Sleep Paralysis/Hallucinations.

Nefilim777 · 27-09-2010 2:28pm #1

Just a question for those who may know about or have also experienced sleep paralysis/hallucinations. Although I've been free of them for some time but the memory of them is still pretty intriguing, and even a little disturbing.

For a couple of years I would wake in the middle of night to find 'people' standing in my room. Sometimes it would just be one person, other times it could be many. On one occasion there were just a ring of men and women standing around my bed, generally though, their faces were obscured by the darkness in the room. It would always take me a moment to, I suppose, wake properly, before the visions would disappear, however I never felt paralyzed as such and was always free to move, so I'm not sure this counts as 'sleep paralysis'. Has anyone else had similar experiences?

miss_shadow · 28-09-2010 7:44pm

Hi,

I get sleep paralysis from time to time. It can be quite disturbing for me, because sometimes I don't know where I am and trying to figure out 'who' i'm in the bed with (my oh).

I also see people standing in the room, but have got used to it. I was not paralyzed either, I sit up and then cower under the blankets and pray for the best

:D.
It is strange though to wake to see these people, because I feel I didn't see these people in my dream so why are they perfectly formed beings just standing there and why are they there? why is it only humans I see and not objects floating in the air or animals..?!!

Nefilim777 · 28-09-2010 7:48pm

Interesting, obviously its not strictly paralysis though? I mean if we can see these beings and still move then what is it? Is there a medical term?

calistro · 28-09-2010 8:11pm

I experienced something similar about 10 years ago. Staying at my GF's house, I was sleeping in the spare room and at about 2 or 3am I felt some kind of strange presence in the room. I was wide awake but couldn't move a muscle. I was sleeping on my side, facing the wall and could feel and even see a shadowy figure over, but not actually touching me.

It was like being paralyzed. It lasted for about 7 or eight minutes then I came around, I won't say woke up because I was fully awake during the episode. It scared the life out of me, I even asked the GF's mother if someone had died in the room in the past.!! Has never happened since and I searched a bit on the net for it and came up with the Hag or old hag syndrome. Weird.

locteau · 30-09-2010 10:20pm

This is very interesting, I do experience this kind of things since I had a major back surgery.

When in the hospital I suffer from severe hallucination of a women kind of flying around and I had this sensation of spinning very fast, like when you drink going to sleep, but I was awake and even was laughing at it.

I was on heavy opium based medicine for over 2 years to a point to have my left leg paralyzed before the surgery. After my surgery I suffer of a massive withdraw in august 2007.

Since then.... I am not taking anything, stop completely to drink and I have those "awake dreams" of seeing people. There is a lot of repetition in this were I just wake up, look at by the window and see lots of people dressed in white rags.

My partner then when she realize this and think I am sleep walking, but the funny thing is that I get very confused because, because I know where I am, can see everything around me, answer to my partner and really feel confuse and kind of ambarrassed as I know this is not real

Any how, I also see people in the house at night in the same state "awake and sleeping" more recently and even feel a kind of wind when walking, but certainly due to cold wind coming from the windows and doors, but again I don't wear any top at night so it does get chilly..... does not happen during the summer.

My own conclusion is simply the fascinating way the mind is working and trying to tell you something. For example I worked really hard in the last few years to change the way I was always rushing, been a workaholic, my parents relationship, and of course I am very creative, looking TV late with many silly shows.

I think since my surgery and legal drugs hallucination, my brain learn on how to create things in a different way, and because I am very creative it just play with me which obviously happen when you are all relaxed and in a semi conscious state. The proof that it is not real is simply that I actually don't interact just watching and that I get really confused when my partner intervene and try to justify why I am standing up at the top of the stairs for 20min in the middle of the night.

Obviously it is not dangerous, but really interesting psychologically....

Maybe you guys are also very creative ? be nice to know !

Smegball · 04-10-2010 11:35pm

Experienced this the other week, was only a few days after one of my close friends died, woke up but facing the wall, so back was turned to the room.

Felt like someone was holding me down, I kept trying to look back but couldn't move and kept saying the name of my friend to stop it, was quite unnerving.

In fact, I've only been living in this house a few months with my new housemates, and have experienced it 3 times, the first time I was convinced there was an old woman at the edge of my bed and felt like she was trying to take me out of the room and down the stairs, was horrible.

The other time just felt like my housemates were standing at edge of bed, I just sat there during this thinking this is nothing and soon went back to sleep.

Its probably one of the weirdest things I've ever experienced, words can't desribe it.

locteau · 05-10-2010 9:33am

I think I am going to open a new thread about my own dreams if any body is interesting, I have a degree in psychology which might help to interpret them a bit, but unfortunately I have a poor knowledge of this kind of topics and the worst part is that I am french

MR.VICE PRESIDENT · 05-10-2010 10:45am

Every week I suffer from it prob 2-3 times.. Does not really bother me anymore.. Can lead too some cool dreams if you just wait it out ..

