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Classic Archive Merged: Sleep Paralysis?

Sleep Paralysis is something I know quite a bit about.

You are correct, in my opinion, in the assumption that is normally happens at times of great illness or stress. My sister has many stresses at the moment, some of which are quite major and can (on a good night, or bad night depending how you look at it) get sleep paralysis 20 times a night. she keeps diaries of when and how etc etc but since coming off of a certain medication, i cant remember the name of it, it has decreased dramatically. she has asked her doctor to be put forward for some sort of sleep study but he doesnt seem interested. she gets very twitchy round bedtime and is sometimes very worried about going to sleep as she knows its going to happen. she has (understandably) developed a real phobia about it, expecially the "hag" variety which she gets from time to time along with the standard "person standing in the corner of the room but just out of sight" scenario.

I have had it only three times, once at a time of great stress and twice since I found out that I have cancer, so once again following the illness and stress curve. The last time I had it I could feel someone pulling at my left hand but i knew there was no-one there as I had realised by then that I was in sleep paralysis. My baby was in her moses basket on my left so that's probably what tirggered that - a feeling of protection towards her.

a very interesting subject but very scary if it happens to you. we have quite a lot of epilepsy in our family and although neither me or my sister have epilepsy I am positive that it is all linked.
 
This is a fasinating thread and I relate to all the messages. Have always had erratic sleep patterns and the very occiasonal wierdness associated with that. i.e

When I was a really small kid I was given Penicillian, I went into a vivid hallucinatory realm of huge fungus's-which suddenly fell into place when I found out years later, where Pencillian comes from-FUNGUS!! anways as a result my mum was told I was allergic to it!
When I was a slightly older kid i was convinced for a while little men came out of my cupboard. I'm a skeptic but you can never be sure....Budd Hopkins here I come...
I had a wierd old hag/demonic entity in Mauritius which was terrifying, a large dark black mass, I was sure it was some Haitian centuries old demon.....but now know it know it was "Sleep Paralyis"-fingers crossed
But there is two things that I've expierienced a few times,that haven't been mentioned on this thread:

A noise building up quite quickly, like the sound of a rioting crowd charging towards your house/street,you wake up and everything is cool, no riots!

and

The sense of being in the presence of something kinda dark matter/brainlike, in a black domed enviroment, the mass is is gargutuan but at the same time the size of atoms. This is really freaky and hasn't happened for years, but it was a strange sensation when you wake.

Any ideas?


:eek!!!!:
 
I had my first - and hopefully, last - sleep paralysis 'incident' the other day. I fell asleep in the car (I was the passenger!) at a strange angle, and woke up but could only see black, was unable to open my eyes or move anything, but I could hear the car radio. Not nice!

I managed to 'get out of it' by trying to move my legs, then my eyes, then trying to breathe faster, which worked. :cross eye
 
SP- Spiritual People??? (NOT)

Come on people SP is what it is. A block between sleep and consciousness that may for some and may not for others be brought on at times of abnormal stress. I say abnormal knowing full well what is normal to some is not to others so forgive me in advance for my use of such controversial words. I don't want to start a debate. By the way when I was young I believed in the BOOGIE MAN. Maybe I still do. I had a fever that caused halusinations of a giant crab that was in the hallway where we lived and it was making alot of noise so I asked my dad to get rid of it. Clowns make me nervous. And if anybody remembers a couple of kiddie shows called "Lidsville" & H.R. Puff & Stuff. I've always felt that they had some kind of black auro about them that today I describe as being satanic. It is just how I feel about it. No facts or even something that was ever suggested to me its just how I feel about some things. BUT NONE OF THAT HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH SP. All these episodes you people describe, quite elegantley in some cases are dreams. SP plays a part in the experience that makes it unique. Yet it is only a malfunction. Not some kind of near death experience. My Fear was the paralysing part I could feel myself not being able to move and cause it went from my head down I thought when it gets strong enough it will paralyse my heart. All I could do was wait unable to move or stop it yet I was cappable of analysing my situation and conclude its impending doom. But now I'm sure it is not fatal, well pretty sure anyway. And really think people are trying to make this some kind of wonderful. So if the demons are watching you sleep again and again. See a doctor who'll recomend a mental health specialist. No stress, No SP. The alternative is WHAT???? A nervous break down???
The industrial age brought us "The Nervous Break Down"
Then came the Burned Out executives
The information age has given us "SP"????


