Sleep Paraysis

Por: Eyeliner | |

It's down right freaky! Serious! Anybody else who's experienced it before would agree with me. The feeling of suffocation, the heavy weight on the chest, not being able to move, the horrible buzzing and ringing in the ears, the feeling that something ugly and sinister is watching me, the occasional yucky visions, and the sense of utter danger makes me feel that I might actually belong in a mental hospital!!


And for those of you who are lucky enough to not know what the bleep I'm talking bout, here's a short explanation.

Symptoms and Characteristics

Physiologically, sleep paralysis is closely related to the paralysis that occurs as a natural part of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, which is known as REM atonia. Sleep paralysis occurs when the brain awakes from a REM state, but the body paralysis persists. This leaves the person fully conscious, but unable to move. The paralysis can last from several seconds to several minutes "after which the individual may experience panic symptoms and the realization that the distorted perceptions were false". When there is an absence of narcolepsy, sleep paralysis is referred to as isolated sleep paralysis (ISP). "ISP appears to be far more common and recurrent among Blacks than among Whites or Nigerian Blacks",and is often referred to within Black communities as "the Devil on your back"

In addition, the paralysis state may be accompanied by terrifying hallucinations (hypnopompic or hypnagogic) and an acute sense of danger. Sleep paralysis is particularly frightening to the individual due to the vividness of such hallucinations. The hallucinatory element to sleep paralysis makes it even more likely that someone will interpret the experience as a dream, since completely fanciful, or dream-like, objects may appear in the room alongside one's normal vision. Some scientists have proposed this condition as an explanation for alien abductions and ghostly encounters. A study by Susan Blackmore and Marcus Cox of the University of the West of England supports the suggestion that reports of alien abductions are related to sleep paralysis rather than to temporal lobe lability.

The above is from Wiki, but believe me, it's a whole lot more freaky then how it makes the real thing sound.

Here's how some people describe their experiences...

*I experience pressure on my chest.
*Feel that my whole body is being pulled, as by a magnet. Sometimes just my feet, or an arm; sometimes feel I am being pulled into the bed.
* I once thought I'd done a 360 degree turn in my bed, and once felt as if I were pulled out of the bed. I thought I was nuts.
*The unseen presence was the cause of the experience. It gives you the feeling of something really evil and it is always frightening . . . I never see this being . . . It felt like this thing wanted to kill me . . . My eyes are open during these experiences and it makes it more frightening because I cannot see what it is that is holding me down.
*I never feel like I can get enough breath.
* I tend to take quick shallow breaths.
*There were times I thought that I would die because I felt that I would never get my breath back. It is a horrible feeling.
* Sometimes it's very hard to breathe as if someone is sitting on my chest.

Freaky? Absolutely!

And it's not just the suffocating feeling that's freaky....it's also the sense of an evil spirit. It's not the easiest thing to describe, and sometimes when i try to describe these things to friends, and they haven't experienced sleep paralysis, they kinda look at me funny, as if I were slightly coo coo. Well, I must admit, it sounds coo coo enough. But once you actually experience it, it's so real it's disturbing!

Here's something I read about it...
The presence associated with sleep presence may also be endowed with certain minimal "psychological" qualities such as that of attention. The presence is often somehow attending to, watching, or monitoring the subject. It is "as if someone that I couldn't see was there, watching." One of the most common comments about the SP experience is that "It feels as if someone is standing there watching me." Respondents are frequently puzzled that they are unable to specify how they know this or even where precisely they think the presence is located. "You feel that someone is looking at you and you don't know where they specifically are." Aside from being very disconcerting this must certainly contribute to the otherworldly sense of the presence. In slightly stronger terms other respondents will describe the presence as "staring at," rather than merely watching, them.

The sensed presence may form the core of subsequent hallucinations involving several modalities. The sensed presence may form the core of subsequent hallucinations involving several modalities. Although very few people actually make the suggestion spontaneously, one respondent was quite specific about the transformation. "The unseen presence starts to emerge as a formed being." Since the presence is usually perceived of as threatening, the interpretation is usually of a presumably readily available innate, "prepared," or conventional image of image of something mysterious and threatening.

Woah! Don't I hate SP or what?! God forbid!! *shudder*
Apparently, I experience pretty mild SP. I know some people who actually feel claw-like-things around their necks, they hear voices, they see visions and other ew-ness. I've been junking the naps, and sleeping on my back, and the staying up late for a while, and thankfully haven't experienced SP for a while. I hope it stays this way.