Sleep Paralysis - Why do we sense evil?

Had a really messed up sleep paralysis today as i went for a nap on the couch. i woke up and even though i hadnt attempted to move or speak i got the feeling that it was experiencing sleep paralysis. i decided to move my shoulders and they moved fine so i was thinking in my head ' i guess its not sleep paralysis',but i cant shake the feeling associated with sleep paralysis. i decide to try to turn round and then i suddenly feel someone start to hold me down. i suspect a demonic entity, so i start trying to say jesus christ, which i failed to do as i couldnt pronounce the words. i had my back to what ever was there. i could hear movement in the room even though i couldnt see what it was that gave the impression of three things in the room. i used up all my energy to lift up my arm onto my shoulder and felt a finger, i kept trying to grab it as it was the only thing i could do while tring to focus my strength into moving.
but then the thought popped into my head of alien greys which i assumed were demonic if they were real were doing something to my back. the image popped into my head of some surgical procedure on my back and if i kept moving i was going to injure my self. so i stopped struggling still squeezing this finger and didnt go back to sleep as had my eyes open but it seemed as there was sudden skip forward of time and i could suddenly move, my eyes still hadnt closed.
even though it felt so real, ive also lucid dreamed before and in lucid dreams it seems just as real. if there was something in the room my dogs would of barked or something. but i now have a pain in my lowerback.

soz for punctuation.

This is an excellent thread. I never knew sleep paralysis was so common.

My story: Summer 2004. I got home from work on a Sunday afternoon. I was 19 at the time. Nobody was home. As I lay on my side, my body became paralyzed. I tried to move or speak but couldn't. Suddenly, I heard a buzzing sound, like bees or locusts flying, or maybe even a deranged helicopter. Then, out of my peripheral vision, a tall shadow appeared. I thought I was dying. As my panic reached an unbearable climax, I suddenly snapped out of it. I could move again. I could speak again (enough to drop an f-bomb, I'm sure) but my heart was racing. I was so freaked out that I took a long drive from San Francisco south on the highway. By the time I realized what I was doing, I was in the boondocks, so I stopped at a lonely diner to get some coffee. To this day, it's difficult for me to sleep on my side.

Strangely, every girl I date eventually experiences sleep paralysis. And my cousin recently experienced it. In his version, he fell asleep on the basement couch. When he woke up hours later, he experienced sleep paralysis. He said he saw darkness, then something darker than the darkness. It was a hooded shadow. As he lay there helpless, the shadow floated toward him. Once it was in front of him, it leaned in to look at his face. Terrified, my cousin tried praying or screaming but the shadow just kept staring at him. He said it felt like it was peering into his soul.

Anyway guys, this is my first post here. I'm stoked to join ATS.

I've suffered through this "sleep paralysis" since I was 14 or so. I'm 27 now. The first time it happened I recalled dreaming of a man in a trench coat and waking up to the feeling I was being raped. And tried to scream but couldn't etc. It very much feels like a presence to me. It still happens.. Actually. Unless I'm sleeping around other people or other people near by. I did have an experience, once, while my friend was staying over. He was asleep and I was awake. Paranormal activity is attracted to me and this night I heard foot steps around my floor. Suddenly, I'm in a trance state and in a mans body, in mans clothes... Then I regain ... And I'm back in reality. (I've never heard of this happening to anyone else so if anyone knows that's read this... Inbox me!).
I recently decided to journal these occurrences. To try to see if I find a pattern of any sort. I dated a sleep technician, and asked him about this kind of thing and he never did give me a real plausible answer. I'd love to live the rest of my life and not worry if this happens to me again though. I use to hate sleeping and eventually took to amphetamines to prevent having to sleep because of the sleep thing. Now I just kEep a roomate and leave my bedroom door open. :-)


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Maybe its terrifying, because if we really dream and leave our bodies each night... We wake up. And our physical self is there... But what do we do with out the spirit. .
Such as one in a coma, but because of no brain trauma etc we are aware... But the spark of life (spirit) is missing. Gone. Off to play while we dream. Lol.
I just may be on to something...


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I have slept and about 3 times I can recall ...telling myself to move and can not move at all, seeing everything going on in the room but somehow unable to move, even moving my head, nor my eyes...just cant. I was raised with Jesus, but cant seem to remember to call his name, but you do, and you dont believe in him (I do) I have had more issues of laying on my arms till they are so dead I can even move them, I have to use my other arm to move the oteher one up I hold it up to the celling , to bring it back to life ( a revelation) and twice I have had someone help me do this, and two people from cities away! ( luckly they were there)

It allways feels evil , I feel scared, for some reason! Maybe cus we are not incontrol.

i remember this happened to me when i was in 1st or second grade. my younger brother and i shared a room. i woke up in the middle of the night my teeth was clenched and i could only move my eyes. i had this feeling that someone else was in the room. watching me. almost as if this being was the one restricting me. til this day i cant tell u if there was a person in the room or not but i know i felt a presence. i remember snapping out of it and running to my parents room. my parents are very religious so they prayed for me. i felt a little better. then i went to sleep in their bed.