Goldenegg · 18-10-2010 2:19am

I'm just awake a few minutes after having my second ever sleep paralazis dream and now I'm petrified to go back asleep just incase it happens again.

I have two sets of nail marks on my arm and chest from where I couldn't move but was trying to wake myself. Also woke up crying,obviously recognising the fear in my sleep.

Is there any cure for these dreams or anything as I'm really finding them quite scary! Thanks!

lazlo · 18-10-2010 8:18pm

I suffer from this too. The first few times it was terrifying. I felt as though I was dying. Its still quite shocking but I've become quite desensitised to it now. I even find it interesting and mildly pleasurable

johndaman66 · 18-10-2010 11:36pm

I suffered from sleep paralysis once ever and hopefully never again as it was a bloody nasty and frightening experience. Happened to me about 8/9 months ago and fair to say that between work and family matters I was after having a few stressful days or week even.

Was home at my folks house and if there was a full house would need to share a bedroom with brother as was the case that night. I was just half nodding off to sleep, probably snoozing more than anything. Could vividly see the bedroom door half a jar and brother sort of going in and out of the room brushing his teeth and what not to get ready for bed. Then all of a sudden it seemed some guy was pinning me down to the bed and stopping me from moving even though he wasn't choking me so much. Just stopping my body from moving. My shoulders and hands were pinned down by him and I was really fighting to move this upper part of my body. Legs were pretty much asleep and not part of the struggle if that sort of even half makes sense? Oddly its when I stopped fighting and sort of subconciously resigned myself to it that the struggle stopped and I woke up. I also sort of half knew my brother was around the room and shouted his name, followed by get him off me will you (when struggle was happening).

Then at first when I woke up I assumed it was brother and said to him what the hell was that all about?:D He assured me it wasn't him but told me I was roaring. He couldn't hear what I was saying though.

At a guess it only lasted 15 to 20 seconds but they were very frightening. Hope I never have the same experience again.

STIG83 · 18-10-2010 11:40pm

Ive woke up the whole house a few times screaming in my sleep

lazlo · 23-10-2010 1:08am

MR.VICE PRESIDENT wrote: »

Every week I suffer from it prob 2-3 times.. Does not really bother me anymore.. Can lead too some cool dreams if you just wait it out ..

spot on, you end up looking forward to it! Its horrible the first few times though

Mint Sauce · 10-11-2010 6:59pm

Had the weirdest case of this in the week. Anytime I had it before (couple of times) I was either dreaming I was in my own bed or possibly awakening from a dream of me being in my own bed.

But this one, I was dreaming that I was lying on the edge of a railway platform, with my feet and hands hanging over the edge, I could sense there was a train approaching, couldn't see from what direction but was unable to move out of the way until the last moment.

Didn't have any paralysis after waking but was kinda concious of how I was lying in the bed before going back to sleep again.

A bit freaky at the time.

x3wiggles · 29-11-2010 2:17pm

STIG83 wrote: »

Ive woke up the whole house a few times screaming in my sleep

Same. I wake up people when I get sleep paralysis. It's really embarrassing because you're trying to explain why you're screaming but you wake up disorientated and a little terrified.

STIG83 · 01-12-2010 9:23pm

x3wiggles wrote: »

Same. I wake up people when I get sleep paralysis. It's really embarrassing because you're trying to explain why you're screaming but you wake up disorientated and a little terrified.

Does it happen to you often? Hasnt happened to me in a while, last time it was really bad i woke up my ex girlfriend, it scared the hell out of her

x3wiggles · 01-12-2010 9:48pm

STIG83 wrote: »

Does it happen to you often? Hasnt happened to me in a while, last time it was really bad i woke up my ex girlfriend, it scared the hell out of her

Haha, I've woken up an ex boyfriend with it too. Screaming and wailing in my sleep. He had to shake me to wake me up properly but that made it worse. It's not advised.

According to the Facebook group for sleep paralysis, apparently if you sleep on your side and not on your back, it decreases the risk of SP happening. I've tried it a few times and it works.

I don't get it that often though. It seems to happen at random.

STIG83 · 01-12-2010 10:04pm

x3wiggles wrote: »

Haha, I've woken up an ex boyfriend with it too. Screaming and wailing in my sleep. He had to shake me to wake me up properly but that made it worse. It's not advised.

According to the Facebook group for sleep paralysis, apparently if you sleep on your side and not on your back, it decreases the risk of SP happening. I've tried it a few times and it works.