"BUT THE REAL BLAME GOES TO CIGARETTES WHICH HAS CAUSED ALL OF THIS".--- Who do I Sue???

I now fear all the things I've eaten and enjoyed and I still eat. BUT I ASK MYSELF "what have they done to us?" --- WHY????

forget smog, smoke, nicotine, guns, street drugs, it is the things they put in food for what ever reason. That is what is killing us, health food junk food its all the same 20 years from now what will they tell us is wrong and what will they sell us to save us????

WHY?? WHY?? WHY??
 
Re: SP- Spiritual People??? (NOT)

jeff863 said:
I had a fever that caused halusinations of a giant crab that was in the hallway where we lived and it was making alot of noise so I asked my dad to get rid of it.
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Ah, now hallucinations - they're fun. Or can be at times. It's like meditating or brainstorming. Knowing me, I would have gotten up to play with the crab:D - prodded it with a stick or something.
 
I replied to this post way back about my SP experience, it had been a very real physical experience in which I was fully conscious and in control of my mind (though obviously not my body).

More recently I've had a further bout of SP, about 5 times in 6 weeks. This time, the experience has been very different.

One such time I awoke to find myself laid on my right side facing out across the room, my leg was sticking out from beneath the covers but I was unable to move my leg back.

Remembering back to my previous SP experience, I had learned concentrating everything into moving my fingers, then my hand, and on to my arm seemed to alleviate the paralysis.

I was struggling to stay awake; in fact I found it harder to fight to keep my eyes from closing and my mind in focus than to lift my arm. It took about 30 seconds to lift my arm from the bed, but when it had reached about 3 inches up, I "snapped out" of the paralysis, the sleepiness had gone as well! Like when you suddenly wake from a dream.

Looking around the room, it seemed somehow "different" to it was when I was paralysed, not least due to the fact both my legs where under the covers!

from http://www.sciforums.com/

Paralysis while asleep is the normal condition. The body secretes hormones which relax certain muscles and prevent you from acting out your dreams. If it didn’t you would be in quite some danger every time you went to sleep.

The process of waking up might seem quite simple to you. But it’s actually a complex process involving many physiological changes. One of these is the reversal of the paralysis. People experience sleep paralysis when the hormone doesn’t wear off fast enough as they wake up. They remain paralysed though conscious. Because they have little sensation from their body, if they are lying on their backs, it can feel like someone is sitting on their chest. Eventually the paralysis departs and normal functions can be resumed.
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The above would explain perfectly everything I felt during my first experience, but not the one I have recounted here, it was almost as if my eyes were open and seeing, but everything being integrated into a dream.

This raises the question, is there more than one type of sleep paralysis?

-Kornflake™
 
Sleep paralysis

:confused: These stories are very interesting in that there seem to be commonalities that have me wondering: First assuming that my brain controls body movement and that certain parts of the brain are more/less active during light rem sleep like when you are just falling asleep or just waking up. I wonder if many people have, for whatever reason, at certain times, a slight strange brain synapse close to rem sleep that triggers both physical paralysis and confused sensory "signals" due to some type of "surge" that would both highlight your creative subconscious while sparking a part of the brain that stores any type of fear reaction. And maybe this combination can be so powerful as to create auditory and visual hallucinations also. It seems as though the feelings of doom and pressure in the chest are universal, and (I have not read all of the posts) most people end up on their backs when this happens(?) If this plagues you, it would be interesting and maybe extremely helpful to see if some sort of sleep disturbance research place could monitor your sleep and help you. I do remember very clearly a dream I had at age 8 or so that i walked through an alley and someone grabbed me from behind by putting both hands on my waist and I awoke to find myself completely paralysed, still feeling this person holding on to me and terrified, and then gradually concentrated on recovering my senses, during which the whole thing faded. But the sense of touch was the last thing to be recovered.

Could any of that make any kind of sense?:confused:
 
Wierd..