OP - sleep paralysis - as some have indicated - is the phenomena at the start or end of sleep.
www.bbc.co.uk...
It is NOT getting stuck in a nightmare!

I used to have nightmares when younger and if aware I was dreaming I would wake myself up by jumping out the nearest window. But I stopped that after worrying that one day I might be sleepwalking and the window might be real..

Originally posted by thadopist
i remember this happened to me when i was in 1st or second grade. my younger brother and i shared a room. i woke up in the middle of the night my teeth was clenched and i could only move my eyes. i had this feeling that someone else was in the room. watching me. almost as if this being was the one restricting me. til this day i cant tell u if there was a person in the room or not but i know i felt a presence. i remember snapping out of it and running to my parents room. my parents are very religious so they prayed for me. i felt a little better. then i went to sleep in their bed.

I know what you mean about the feeling of being watched. When I experienced sleep paralysis, I knew I was being watched. I've had the feeling on other occasions, too. Sometimes at night, I've felt a presence or intruder. It's usually paranoia but one night my paranoia was justified. I felt a presence outside my window. My cat was also freaking out, hissing at the window. I chalked it up to nothing & promptly passed out. But the next morning, I went outside & noticed footprints in the mud near my window. The footprints were enormous, and they led to the gate. Once they reached the gate, they vanished. Near the gate, I noticed the carcass of a dead animal surrounded in a circle of blood.

To this day, I don't know who or what was standing in front of my window in the middle of the cold night...

I want to ask -

I'm 34 years old, and I've had only 4-5 incidents of SP that I can remember in my life. Evenly spread out throughout all my years, but it's been a long while since I had one now.

The first couple of times I experienced it, I did not even know what SP is, I learned that later. I kind of figured it out on my own: that it's just a feature of loss of control between the sleep / wake state. It's not that hard to grasp, really.

Anyway. I want to ask you people: am I the only one on this forum that when the few times I had an SP had no problems at all just "willing" me out of them in maximum 10-20 seconds? Sure, I have a strong will, but hey.. It was not that hard. I hear about people having them for hours, and I cant really grasp how that can be possible.

One would think that when one can control ones conscious mind, one would be able to tell the body & brain that one is awake, and make the brain stop the chemical process that paralyzes the muscles? No ?

Also, am I the only one that never ever felt any "evil presence". Nothing at all. The only thing I've been afraid of when I had an SP is to open my eyes before my body is fully awake and I'm able to move, as my eyes is the first thing I gain control over during those 10 seconds. I do not really know why I've always been afraid of opening my eyes, but I remember that I had a feeling that I could "see things" that I did not want to see if I did open them before gaining control of my whole body and, and being fully awake.

reply to post by Pointofview

Anyway. I want to ask you people: am I the only one on this forum that when the few times I had an SP had no problems at all just "willing" me out of them in maximum 10-20 seconds? Sure, I have a strong will, but hey.. It was not that hard. I hear about people having them for hours, and I cant really grasp how that can be possible.

Out of curiosity, where have you heard people have them for hours? The maximum I have ever heard of is around 10 - 15 minutes and even that's very rare. And only induced through HSP. (HSP being the one where we hallucinate - The opposite of HSP, CSP lasts for minutes at the maximum)

And You're not the only one, I've had SP where I have sort of willed myself out of it. I'm not even completely sure how, I think I just really forced myself to relax and I could start to move again.

Also, am I the only one that never ever felt any "evil presence". Nothing at all. The only thing I've been afraid of when I had an SP is to open my eyes before my body is fully awake and I'm able to move, as my eyes is the first thing I gain control over during those 10 seconds ? I do not really know why I've always been afraid of opening my eyes, but I remember that I had a feeling that I could "see things" that I did not want to see if I did open them before gaining control of my whole body and thus being fully awake.

Personally I think SP is what you make it, although that being so most don't realize they can make it anything. So for most once the feeling of paralysis sets in, they panic which in turn causes the emotions you feel to be negative rather than positive because let's face it, feeling paralyzed and helpless is never nice and you;re never going to feel good from it.

So, if you didn't panic, and if you didn't let the negatives wash over you, it's likely you can have a neutral or even a positive experience through SP..IMO.

Originally posted by Sippy Cup
It allways feels evil , I feel scared, for some reason! Maybe cus we are not incontrol.

Try and relax when you feel SP, remember that nothing can hurt you (if you see things remember they are hallucinations) and really concentrate on "good things" and I guarantee you won't feel anything evil or negative.

reply to post by Rising Against

ut of curiosity, where have you heard people have them for hours? The maximum I have ever heard of is around 10 - 15 minutes and even that's very rare. And only induced through HSP. (HSP being the one where we hallucinate - The opposite of HSP, CSP lasts for minutes at the maximum)

I got that from other threads about the subject here on ATS many months ago. Saw a few videos of a sleeping and grunting woman having SP on Youtube that was linked to from here, and I seem to remember someone stating that this woman had extremely long SP's.. up to hours.

