Sleep Paralysis

[Dollie]

Any sufferers on here? SP is when you are waking or going off to sleep and you feel you are awake but your body is paralysed - you can't move for a minute or two and often this is accompanied by a fear that something or someone dreadful is in the room with you, either touching you are pulling the covers off you, You can sometimes get a crushing feeling on your chest as well, and may struggle to breath. I am researching the subject (its well covered on the internet if you google it) as I am a sufferer - only happens about once every five years or so, but still very frightening. Thank you

[Dollie]

Well goodness me - I went off to work and come home to find all of these responses - thank you all. And to DRCHASUBLE - no Dollie is my user name not my real name. Thankyou to WARPIG who posted a link which will best explain things to you all. I believe its more common than we think, and I remember the first time I ever had it when i was in my twenties - I had just recently lost a favourite aunt and I was so upset and astounded by the incident that I thought it was her coming back to make contact with me - for years I thought I had been visited by her ghost. Thank you all again ever so much for your revelations - good luck all. Doll x

[freak_unique]

Hey, omg upon reading this i have realised this has happened to me but i have always passed it off as a nightmare! Basically what happened to me, its happened about 4 occasions, on about 3 seperate times, the one time i managed to wake myself up and when i went straight back to sleep the same thing happened it really freaked me out i had to keep myself awake about 10mins before returning to a "normal" sleep. What happened was i was asleep or so i thought, and almost felt like i had an out of body experience where i could see down on my body as i slept and all this badness was whirling around me trying to get me, and i knew i had to wake myself up so i was trying to move but i couldnt at all my body was like lead. In the end i knew the only way was to make myself jump which took a few attempts and in the end i woke up with a jolt. Im not sure if this is Sleep paralysis but i really think it sounds like it?

[Dollie]

that sounds really frightening freak unique - I hope you feel a bit better now that you know what it is - merely chemicals released by your brain keeping your body in sleep mode a few moments longer than your brain (in other words, your brain rouses from deep sleep but fails to let your body know until a bit later !!) - harmless but frightening never the less. I suggest you google Sleep Paralysis on the net and see the hundreds of accounts there are from others worldwide who are all like us - it sure makes you feel a little easier about what is happening during this times. Good Luck Doll x

[Dollie]

http://umanitoba.fitdv.com/new/articles/articl e.html?artid=720

this is a good place to start looking - Doll x

[Goodsoulette]

I have had the odd episode, used to get it in my teens and early 20s alot. I sleep on my front and it was always accompanied by a weighted feeling on my back, and the belief that someone was whispering in my ear. I for other reasons had to go to hospital and have my sleep patterns monitored, my main odd sleep pattern thing is that I act things out esp in the falling asleep stage, not just that odd twitch you get, but if I was imagining making a cup of tea my body would do that. More often than not I would be catching things, which was always accompanied by the sensation of falling which would jolt me awake. I have found wine or a bit of green before I slepp has put an end to most sleeping troubles I have had.

[joko]

it is not really a condition as such, it is not something certain people 'have' - it is something that can happen to anyone at any time.

it is simply the bodies way of preventing you from acting out what is happening in your dreams, physically, for real.

this is necessary obviously as we would all be in danger, and it is the lack of this that causes some people to sleepwalk or sleep eat etc.

it happens when your dream slips into a lucid state of heightened reality - where everything seems extra real and you feel things that you would not normally notice in ordinary dreams, such as wind in your hair, an itch, soft carpet under your feet - you feel all this as though it is real.

in this state you are usually dreaming of yourself as you actually are - in bed asleep - and thats why you think you are awake, and therefore try to move - the terror at not being able to move is what creates the feelings of fear, pressure etc.

i once was terrified at my "predator" style hand. you know the sort of invisible shape the monster has? well my hand was like that and i was looking at it on top of the duvet, unable to move it, freaking out, eventually i moved my hand a tiny bit, woke up and found my real hand was under the duvet, not on top.

[Dollie]

Thanks Joko - i take your point and you are quite right about our bodies going into a state of paralysis in order to keep us still during REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep where as your rightly say, it stops you from acting out what you are dreaming about. Sleep paralysis is something different, because you are actually awake, your brain and your body is awake but the brain hasn't released the cells around the body which bring the body out of paralysis yet - this may happen a few moments after your brain has awoken or could be up to ten minutes. When you experience sleep paralysis you are actually very awake but unable to move. When you imagined your predator hand you were still asleep but in a heightened dream state, and then as you say, woke up to find your own hand under the duvet. With the condition that I am talking about you are most definitely awake.
Thanks you anyway Joko for your response. I have done quite a bit of research into this, and as I work in psychotherapy have had much opportunity to liaise with doctors about this condition. By and large they mainly agree that most people will experience it at least once in their life but up to 30% of the poplulation will have recurrences from time to time. Many years ago before it was researched well, consultants looked for a link to neurological disorders but fortunately for all of us, it showed their fears were unfounded. You either have it or you dont. Unlucky us that do.

[freak_unique]

Cheers for the website dollie il take a look - im still not entirely sure if it is sleep paralysis i had or just nightmares?as i thought i was looking down on myself whilst asleep? i really do not know?its scary whatever it is!x

[Dollie]

Hello Freak unique - yes could well be that it is the condition we are talking about. With SP, in some people, they visualise themselves looking down onto themselves, almost as if they have left their body ( a near death experience ) when in fact it is simply your mind playing tricks on you in this paralytic state where your brain is awake and responsive but your body remains paralysed. Frightening I know, but still harmless and above all - not really happening. Hope this makes you sleep better at night - good luck. xx

[-Zorro-]

I generally get it when the aliens take me up to their spaceship