Anyone here ever experience sleep paralysis?

[cuberdrift]

Recently had one. It was so terrible it felt like something seized me, and started crushing my brain, sort of trying to pull of my soul from my body or something. I was even slightly curious, so I even allowed that thing to squeeze my brain even more, but I was afraid I might die so I made it stop, and stop it did. 

Anyone experience similar sensations?

[hardy_practice]

Yeh.  In olden times it was put down to demons sitting on your chest.  It happens any time you suddenly wake up from rem sleep.

[indianajo]

yeah, your body paralyzes you so you won't hurt yourself sleepwalking. 
In 1985 my boss called me on a business trip 30 minutes after I fell asleep in the motel, to remind me to set the alarm clock for morning.  I couldn't get the covers off me, I couldn't find the light switch, the phone kept ringing, it was horrible.  Then in my stupor I tried to do what he said, and screwed up the already set alarm clock so it didn't go off at all in the morning.  That was a disaster, all my fault according to his point of view. 
I knew this about myself, one reason I didn't volunteer for airborne Ranger school.  Real soldiers don't sleep like logs at night, as I do. 

[swagmaster420x]

yeah, your body paralyzes you so you won't hurt yourself sleepwalking. 

REally? Evidence?

[dcstudio]

I have had this for years and years...it's terrifying.  I have had it so much that I recognize it when it happens--and it still scares the crap out of me.   It's subsided a bit now that I am older--but I had an episode just the other day..

I have out of body type feelings when this happens sometimes too. 

There is no cure--sleeping pills only made it worse and then you walk around like a zombie.  Some prescription meds (especially painkillers) really bring it on.  If you go to the dentist--don't take the pain pills right before bed...I have had some really bad episodes that way.   

I do know that the presence you feel with you during these episodes will be whatever you fear the most...  religious people sense demons usually--but others sense rats or burglars or even aliens. 

I hate that I can't scream or even speak--if I could just yell then my husband would wake me up--but I can't move my lips or make a sound.

I have also noticed that it tends to happen most often when I am stressed out about something. It's never been so bad that it's debilitating or anything--but it is scary as hell.

[indianajo]

REally? Evidence?

Here is the first paragraph of wikipedia on sleep:
Sleep is associated with a state of muscle relaxation and reduced perception of environmental stimuli.
Sleep is a naturally recurring state of mind characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited sensory activity, inhibition of nearly all voluntary muscles, and reduced interactions with surroundings.[1]
the chemical that inhibits the voluntary muscles has been named on PBS Nova but I can't find it in the wikipedia article right away.
I would say panicing because of the paralysis of sleep is a symptom of ignorance.  Being wakened from a deep sleep and finding onself paralyzed is totally normal and nothing to worry about.  If one looks for a cause in demonology instead of science you may get caught up in a lot of worrisome stories. 

[cuberdrift]

I have out of body type feelings when this happens sometimes too.

Really? Like what?

I do know that the presence you feel with you during these episodes will be whatever you fear the most...  religious people sense demons usually--but others sense rats or burglars or even aliens.

Now that you mention that, maybe it's also because I've been watching too much Bela Lugosi. lol.

I remember sleeping alone in the room and the lights were off. I was taking a nap after a particularly tiring day. MAN did I have a really long dream, and not a good one. Not a good one at all. I think the darkness made me feel like I was in hell. And then I woke up and couldn't move. You could just imagine the feeling. I felt like I just came from another strange, malevolent planet or realm.

I hate that I can't scream or even speak--if I could just yell then my husband would wake me up--but I can't move my lips or make a sound.

Hmm...I don't know, maybe I'll learn the right mental technique to counter it eventually. Perhaps it's just like piano.

I have also noticed that it tends to happen most often when I am stressed out about something. It's never been so bad that it's debilitating or anything--but it is scary as hell.

Yeah I know. The night before that happened I was preoccupied with some really downer thoughts, things that disturbed me a lot. I guess that was a major contributor.

And by the way, you know what's even creepier? I checked the clock after I regaind control of my body that time (the one I described in my original post). It said 3:15. My clock is 15 minutes advanced.

3:00 AM. 

There's just something really eerie about that time period. My friend used to tell me of how "something" would wake him up regularly and at 3:00 AM...man, this is just plain creepy...

[dcstudio]

Once during an episode of sleep paralysis I drifted up and floated down the hall and downstairs.  I saw my husband and my daughter watching Raider's of the Lost Ark.   I woke up and went downstairs and they were sitting exactly like I had seen them and they had just started watching Raiders...yeah freaky freaky stuff.

One time I saw the grim reaper--which was especially unnerving--he was huge with a black cloak and he walked right in front of my bed.   My stepfather crashed his plane and died two days later... totally freaky.

