Poll: Sleep Paralysis

[Brian Name]

I got this every night for about a week. It's effing terrifying. Didn't see any shadow bloke though.

Never. I've heard that a lot of people see creepy old women in their sleep paralysis episodes.

I've also heard that sleep paralysis happens more when you sleep on your back with your face up. Can anyone confirm this? I sleep sprawled out on my front like a dead guy, so maybe that helps.

Yeah, every time I get it I'm on my back, facing up. I asked a doctor about it one time, she said it was a medical phenomenon that happens to loads of people. Scary.

 

[Zykon TheLich]

This is likely to give you the shivers:
http://www.stevepavlina.com/forums/...-we-see-during-sleep-paralysis.html#post39301

Although related in cause, the nightmares were definitely not sleep paralysis. There are common things that people dream about in certain situations, for example, having your teeth fall out in dreams (something else I've experienced repeatedly) is associated with feelings of losing control.

 

[Volstag9]

once i had it I witnessed some black shape run up my stairs and try to jump on me (i was on my couch and you can see the stairs from my couch) i woke up before that tho

 

[ElephantGuts]

I think you should all know what I was officially freaked the fuck out thinking about this thread last night. I'm even more thankful that I've never experienced this because if I hallucinated a ghost or demon thing I would be fucking ruined. I can handle scary movies and things, but if I experienced something I think I would seriously freak out. And I manage to realize this without even experiencing anything like it, so imagine how bad it would actually be. I don't want to.

 

[Abedeus]

I have them, pretty often (and I woke up as soon as I realised I can't move my leg). Or at least I used to have, because thankfully I no longer experience it.

My friend, on the other hand, had a very realistic "dream" where she was lying in her bed, and a black shape of a human appeared in her room and when she looked at him, he started moving closer and closer, but when she closed her eyes and opened again, he was at the end of the room. And when she looked at him again, he resumed his movement. But as soon as he moved 50cm to her, she woke up...

Creepy.

 

[bad rider]

God I hate sleep paralysis, because i used to get it when i slep in an awkward position so i woke up and felt uncomfortable for 10-20 minutes.

You really shouldn't hate it. It's natural to feel uncomfortable or even scared shitless when it happens to you, but now that there's an explanation for it, I'm looking forward to it happening to me again, so that I can try to explore it. It would be like lucid dreaming, where you know that you're dreaming & you control the world around you, except you're slightly awake, so MAYBE you can control what you see in the dream-infused real-world.

Wait i shouldn't hate feeling uncomfortable for 10-20 minutes.... besides i've never had anything funky go on, i would just wake up during a long car journey and be unable to move.

 

[runtheplacered]

The reason for your sleep paralysis is because you're waking up while you were still in REM. And yes, you do tend to hallucinate during this phase.

Taking Klonopin or some other Clonazapam is supposed to help if it's an actual chronic problem.

 

[Seydaman]

those black men are called shadow people, black silhouettes of people, know to conduct acts of violence and scare people shitless

 

[PsykoDragon]

mmmm... I keep looking back at the time I saw the shadow man, & I've been wondering... It's almost as though that silhouette looked like MY silhouette. I really don't believe there's some psychological problem in me that would warrant me hallucinating my own silhouette strangling me, & I'm not even sure if it WAS a silhouette of me...

 

[Amoreyna]

Never. I've heard that a lot of people see creepy old women in their sleep paralysis episodes.

I've also heard that sleep paralysis happens more when you sleep on your back with your face up. Can anyone confirm this? I sleep sprawled out on my front like a dead guy, so maybe that helps.

According to studies done by university researchers - yes sleeping on your back tends to be the most common postion for sleep paralysis to occur in. You can have it occur in any sleep position though. I wish I still had the link to a Canadian researcher but you can google it and find out all sorts of details.

I've had it happen several times which seemed to occur in a 6 month time period after I had gotten a really bad concussion from a car accident. Only the first time was scary but I think I just felt more vunerable. I was on my stomach with my head laying on one side faacing the wall.

I haven't seen anything like what the OP mentioned though I have seen several shadowy type figures during these episodes. Thankfully I haven't had one in about 7 months. Can't say that I miss them.

 

[GreyMorality]

I have had sleep paralysis atleast six times. I remember one time I was laying on my back and there was a shadow creature on me eating before it crawled off across the room. The odd thing for me is that every time I get like this I feel my heart beat throughout my whole body even shortly I manage to wake up

 

[orifice]

The only 'void man' I ever saw was while I was awake and outside walking around. It was at night in a semi derelict industrial area. It was a six foot tall solid human shaped black shadow.
No sleep paralysis that I remember, but one 'dream' where I was being attacked by a whole bunch of them. I woke the next morning shaking, nauseous and physically drained.

 

[101194]

The Void Child still fucking scares me every fucking thursday. That scary *****, I can't even sleep nowing shes there.

 

[gamebrain89]

I have had this happen too. One other thing is once in a while while I am laying in bed, I will "trip" and my legs will involuntarily try and catch me. its a really weird sensation. you not moving, laying on your stomach or side, theres no way you could fall, but your body takes over and tries to stop you from tripping.

 

[TheGhostOfSin]

I've had the SP twice, I had no idea what it was.
Thanks that's been creeping me out for a while, didn't see a void guy though.
Both times were when my girlfriend was here, I had my eyes wide open but couldn't move or speak and apparently I was breathing very heavily, I had to be shook before I could move again.

That scared the shit out of me, I thought I'd died or something.

 

[Beckaa]

I get the tripping thing at least once or twice a week. It's usually JUST as I feel I'm about to go to sleep, then my body trips awake again. And I have to spend another few hours trying to get it back to sleep again ;]

 

[Blue Sonnet]

I've had it a few times, not usually with hallucinations, but I have seen the man and a giant spider, although not at the same time.

It's supposed to occur most often when someone is sleep deprived, and when they have just been asleep, as opposed to just starting. The "feeling of doom" (doctors tend to use this term as well) is well known - everyone I've spoken to who has experienced SP has felt as if they were about to die, but they couldn't say for certain why this was.

The only other time I've heard of this "feeling of doom" is when certain drugs are administered, such as the one used to slow down an abnormally fast heart rate.

 

[Mrsoupcup]

I had it once and though I herd a child screaming, so the one finger I could move I pushed my arm then when that could move I moved my body then when I got up the screaming stopped and the whole room changed coulors all of a sudden like I was asleep. Pissed myself ten seconds later.

 

[zacaron]

I have some mild sleep paralisis
when I goto sleep if I fall In my dream I can feel my body jerk and I can feel my body but the dream continues so its realy weird but I havent seen anything scary.

 

[jlt2243]

I've had sleep paralysis a dozen times, but never with the shadow being. I just woke up screaming from sleep paralysis, and the shadow thing was sitting on my room mates bed just staring at me. Probably one of the scariest things I've ever experienced, and now I am petrified of going back to sleep in that room. Absolutely awful.