I don't get it that often though. It seems to happen at random.

And when that happened to me that time, she was trying to calm me, and i whacked her on the mouth, dont worry it wasnt a full on hit, i dont even remember doing it, even her parents heard it but thought it was somebody outside!!

heavyballs · 01-12-2010 10:14pm

calistro wrote: »

I experienced something similar about 10 years ago. Staying at my GF's house, I was sleeping in the spare room and at about 2 or 3am I felt some kind of strange presence in the room. I was wide awake but couldn't move a muscle. I was sleeping on my side, facing the wall and could feel and even see a shadowy figure over, but not actually touching me.

It was like being paralyzed. It lasted for about 7 or eight minutes then I came around, I won't say woke up because I was fully awake during the episode. It scared the life out of me, I even asked the GF's mother if someone had died in the room in the past.!! Has never happened since and I searched a bit on the net for it and came up with the Hag or old hag syndrome. Weird.

very similar to 1 of my experiences,the weird thing about mine was that it was defo of a sexual nature,i won't go into too much detail but it seemed like someone was defo on top of me

btw i went through about 6 months of 'normal' sleep paralysis but this one instance stood out,looking back the sleep paralysis was brought on by a sudden stressfull time in my life

GregoryNimmo · 05-12-2010 2:46am

I'm sorry but there has to be a more thourough explanation for this because the exact same thing happened to me, where i felt like I was being pinned down by an external force. It was really strange and frightening but also kind of intresting :P

Maybe Aliens :O

I went there.

Davsavage · 10-01-2011 7:22pm

My sleep paralysis began a long time ago when I was in my late teens unfortunately.
My first episode was UNREAL! I was sleepy but awake, laying on my bed, then all of a sudden I hear a 'swurling' noise, like wind in my ears, and all of a sudden my eyes were closed and I couldn't move at all...I began to panic and couldn't breath.
I then heard whispering all around me, and the worst thing is - it wasn't a dream, I was fully mentally conscious.
I then looked at the end of my bed and saw a tall dark figure standing there with a massive hood, just staring at me! I couldn't move, talk, shout or breath properly.
I began to try and shout but all i could do was mutter a few small sounds. I tried and tried and eventually muttered 'F*** OFF'. At that point I began to wake up!

When I awoke i was terrified beyond belief...and since then I started getting sleep paralysis as a common occurance. They were a lot different than my first one though! One first one was the only time i could actually mutter a few words...

Since I've been suffering from these for the past few years, I've learned a bit about them, and how to manage them, so if you'd like to check out my webpage you can! I also wrote about a couple of my episodes.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Sleep-Paralysis-Symptoms-Causes-and-Prevention

18AD · 16-01-2011 4:09pm

Davsavage wrote: »

My sleep paralysis began a long time ago when I was in my late teens unfortunately.
My first episode was UNREAL! I was sleepy but awake, laying on my bed, then all of a sudden I hear a 'swurling' noise, like wind in my ears, and all of a sudden my eyes were closed and I couldn't move at all...I began to panic and couldn't breath.
I then heard whispering all around me, and the worst thing is - it wasn't a dream, I was fully mentally conscious.
I then looked at the end of my bed and saw a tall dark figure standing there with a massive hood, just staring at me! I couldn't move, talk, shout or breath properly.

Exact same thing happened to me. It was scary as hell.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_people

Do you know anything about the sensing of a presence in this state? It's very strange.

Good luck.
AD

Davsavage · 16-01-2011 7:52pm

18AD wrote: »

Exact same thing happened to me. It was scary as hell.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_people

Do you know anything about the sensing of a presence in this state? It's very strange.

Good luck.
AD

Oh I'm sorry this happened to you as well! Just know that there are lots of other people with this. The next time it happens, please stay calm, blank your thoughts and figure out your own ways to wake yourself up. Shaking my head works for me.

In relation to your question,

I think sensing of a presence has to be looked at in two ways, in a scientific way and a spiritual way.

From experience, when i let my mind go bananas and start imagining that there might be a presence there, I start to sense that presence and it always appears. So maybe if you dont imagine one there, none will appear.

When I look at it in a spiritual way, I think SP occurs when you are neither awake or asleep, but somewhere like limbo, and not having the security of the being conscious or unconscious you are just more likely to begin to sense things that exist in this 'limbo' state.

Some people think it may be a spirit like a relative or friend trying to contact you, but in most experiences a bad spirit.

p.s. I hope I understood your question right!

Good luck!

