Sleep Paralysis?

Unfortunately, I can say I have personally experienced sleep paralysis (SP) and it was, for me, a very frightening thing. I have recently seen more than a few posts here on ATS as well as on the internet where SP has been blamed for a lot of things. My questions are somewhat ambiguous because I'm not certain how to frame them, but I am curious how many of us have had the experience and are certain that was what occurred? Can we be sure? Does it often accompany a traumatic lucid dream? Has anyone ever had a positive SP? Is that possible? If SP is going to take the blame for so much of the realm of the unknown, I guess I should try to learn more about other people's experiences so I can form a more educated opinion as to how much I may or may not be willing to accept as the answer for specific occurrences.

Let me say I am quite hesitant to believe it can be as guilty as it is accused, but I would appreciate other's stories regarding what has happened to them as well as answers to some of my questions above.

Thanks for any input.

reply to post by samstone11


It's called Witches Broom in the south...


The worst part is feeling your heart beat, your chest going up and down, can't turn your head, yet your senses are alert and aware.


I had to talk to myself and convince myself that I needed to roll over, and it seemed like it took 30 minutes to break out of it.


Fortunately, I had my own room in the barracks when these episodes occurred, or I probably would have been given a Summarized Article 15.


Ya, SP sucks...

S & F

I had the WORST case of SP last night...coincidental that you created this thread.

I have long been fascinated with this phenomenom. I do NOT think that the millions of people worldwide that experience this do not simply share the same "sleep disorder". In my opinion, these visitations are extraterrestrial; they fit the description of alien visitation. Isn't it weird how everyone has all too similar experiences?

Hallucinations ( I think we really do catch glimpses of the entity, and just assume that we are hallucinating
Feeling of being drug induced
Can't move
Can't speak
Hear noises ( I always hear footsteps and whispering...others also hear buzzing, like a drill)
Feeling of a presence in the room

I really think we are being experimented with; thus the feeling of paralysis. When the anesthesia wears off, we can move and the entity is gone.

reply to post by samstone11


I have never had hallucinations from SP for as much of it that I was awake. Now the part about having bad dreams in association with SP, very much almost every time for me. Usually it would involve what I would call demons or ghosts. Those would be in my dream telling me I was trapped. Then I would wake up and be trapped. Sometimes this can mix with false awakenings for extra confusion.

Other times I will wake up and stay calm knowing I am awake and paralyzed. Half the time when I know like this I will try to move, but accidentally I am not my body so my body sits there and I go tumbling over and over in darkness. This usually disorients me enough to lose consciousness and eventually be dreaming again, trying to wake up.

There are other weird mixes though. Sometimes I will have 2 consciousnesses. One may be in a dream, but the other me is sitting their stuck. Both of the mes realize the other me is me too. Then it's a waiting game to see which of me gets to pull the other part towards it. Usually my body wins, and then I am there in SP.

The only thing I can think of paranormal is that I sometimes feel like I am being watched by an evil shadow. I've never seen it, but it's what I sense.

I wonder if not the whole world is made up in our heads somehow....


Oh and I don't buy the mainstream idea about SP that it is your body drugged... I have felt it enough times over 100, and had all kinds of mixes of wakefullness and dreaminess to know what is happening. Your consciousness just isn't in your body. How else could you dream? And when you are not there fully your body can't move fully. "his head isn't in the game" Type of thing.

I've had it happen so many times that I am used to it. The best way is to not struggle. Just sit there and wait. It last shorter that way. Something about trying to roll over or sit up or move your toe or turn your head interrupts the reconnect. Oh and it gets less scary with time. Though there are the odd ones out that match a dream you were having that can really scare you to death.

reply to post by KnightLight


Wish I could give you more stars. Your description of the two "mes" and two consciousnesses strikes a chord with me for sure. WIsh you luck and hope you never have to go through it again. Thanks for sharing.

I have had these happen to me my whole life. I didn't start to research it till back in 2008. For me they were all frightening. However, since I researched and learned more about it spiritually (it could be a step to astral projecting) I have learned to get myself out of it when I feel it coming on in my sleep. Now that I am aware of it I am not scared of it anymore and they haven't been frightening in a long time. As a matter of fact, this last one I had was a couple of nights ago.

I "woke up" because I heard my husband talking out in the hall and the door was open. I thought maybe he was putting one of our kids back to bed. Then I realized the way he was talking sounded like he was on the phone. It was at that moment that I felt him move next to me. I became aware that he was actually next to me in bed and not out in the hall like it sounded. Then I could hear him breathing. As soon as I heard him breathing I realized it was sleep paralysis and I couldn't move. Usually I would try to scream, but this time I relaxed and it went away quickly. Then I woke up in the same position looking at the door that was open. To me this was not frightening...

