it feels like my heart is going to burst through my chest, literally. Then I start to feel pressure on my chest and see him pushing down on it. He started saying things to me like "Do you believe?" and then even started yelling, sort of like he was panicking himself, which made it even worse. Like some maniac. Anyway at that point I somehow forced myself to roll over and completely fell out of bed and banged my shoulder pretty good.


Anyway, those are just 2 of my hundreds, everytime I have them nowadays they're just getting worse.

To the original poster, one time, I'm not quite sure, because I think I was beginning to have an OOBE, but I did feel like the force or presence was being fought or held at bay by some other power (potentially something good). At this point I don't even know what happened, just happens so fast, but I could see myself lying down on my bed sleeping, I was about 4 feet over myself, and looked around the room and could see everything, just sort of weird and like in a haze. And next thing I knew I had waken up.

Anyway, there are some of my stories, hope you enjoyed.

[edit on 4-10-2007 by Ajax]

Amazing stories...

I'll happily share some more later on (i'm due in class in ten minutes), but I definately think there might be more to these 'hallucinations' than a simple chemical/hormonal reaction.... I think maybe we drift into a certain vibrational state that allows lower entities to maybe feed off our energy.

I remember two episodes clearly.

1: 1993, lived in an old house, I slept late one morning and felt I coudn't move at all and there was this darker figure over a very bright background. The figure was wearing something that looked like a long trench coat and a fedora hat. I felt like I was pinned down and couldn't breathe. I don't remember any sounds at all.

2: Happened not long ago, in my dream I heard an air raid siren that grew louder and louder to the point of being a very distorted sound, unbearable in my dream and couldn't run away. I woke up only to hear the faint hum of my neighbour's water pump. I have vague memories of other dreams where sounds become terribly amplified. Weird.

Seems it always happens moments before waking up. Sensory functions out of synch with a waking brain?

[edit on 4-10-2007 by Wendigo]

reply to post by Wendigo


yeah they normally happen as you go to sleep
(you are still concious while your body falls asleep)

or you when wake up
(you become concious while your body is still sleeping)

you normally wont remeber ones that happen to you as your falling asleep unless you wake up right after.

the ones that happen when you are waking up are particularly intresting to me because, i have been "wakened up" by "something" with the purpose of putting me into that state.

example: i am having a good dream and all of a sudden i hear a rapid knocking on my beds headboard. it causes me to snap to attention only to find myself stuck in a sleep paralysis state.

its almost like being a hunted animal, and being trapped by whatever it is that exists in the dimension between dreams and reality. i just find it amazing there are no good spirits or entities there.

Another strange experience...

I was homeless for a short time and was sleeping on a friends couch in the living room opposite the front door.

I was disturbed from my dreams by the unmistakable sounds of somebody trying to open the door (in the middle of the night!), it was pitch black and I couldn't move around the couch to see who was coming in.... I couldn't move at all... The sound then changed to the unmistakable sound of scratching! Something was scratching at the front door....

Suddenly the room was invaded by an entity of terrible fear. I couldn't move and cold sweat soaked me. I could hear the door handle moving and I could do nothing about it...

So I willed myself to move my thumb. It wasn't happening...

I remember 'shouting' at my thumb to move and mentally forced myself... and all of a sudden I had feeling and I rolled around and turned to the door and there was nobody there... But I could still hear the scratching....

It took me a few moments to realise it was my friends cat who was happily scratching away at the back of the couch.

It's so true that sound can get distorted upon waking!!!

The Republic, you are clearly not a logical person. You are trying to pair the fear generated from being paralyzed with the hallucination of 'shadowy figures'.

You hullucinate because (A) you are still dreaming, and (B) because the panic of being unable to moves triggers a logical 'but if I can't move, then something could easily harm me' switch in your brain. Therefore, you subconsciously visualize 'harmful' """""entities""""".

I suffer from sleep paralysis, only when I'm extremely tired and having difficulty falling asleep. The fact that I can point to this trend, ie. the very cause of my sleep paralysis, shows that there is nothing "paranormal" about it.

I enjoy the episodes. It's exhilarating, and a vivid reminder of the power of our brain, as it were. However, the reason why I bothered to sign up to this moronic website was because I feel your tediously childish theories are doing more harm than good. A child trying to understand what has just happened to them could easily stumble across this bollocks and be worse off for it.

You are not logical. You evidently have more time than sense.