There are two schools of thought on this--the psychological scientific it means nothing type--and the it's secret messages or aliens or whatever.  It has been around forever...it's what a "nightmare" originally was.., they called it "old hag."   Most people saw an old crone who sat on their chest and stopped them from breathing.

You seem to already have some control if you were able to stop the "soul-crusher" in your dream.   From an analysis standpoint--there is something in your life that you are being forced to do  or doing for the wrong reasons.   That to continue on this path will mean "losing your soul" so to speak...  think about it...and the answer will come.  Usually, this means you have come through a very traumatic experience as well.  (this is just dream analysis--not the psychic friends network..lol)

but I often wake up at 3am too... for whatever that's worth.

[cuberdrift]

Wow...this is getting creepier than I had expected.

Once during an episode of sleep paralysis I drifted up and floated down the hall and downstairs.  I saw my husband and my daughter watching Raider's of the Lost Ark.   I woke up and went downstairs and they were sitting exactly like I had seen them and they had just started watching Raiders...yeah freaky freaky stuff.

You sure this is true?  

You weren't like, sleep-walking or anything? They didn't say you "sleep-walked" down or something, and brought you back to bed?

One time I saw the grim reaper--which was especially unnerving--he was huge with a black cloak and he walked right in front of my bed.   My stepfather crashed his plane and died two days later... totally freaky.

Wow. Sounds mythological already.

If that happens to me, though, maybe it would be Bela Lugosi who'd appear in front of me. That'd be scary but entertaining at the same time.  

You seem to already have some control if you were able to stop the "soul-crusher" in your dream.   From an analysis standpoint--there is something in your life that you are being forced to do  or doing for the wrong reasons.   That to continue on this path will mean "losing your soul" so to speak...  think about it...and the answer will come.  Usually, this means you have come through a very traumatic experience as well.  (this is just dream analysis--not the psychic friends network..lol)

My father actually died just a few months ago and of course I'm pretty depressed nowadays. I don't sob randomly, but I know my entire life ahead will undoubtedly be lonelier than it once was. Life sort of feels like a desolate dream now. And the time I had that soul-crushing dream I was thinking of him and all the uncomfortable moments I had with him. If you've read dementors in Harry Potter, I think that that was basically how I was feeling at that moment. I think that had been the culprit of it.

I had also recently been developing some sort of "obsessive-compulsive disorder" or something...I have an obsession with guilt. I feel like every "wrong" thing I do will cause bad things to happen to me, and those happen because God is mad at me. It's like some kind of really angsty entity in my brain that shouts at all the bad things I do and yells at me to better confess it, or you'll regret it, yadda yadda. And it's been kinda freaking me out, but thankfully, after some earnest praying and reflection, I've learned to look at things logically and I am coping with it.

Let me describe this "soul-crusher" thing. Oddly enough, I had it when I was half-asleep (about to fall asleep), and in my mind I saw some kind of vision (not really clear, I think it's more of my imagination) of the cross of Christ, a bright yellow-white or something, glowing in front of my eyes; it "entered" my chest area and "seized" my entire being.

You know the ecstatic feeling during a performance? Multiply that several times over. Yup. I know, you'd probably have a seizure. Your mind would go nuts. That is exactly how I felt. And I was feeling like some spirit or angel or something wanted me to go to the "other side" (whatever the heck that was, maybe it was heaven or something, maybe it wanted me to die that moment, whatever lol)...my father's death, of course, made me intensely curious about the afterlife, and maybe this spirit thing senses my curiosity and in my mind I felt like it wanted me to give in to my curiosity.

But when I started doing so, the crushing feeling multiplied. Finally I gave up, I mentally said "No, I can't do this, I'm not ready to die yet" or something, so somehow I regained control of my body.

Then I check the clock and find out it's 3:00 AM.

Really freaky experience, but somehow thrilling at the same time. Like some kind of psychological roller coaster.

but I often wake up at 3am too... for whatever that's worth.

I'll start looking this up now. What is it with 3am...?

[dcstudio]

not a sleepwalker...lol.   It's true--or as true as I believe it to be.  Who knows--maybe I just heard the "raiders" theme while I was sleeping and it was a dream...still freaky.

I am sorry for your loss...  the death of a parent is life changing.   I am getting the feeling that something about this has to do with the piano, though.  You have chosen to share this here--and you have mentioned the piano twice in connection with it.  You have also mentioned Bela Lugosi twice as well--Dracula?  Also a taker of souls..  what you are dealing with is pretty dark--your imagery is very descriptive.   The dementers from HP?  wow.  Your relationship was strained with your father when he died?  You are wrestling with this guilt pretty harshly.

Realize that this kind of trauma causes your mind to do some funky things.  Sleep-paralysis is a textbook sign of post traumatic stress.  It is a manifestation of the helplessness you are feeling. That's from an analytical point of view...

but...on a more spiritual note...

 Odd that I mentioned the death of my stepfather--when I had no idea that your father had died...