Last night was wierd. I went to bed and presumably went off to sleep fairly quickly. I don't know how long I'd been asleep or what I was dreaming about. Saying that, I was probably still in the rem stage. Anyway, I can remember hearing a really loud clashing sound coming from downstairs in the kitchen. I thought my cat had knocked something off the worktops-she's a bit of a night prowler lol It sounded like crockery falling and smashing. The noise startled me into a sense where I was then awake.. or at least I thought I was? :rolleyes:
The next thing that happened was really wierd.
I can remember looking out of the bedroom window to see a man stood in my garden, he looked very suspicious. So, I started to shout real bad obsceneties at him at the top of my voice, telling him to get the f*ck out of my garden, I was even banging on the window at him! Yet the more I tried to shout, the harder I found it to make myself heard. It came out as if my lips were stuck together and I was gagged?! I could have swore that I was actually shouting it, mumbling it to myself to the point where it woke me up. It was like a sleep paralysis in the sense that I was shouting and screaming but nothing would come out of my mouth, it was as if my lips were stuck together.
I'm into dreams and their meanings and I too am aware of the subconcience waking up in our dreams, trying to send us messages, signs. That was the first type of dream where I wasn't sure if I was awake or asleep. Lately, I've felt as if I haven't been heard, eg getting my point across to close people in my life so maybe that was the message. When I got up this morning, I expected to find some smashed crockery in my kitchen, or at least something... but there was nothing out of place.
I feel sorry for anyone who suffers from or experiences sleep paralysis on a regular basis.
 
Off Topic, and sorry for this but.....

Can anyone explain the incidence of drooling during sleep? Why would one drool and has anyone ever drowned in their own drool?
:(
 
Interestingly excessive drooling is common with the antipsychotic medication Clozapine, (one of its side-effects), anti-nausea drugs like the Scopoderm patches are effective in tackling this, they basically dry up the saliva. There are others. Don't try any of these medications until you've talked to your doctor though!

Another method is a plastic covered pillow and wedging a pillow behind your back so you sleep on your side. Ok it don't stop the excessive salivation but you don't wake up feeling like you are choking and it stops the pillow going mouldy.

I've seen a few people with this side effect and it can be pretty distressing although no one I know has drowned yet! However this is all been Clozapine related, if your not on Clozapine then its something else, but I would'nt freak out about it though,( Lord Shiva-I'm not saying your suffer from sleep-related excessive salivation you could just be unnaturally interested in the subject)

:eek!!!!:

If it is a problem then see your doctor, he or she will be able to find out the cause and fix it.
 
Shelli, I had a few years when I was depressed and needed help but didn't know if I was being melodramatic - no one would take me seriously and laughed it off or told me to pull myself together, etc. - and I used to have LOADS of dreams like the one you had. Sometimes, when I woke up, my throat used to be aching it felt so tight and tense as if I'd been straining to shout in my sleep but nothing ever came out and I felt really frustrated trying to talk to people all around me in the dream. But the thing that interests me is the crashing sound downstairs as that does sound like a common feature of the experience. There's usually an unusual sound that 'wakens' you or alerts you, and the panic/fear seeps in. That's why its so difficult to tell if you're asleep or not. The lines between sleep paralysis and bad dreams are quite blurry.

The thing is, that, if your brain is designed to keep you asleep, like when your feet are cold you dream that you're splashing in puddles so you won't have a disturbed night by waking, why, in Sleep Paralysis does your brain do the complete opposite? Instead of dreaming that you're wrapped in warm cotton wool so snugly that you can't move, your brain takes a perfectly harmless situation coming out of sleep in your own bed in your own home and turns it into a complete nightmare that completely traumatizes the nights sleep, disturbing valuable REM time and disturbing many nights' sleep to come?????? That's why I think there's more to it.:confused:
 
Chant asks:The thing is, that, if your brain is designed to keep you asleep, like when your feet are cold you dream that you're splashing in puddles so you won't have a disturbed night by waking, why, in Sleep Paralysis does your brain do the complete opposite? Instead of dreaming that you're wrapped in warm cotton wool so snugly that you can't move, your brain takes a perfectly harmless situation coming out of sleep in your own bed in your own home and turns it into a complete nightmare that completely traumatizes the nights sleep, disturbing valuable REM time and disturbing many nights' sleep to come?????? That's why I think there's more to it.
---------------------

That's an interesting question, I think. I am also wondering why so many of the "men" in the sleep paralysis nightmares are shadows. Shouldn't they all be individual concepts of some menacing "man" or thing?