Personally I think SP is what you make it, although that being so most don't realize they can make it anything. So for most once the feeling of paralysis sets in, they panic which in turn causes the emotions you feel to be negative rather than positive because let's face it, feeling paralyzed and helpless is never nice and you;re never going to feel good from it. So, if you didn't panic, and if you didn't let the negatives wash over you, it's likely you can have a neutral or even a positive experience through SP..IMO.

I agree with you in theory yes, that they might become what you make of them. Good answer. However, as for me being claustrophobic, afraid of the dark since I was 3 years old when I had a terrifying experience one night, one would think that I'd start panicking. It's not nice not being able to move when you're claustrophobic either, I tell you .

On the other hand, I'm sure a 3 feet tall clown could stand by my bed laughing at me when I'm really sleepy, and I'd just think "Hmm.. thats weird. Haha.", and fall asleep again.

I would probably panic if I could not will me out of the SP within seconds tough. Who knows what would happen then ?

reply to post by Pointofview


Well, I could be wrong of course but I'm pretty confident the maximum amount of time anyone will experience the 2 types of SP (HSP - Hallucinatory Sleep Paralysis & CSP - Common Sleep Paralysis) for will be at the highest, around 10 - 20 minutes give or take. But like I said, that is very rare.

And hey, if you can turn SP into a positive or neutral experience, kudos to you! I know from experience it's not an easy thing to do. Possible, yes, but certainly not easy, especially in the early days when you don't know what the hells going on.

reply to post by Rising Against


Thank you for the "kudos"

It just came back to me - one of the last times I had an SP, I despite being a bit fearful about it, I out of curiosity forced my eyes open before being fully out of the SP. And what did I see ? *gasp* : NOTHING !

reply to post by Treacherous


Check out this video, this guy knows a lot about sleep paralysis. Actually, he will even show you how to do it intentionally. He also, talks about other things related to sleep paralysis, check his YT channel.

(Note: I tried to embed the video but it didn't work, sorry)

www.youtube.com...

reply to post by southofheaven


I have had similar experiences during that place of being asleep and awake for years. Mine begin with, well the only way I can describe it is that I feel that I'm feeling short shocks. As if a quick bolt of electricity is going through my body. Followed by the shocks comes that feeling of dread (that "sucky" feeling, like you say). I immediately begin to try and wake up by moving, but of course I can't move. I try and open my eyes, but they will only open so far. I can see through the tiny slit I have made with my squinted eyes. I have seen many things and experienced many sensations over the years. To name a few, I've seen an old women standing above me, I've seen dolls come alive in my room, dancing about on my feet, and I've heard evil voices in an unknown language whispering in my ear. I know from experience that the only way to bring myself out of this place, this realm, I must say the name of Jesus. That is the only way I am free from these frightening episodes.. It is a struggle to speak the words, as if my lips are paralyzed. I keep on fighting the entity that is keeping me in this place.. When I am eventually able to get out the name of Jesus, the evil entity leaves.. I have always felt that it is so strange and out of character to be able to lay there and be relieved that it is finally over, and go back to sleep. When I recall the event the next morning, I think to myself, why am I not more freaked out by this. You would think I'd want to get the heck out of there. I don't know.. All I know that it is something evil, I know it is.

reply to post by Boredomsux


never heard of that at all.do you have a source by chance? huh and they say video games are bad for you!

I know this is an old thread but I have some suggestions. I really like what the 2nd poster stated about gaining control within dreams.

I suffered from sleep paralysis for years, even as a small child. What helped me was learning to recognize that it's about to happen and finding a way to move a body part to help me snap out of it. I sincerely believe that learning to do this led me to gain the ability to lucid dream. It is like gaining control of the paralysis helped me to realize when I am in an altered state of consciousness. That in turn taught me how to control my dream situations. Once I started lucid dreaming the sleep paralysis stopped. Actually, I think sleep paralysis is the springboard into lucid dreaming.

Now, what really scared me is the next step. I think my ability to lucid dream started my OBEs. Now OBEs are frustrating, at least for people where they seem to happen naturally and suddenly. I spent many years fighting OBEs and astral projecting. The last ~3 years of my fight were especially scary and traumatic. I would spend nights fighting to the point that I would get a couple hours of broken sleep each night.

After letting go and just going with what was happening to me, I realize that this is a very special ability. I never encounter anything scary or frightening (I believe it's because this is natural to me for some odd reason). I don't try to do this and I don't believe I am inviting anything into my consciousness. As weird as this sounds I believe my consciousness obviously belongs somewhere else.

reply to post by Treacherous


The sleep paralysis that i remember most clearly involved the normal sort of experience ie: awake (sort of) but almost completely unable to move (I fought it intensly and could just move in super slo mo)
The strange part was my vision, it was dimmed and my doona (bedsheets) formed a swirling sort of tunnel vortex which filled my full range of vision (there was no actual movement as such)
I keep expecting to see 'someone' and the concept of a dwarf was a strong impression in relation to that expectation.