You are seeking proof that there is something more out there after the death of your father (the "other realm" you mentioned)...and maybe you've found something...it's overwhelming when that happens... shakes your reality to the core.


3am?  I remember the guy in the Amityville Horror claimed to wake each night at 3:14am or something...and that was about the time that DeSalvo murdered his family in that house...

that's the only time I've heard that though.

[cuberdrift]

I am sorry for your loss...  the death of a parent is life changing.   I am getting the feeling that something about this has to do with the piano, though.  You have chosen to share this here--and you have mentioned the piano twice in connection with it.

Yeah I'm sorry for yours, too. Life is still long ahead for me, as far as I can see it, and all I can do to think is that death is part of the process, part of our reality. There was a time I became suddenly more 'spiritual' after the event - I immersed myself in prayer, and sort of found that one way to cope with the tragedy is to accept that all people leave us sometime in our lives, and that I feel that there's an afterlife, and to accept God as part of reality, not just some kind of mythological character (I have never actually been an atheist, but there were lots of times I doubted that there was God).

You have also mentioned Bela Lugosi twice as well--Dracula?  Also a taker of souls..  what you are dealing with is pretty dark--your imagery is very descriptive.   The dementers from HP?  wow.

Are you saying that my fascination with fictional villains could somehow cause some of this?

Your relationship was strained with your father when he died?  You are wrestling with this guilt pretty harshly.

No not really, although life became a struggle for my family those moments when he had the sickness.

Actually, it's more of my mind being overly-critical and looking at his flaws and mistakes while he was alive. The dead have a tendency to be more honoured and respected than the living. Cultures whose people worship their late ancestors is quite a common thing. So I was sort of thinking - was he really that perfect a person? And then my mind hovered on to all the times he demonstrated what I perceived as unruly behaviour, etc. hence the 'dementor' feeling.

It wasn't a pleasant feeling of course. But there's more to life than dwelling on the bad.

Odd that I mentioned the death of my stepfather--when I had no idea that your father had died...

Yeah but yours was kinda freaky. Mine occured because of his death, yours seemed to cause his death.

You are seeking proof that there is something more out there after the death of your father (the "other realm" you mentioned)...and maybe you've found something...it's overwhelming when that happens... shakes your reality to the core.

I haven't exactly "found" anything, but my OCD has sort of made me extremely superstitious. Like I've said, it's changed a bit for the bettter lately, but undoubtedly by father's death partially caused it.

I always feared with my heart this would happen. I'd stop and brood on it and sometimes I'd even gather tears. This was months before his death. I was scare that God would choose to inflict some kind of pain on me - you know, standard life drama stuff - to turn me into something "great" - notably like Franz Liszt, who experienced a situation similar to mine.

It wasn't his death per se that is truly saddening, more of the fact that I won't be with him for the rest of my life. And if I ever believed that should this tragedy happen, I would have a boost in my piano playing. Well, not really. I have the feeling that his death really didn't do us any good at all.

But, perhaps things will change in the future. Like Liszt, I, for a short time, thought priesthood was a good idea...

I don't think I've heard any mystery stories about sleep paralysis until now. Until now, I thought it was just a sleep disorder, nothing mystical about it. Now I want to research those superstitions about it...

[dcstudio]

Are you saying that my fascination with fictional villains could somehow cause some of this?

not at all..  I am saying you are using the imagery--you are associating this somehow.  I am going more on the words you repeat and the way you describe things then the actual event.  Forgive me--I took a lot- of psyche classes...and I am a few fries short of a happy meal myself sometimes...lol 

When you are locking something up--or stuffing your emotions--for whatever reason...  they will always find a way out...you just won't always be aware of it. Subliminally you will reveal through your words what the problem is--through association--or disassociation--as the case may be.

The first rule of standard dream analysis is that you are everything in your dream..you are the "soul-crusher" and  you are the one paralyzing yourself.  If you concentrate on remembering the feelings you had during your dream then things will make more sense.

Now you have  mentioned Liszt as well...   

So now we have Bela Lugosi and Franz Liszt and the Dementors...  ask yourself what these three entities have in common and why you chose to associate them with your sleep paralysis.

[Bob]

I think I've got a post on this somewhere on here.  I've run into it on the weekends.  Wake up, have some caffeine, fall asleep... And then... Someone's approaching... They're in the house... Getting closer.... Closer.... But I know I'm asleep and it might not be real... and I need to pull myself out of the sleep but I can't...

The most memorable one was when I actually woke up and swore a door was closed for a second when it wasn't.  I was actually awake and moving around, but was still trying to figure out if I was asleep.


Another time was falling asleep in a practice room.  I still don't know whether some students or a piano tech actually walked by.  Some effect though.... Here they come, wake up, wake up...

[senanserat]

Never had one and reading this I am grateful, what I do have experienced is night terrors it has been a couple years since I think, but I used to wakeup screaming and running.