I've been having these episodes since I was 7, 3-4 times a wk. Mom said it was bad spirits. I am now 32, and I can honestly say I had only had maybe 6 episodes from 17 yrs old up until a few months ago. Now I have 1-3 a week, and worse than ever before. My son started having them at 7 also. We moved to MS last year, my son was 9. My kids complained of noises in our new home, but only 1 son has the episodes, during 1 he saw a shadow and now refuses to sleep w/o a light. I had never seen anything during mine before until we moved here and it is getting worse. 2 episodes ago I woke up paralized and panicked because I felt like there was a ghost in the room with me, then I saw it. The black shadow floated toward me and it entered my body through my chest(I saw it!)I felt an electrical buzz surging throughout my body & head,there was a very loud semi- hi pitch rythmic beat,I felt violent throbbing in the back of my head,(not painful though),my body trembled all over, heart racing,and I felt the most uncontrollable fear imagineable. The shadow then went away,came right back and it happened all over again. I thought this time I would surely die of fear if not a heart attack first. I really thought there was something evil attacking me,I did not know about sleep paralysis until yesterday. I saw a nuerologist and he said I might have a sleep disorder and then I found this website. I am so glad I am not going crazy and that my house is not haunted. I was beginning to think so, and so was my husband. (that I was crazy)I was trying to convince him we needed to sell the house and move.