The last scary one I had was last year and there was a shadow man. Mine usually have a shadow involved...

That was really scary. There are a lot of sacrifices to be made for you to be fully recovered from the state of sleep paralysis to the state of rehabilitation.

reply to post by MoonLightStars


I've also experienced them since early childhood. My folks would tell me the "witch was riding my back".

What's creepy is that people in ancient times also described these experiences, the same way we do today. Taking the Alien Encounter approach, ancients referred to any extraterrestrial beings as demons, witches...gods and angels.

I remember watching the movie "The Fourth Kind"...these incidents would occur at what's known as the "witching hour"...around 3:00 am...

same as with us.

samstone11
Unfortunately, I can say I have personally experienced sleep paralysis (SP) and it was, for me, a very frightening thing. I have recently seen more than a few posts here on ATS as well as on the internet where SP has been blamed for a lot of things. My questions are somewhat ambiguous because I'm not certain how to frame them, but I am curious how many of us have had the experience and are certain that was what occurred? Can we be sure? Does it often accompany a traumatic lucid dream? Has anyone ever had a positive SP? Is that possible? If SP is going to take the blame for so much of the realm of the unknown, I guess I should try to learn more about other people's experiences so I can form a more educated opinion as to how much I may or may not be willing to accept as the answer for specific occurrences.

Let me say I am quite hesitant to believe it can be as guilty as it is accused, but I would appreciate other's stories regarding what has happened to them as well as answers to some of my questions above.

Thanks for any input.

I've had it.

No hallucinations, but as I remember it, I was awake, lying flat on my back.....but could not speak or move....(I was trying both) I was trying to cry out, and sit up,...could do neither......now, I'm extremely familiar with panic attacks, this sparked those desperate, impending doom emotions.....it was kind of intense.

After this played out, I snapped into functioning reality (the best way I can explain it) and was able to move on with the morning, completely aware of what had just happened.

Definite sleep paralysis. Why it happened or what it meant? I don't know....and it's only happened once so far that I know of.....

reply to post by samstone11


I will give you a little trick to snap out of it, wiggle your toes and then the rest of your body will be able to move again. I don't know why but it works of me. I use to move my neck but it was getting to harder to do, then I realize the toes work better. I use to get sleep paralysis every other day, so eventually I figured out how to push back.

reply to post by amfirst1

Wow. I feel for you if you have this happen that often. Can you tell me if you eve let it just "play out" and what happens then, or do you always put your best toe forward and put a quick end to it?

BTW, thanks for the advice.

I have had only one of these experiences that I can recall - last year. My memory on it is fading but I know I woke up and could not feel part of my body. I reached out with my left hand to move the other and it was completely paralyzed. A good portion of my body was. I got everything checked out medically that morning, as I was pretty freaked out - nothing was found to be wrong.

I vaguely recall having a nightmare but it was distant - as if it had happened well before waking up (hard to explain). This isn't something I told the doctor about as I don't even know if I remembered it at the time. I don't recall all of the details but someone was there. In the nightmare I open my eyes and see someone to my right. Then - instant and profound terror, the feeling of being unable to move, and an inability to breathe due to the fear.
I recall it being almost a lucid thing because I told myself this had to be a nightmare but the reasoning mind didn't override it. I can't be certain of the lucid part though. It's confusing. It was real - and in knowing I was having a dream why did I feel I couldn't escape? Why didn't that ease the fear? I was awake so I couldn't wake up more - or I thought I was awake.

I don't know if a person can have just one of these in their lives but this must be what it was. The thing is - it took awhile to get all feeling back in my legs. I walked around for the better part of an hour holding onto things as my legs were almost rubbery (not like when they fall asleep - like something I can't even explain).

reply to post by QueenofSpades


Woah, mind blown Queenofspades. I have had many episodes of scary sleep paralysis over the years and just chalked it up to my brain being funky. Now that I think about it and compare it with coming out of anesthesia.......very similar indeed.

I had an episode the other night were I swear that I saw my legs start going nuts as if I was dancing crazy legs style. They were just kicking up and down and sideways and allover, of course I could feel none of it, but my eyes were seeing it. Whether it was a hallucination or real, I know not for sure, but it was definitely frightening. By far the most intense episode I have had.

I've had quite a few instances of sleep paralysis. To me it usually happends when I'm so tired that I fall asleep without knowing it. Like everyone else I couldn't move or yell. Everytime I had it I would wake up in my room but something would be different.

The first time I woke up in SP my room was the same as usual but outside was bright like day time and I somehow ended up in the middle of my street as if I could just teleport and was then abducted by an alien ship that came from above. Stranger thing is when I woke it was dark outside early in the morning still.

