Sleep paralysis experience.

[niantix]

Im 20 this year, and Ive only had 3 dreams like this that i can recall, but the other night was the worst out of the 3. It started off with my dad just saying that while i was asleep some crazy woman ran into our house and was being a complete lunatic towards them all, so then i went off to bed and i was laying on my side facing my window when i started to worry that maybe the woman was in my room, so i started to turn my head to have a check, and as i did, this shadow figure came out of nowhere, so fast and latched itself onto my neck.

It felt like it was biting me, so i was cringing my neck trying to stop it biting me. I knew i was asleep, but i couldnt wake myself up, i was lying there completely unable to move, with this shadow at my neck, and i was telling my brain it was a dream, but it meant nothing, extreme panic was going through me, and it was like i could feel the pain caused from whatever it was doing, i tried desperately to get a scream through my dream so that it would come out in reality in hopes my dad or someone would come in and wake me up, because i physically couldnt wake up, even though i knew it was just a dream. Finally i managed to open my eyes and i was too scared to fall back asleep straight away incase it happened again.

It felt so real though, and i woke up in the morning after sleeping again and it was like i could feel the actual pain that the shadow had caused from biting me, and i had to look in the mirror to make sure i had no marks on me. It left me in a really bad mood because i was tired and scared and upset at how real it felt even though i knew i was dreaming at the time. .

Last night as i was going to sleep i just felt terrified, i knew that clearly its something in your head thats happening during the REM cycle or whatever, but i was still extremely scared to actually fall asleep, that when i finally did, i was pretty much waking up within every hour, i think my body was doing it so that on purpose because of how frightened i was to go into REM sleep and have that horror wash over me again, that my body would wake up constantly not allowing me to go into that sleep.

I've heard a lot of stories about peoples experiences, with this sleep paralysis, but why exactly does it happen, and why are everyones experiences so similar, dark shadows, noises, a sense that their is evil around. Why is it never you can be paralyzed and just feel like your missing out on something good? not that you're fearing youre about to be attacked.

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

This happens to everybody. During sleep, the body cycles between non-REM and REM sleep. Typically, people begin the sleep cycle with a period of non-REM sleep followed by a very short period of REM sleep. Dreams generally occur in the REM stage of sleep.

Intense dreaming occurs during REM sleep as a result of heightened brain activity, but paralysis occurs simultaneously in the major voluntary muscle groups. REM is a mixture of encephalic (brain) states of excitement and muscular immobility. For this reason, it is sometimes called paradoxical sleep. Hence you cannot scream or call during the dreaming phase.

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.

[slakedlime]

Well mine is not so dramatic. This may have been the second time, i dont remember the first. This incident occured while i was staying in a hostel single room in chandigarh, India. It may have been midnight or early 2 or 3 in morning cause all was very quiet. Dont remember what made me wake up. I had my eyes open lying on my back, not exactly spreadeagle but close. It seemed to me as if something or somebody had pinned me to the bed by my legs and arms rendering me immobile. I tried to move my legs and my arms and also to turn sideways and get up but to no avail. The frightening aspect of the whole incident is how lucid the entire experiance is like as if really you are awake. i mean there is no way of telling if this is real or dream. as you can guess i panicked and the thoughts of all the ghost movies i have seen of late but thank fully i had not seen one the last night. i could not move my head but i think maybe i way rolling my eyeballs in all directions to have a better view of the room. i dont think i could do that, i dont remember. i was straining to see what was or who was pinning me down dreading the thought of seeing something horrendous or ghosts. But thankfully there was none. i dont remember the rest.

if this is a trick played by our own minds then really you can do nothing about it, nothing. and when it happens, it happens.