Das Kitty · 18-01-2011 9:22pm

It used to happen to me as a kid but I can't remember any of the incidents well. About 5 years ago I had flu and hadn't slept in about 4 days. I was staying on my now in-laws sofa. I remember waking up at some stage and seeing two skinheads crouching on the other side of the room. I rationalised that I was seeing things so stared to wait for what I was really seeing to become apparent, I stayed calm until they stood up and came toward me! I screamed my head off waking myself up and making the skinheads disappear.

Worst thing was not one f***er came to see what was wrong!

A friend of mine is an insomniac and he often sees a little boy just randomly standing around his house, calls him Nathan. Creepy as he'll to hear him talking about him. I can really see how people believe in ghosts if they don't know what's going on.

kerryman12 · 19-01-2011 12:22pm

This has happened to me also, twice over a few years - but not for years now. In both cases In both cases I woke feeling absolutely terrified and angry/aggressive.

The first instance was maybe 12/13 years ago. I was at home in bed asleep on my back. When I wake I am completely paralysed. I look around the room and can see everything, it is dark but I can see the outlines and everything is as I left it that night. I see a small boy at the end of the bed, just standing there looking at me. A feeling of complete terror grips me. I want to move run but cant. The boy slowly moves around and comes up along the side of the bed towards me. I can still see him today, I can also see though him to the rest of the room behind. As he is getting closer I focus all my energy on raising my left hand, but I can’t it is stuck to the bed. Realising that I can’t move my hand and with the boy getting closer still I start to shout out, but no sound will come. I shout louder and louder and eventually wake, screaming. I pivot in the bed and punch the wall next to me, OOOOOuch.
The second time I was t at the in laws, in bed alone again on m y back. As before I wake but I am completely paralysed. Again I can look around the room and can see everything, it is dark but I can see the outlines and everything is as I left it that night. I can see an old lady, she is not a hag – has silver hair, neck length. She is quite tall. She just stands there looking at me. AS before I am in complete terror I want to move but I cant. I can see through her as before. Again I wake shouting.
I can honestly say that to this day I have never experience the same feeling of terror as experience on those two occasions, and sincerely hope I never do again.

common sense brigade · 19-01-2011 2:34pm

I have suffered with Sleep Paralysis over the years. First time being age 23. It was absolutely terrifying. I am lying there awake unable to move and then i hear voices whispering my name. sometimes i see what i think is a witch sitting on my chest. other times i felt the presence of a man who i know means to do me harm. friends and family who have seen this happen to me have also become quite unnerved and frightened. My husband actually sat up terrified one night after witnessing an episode. I have noted just before this happens i am dreaming and my dreams are full os spiders and snakes and foul things then i awake but as i said i cant move. I have a theory myself on this. over the years im convinced the sleep paralysis was connected to my diet. many times over the years i was eating very little each day and im convinced the lack of sugars caused it to happen. Hallucinations as such.In past year i have maintained an extremelly healthy diet and the problem has almost disappeared. Its just a theory!

Mutley2009 · 19-01-2011 4:29pm

for many years I suffered with this too. The SP finally came to an end after I began to study Reiki. I took the Reiki level 1 weekend course and ever since then no SP! :-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reiki

I'm not going to try to explain why I think the Reiki works, as many of you are simply experiencing the SP and do not relate it to the Spiritual World.

But my guess is, regardless of your beliefs, if you book yourself in for a Reiki session (normally 1 hour is €30) you will find your SP will have all but vanished.

smelltheglove · 20-01-2011 10:38pm

I have been suffering for years, I sometimes suffer multiple times in one night its that severe, I had a stage of maybe a year or so when I didnt have any other than that I would be lucky if a couple of weeks went by without.

I had my first ever reiki session late last year, that night I suffered, and again a few nights later, and again multiple times since then. I have heard many people say reiki works but unfortunately it didnt for me.

kerryman12 · 20-01-2011 11:16pm

that is though

18AD · 22-01-2011 5:59am

I had it a few times, as I said. I begain to test myself with it. Now I wish it would happen again. Sadly it doesn't. I've only had some intensey weird dreams since then.

One thing I find that brings on really weird dreams now, is the temperature in my room. Keep it cool to avoid horrible nightmares or turn up the heat to bend your brain. Clockwork.

Azureus · 22-01-2011 3:03pm

Ok so Ive had something a few times recently but I dont know if its what you guys are talking bout...
Ive never seen shadows or outlines or any of that stuff, but a few times lately I have had this thing where my whole body freezes. I feel like I am fully awake but I cant move a muscle, I try to scream but no noise comes out, at most the tiniest peep even though ALL my enwergy is going into it. Its like there are really intense pins and needles all over my body, making me unable to move, paralysed and stiff. Once I felt like there was somebody there but I couldnt see them and heard no noises...

Weird. I never knew what it was and it was startin to really really freak me.

Sleep Paralysis/Hallucinations.

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