Most of the time my SP would seem as though I had put on the ring from Lord of the Rings. My room would have a darkish gray hue and I could even see figures very similar to the dark wraith from the movie. They had on dark cloaks and would hover when moving. They seemed to be part of two worlds as they werent completely physical as we see things, almost part ghost. The wierdest thing from one of these kind of SP episodes was that one time I could feel one of the cloaked figures touching my back in a circular motion.

I used to get freaked out by them but now I'm used to it and I have normal dreams of late. Luckily I haven't had SP for a while now but I have had much more vivid dreams that seem as real as me typing this out.

reply to post by samstone11


I have had bouts of sleep paralysis the better part of my life. The first time it happened to me it scared the holy bejeebeez out of me. Now I just see it like watching a scary movie and kind of look forward to it. I love horror movies, my brain occasionally gives me a really good one.

Hey my very first post, I am a long time lurker.

Anyways I had one experience of SP. If i recall correctly I was either hung over or sore from a work out (cant remember its been a few years.) Anyways i was laying down on my back and i got that infamous ringing in my ears and i started to hear my self breathe deep through my ears.

I remember being confused and afraid at first.... my head was tilted slightly towards my wall towards the stairs, and behind the stairs was my furnace room and I had this compelling reason something nasty and frightening was getting ready to come out and make its way towards me.

Now believe you/me I am not a fighter and the fights I have been in rarely ever went my way but my mind went into survival beast mode... I remember getting extremely angry and pissed and wanting to get up and confront what ever was over there. Words can not describe how hostile and irate I became it felt like if i was able to over come this paralysis I could end this and win.

Sure enough i broke free of the paralysis and stumbled out of my bed made sure i had good balance before walking into that furnace room.

Nothing there, hasn't happened since and i am glad. If i remember though I will pray instead and tell myself it isn't what it feels like

I've had it a few times, 3 times I woke up with a figure sitting on my chest staring at me..another time I woke up and saw a grey alien peering through the gaps of my windows blinds, that time I tried to shout to my girlfriend that we must shine a laser pointer in its eye..I didn't think I vocalized the words but the next day she asked me what I was on about.
There was another time at my girlfriends place which I remember vaguely, I heard a wooshing sound and then there was a figure on my chest again...

Its extremely terrifying, I was only able to move my eyes, couldnt even lift a finger...you try shout but nothing happens, everything is in your head.

EVERYTIME the only thing that worked was praying, I'm not a very religious guy but I do believe in God etc...I believe aliens are demons, either way, praying seems to make them go away immediately..and its the only thing you can do (that I know of at least)
Then it sucks trying to go back to sleep again...

reply to post by QueenofSpades


My opinion, having experienced SP at different times in my life, is that it is purely psychological.

Let me explain my reasoning:
01. When I was younger I attended a Catholic school; even though an heretic I was deemed, Christian ethos was a large part of my world view... Subsequently my early episodes of SP were of a religious nature, involving demons and beasts, etc.

02. As my heretical nature towards religion grew and I dove deeper into the UFO phenomenon and conspiracies surrounding them, instances of SP started developing an alien nature, 'greys' and UFO's became the new 'demons'.

03. Continuing the path up to where I am today; a non-believer, per se, of both Christian spirituality and a growing disbelief in extra-terrestrials, my episodes of SP changed again. Now, instead of demons or aliens it has become technology, robot type beings and critters, as well as people (sometimes from my awake life) with seemingly ominous intent creeping into my SP experiences.

My conclusion has thus been that, like dreams, sleep paralysis is heavily (or, solely) dependent on an individuals world view and psychology, and also influenced by external stimuli perceived at the time of a SP experience.

Sleep paralysis, as the name suggests, is a debilitating experience. The brain is just trying to make sense of what it is perceiving, and being locked between sleep and wakefulness it presents the notion of fight or flight, lending to the emotion of distress most of us feel during an episode, which is why the subconscious part of the brain creates these manifested scenarios based on fear.

(I apologize for backwards English, this has been a long week... brain... tired... )

Lastly, a lil note about something. The 'Shadow Man' or shadows in general are also common, I must say, they are one thing that hasn't changed throughout my life. Occurrences have gotten less and less. I kinda think 'shadows' are related to SP somewhat, but a thing quite unto themselves.

reply to post by Jimjolnir


I agree. Very simple. Brain is half awake, body is asleep. It is a natural response to freak if you wake up and something is out of wack with your body. That combined with being partially asleep and awake. Recipe for mental disaster. The shadow people are something else completely. I haven't figured that one out yet, but I have seen them....or thought I did several times.