Why translate this experience as terrifying as opposed to placating, as Chant points out, and why make the figure a dark featureless entity fairly consistently? Are ALL our psychologies that similar??
(I know we have covered the "shadow people" extensively, but I think that that it is important to hear a lot of accounts of the similar phenomena in order to compare experiences for parallels. Of, course I guess reading about the experiences can influence future occurances.)
 
Originally posted by sudi
Of, course I guess reading about the experiences can influence future occurances.)
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That's true. I've had a few sleep paralysis experiences when I was younger but never encountered the "Old Hag" until I read about it on the net (that very same night, in fact).
 
Bannik says:

That's true. I've had a few sleep paralysis experiences when I was younger but never encountered the "Old Hag" until I read about it on the net (that very same night, in fact).

-----

Have you posted that Hag experience yet? I'd like to read about it. I just did a search in your postings file but there were 18 pages and I couldn't do a comprehensive dig right now....a link or a recounting would be greatly appreciated.

:)
 
Chant

Thanks for your theory. I think I have been down, maybe that's why I had the wierd dream. I was shouting it in my head. Jeeeeez this guy who was in my garden, I'd never seen him before, he wasn't someone that I knew... yet he was so threatening and he never even spoke, just stood looking up at me. I have never tried to shout obsceneties at anyone as much as I did at him. lol Good thing it wasn't coming out of my mouth at the time, I'd have got myself arrested.
The thing I don't get is.. even though it was coming out of my head, the dialogue... I woke up red faced and trying to force out the words.. yet the connection from my brain to my mouth.. well.. it just didn't happen... yet what about ppl that sleep talk? My kids talk in their sleep alot.. they get the words out... but I couldn't.
It is fascinating to get into this debate. I've anaylsed my dream anyway and realised that the man was someone in my life.. even though I 'aint got one! lol I saw him as a threat.. my kids.. I realise that I was being protective of my family...hence the obscene shouting.. I was trying to scare him off.

I just hope that I don't dream it again... I may put a brick through my window or something *blimey* .. better get the PVC one fitted quick!! lol :eek:
 
I frequently get the shouting thing in dreams, and have been told by my partner that I make muffled noises as if I'm trying to speak or shout without moving my mouth. I guess it's similar to when I see our dog barking in his sleep without moving his mouth.

Occasionally (thankfully very rarely) I have woken up in a blind panic, immediately sit bolt upright, and really struggle to breath. For a few seconds I seem to be physically incapable of breathing in! Scares the living crap out of me when it happens. Is this related to the sleep paralysis phenomena?
 
sudi said:
Have you posted that Hag experience yet? I'd like to read about it.
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It's actually the same one I posted here. I didn't mention the hag because it didn't really have anything to do with the question I was replying to. Anyway, here it is:

Just as I was dosing off, I felt the paralysis take over and saw the old hag in this metal room (which was within the room that I was in). The door of this room had a circular window through which I could see the OH from the shoulders up. Because I had just read about this phenomena I knew it "wasn't real" and so was easily able to break free of the paralysis and, as I did, I felt that receding feeling I mentioned. This recession coincided with my seeing that room the OH was in filling up with water. I guess the metal room she was locked in symbolized her lack of power: Because I recognized this paralysis as a naturally occurring phenomena and not something supernatural, I wasn't driven to panic and so could easily come out of it, despite her efforts to get me. :cool: I really think that if I had not been reading about the phenomena, I wouldn't have had this dream that night.

On the other hand, I have since had one other encounter I wasn't so prepared for as I had not been thinking or reading about sleep paralysis at all before. It just seemed to have come out of nowhere. Suffice it to say that this was a more typical night hag experience. :( I haven't suffered any night hag attacks since and I hope I never do.

Edit: I should mention that the first experience didn't last longer than a few seconds before I woke up. I'm not sure why, as the paralysis was receding, that the hag's chamber was filling with water. Perhaps the water represented deflected paralysis or something like that. :hmm:
 
Sleep paralysis

I have experienced S.P. since my mid twenties (am now in my early forties) and I have always attributed it to some sort of stress, anything from "oh god, I forgot to pay that bill" to "what am i doing with my life?!"
In my dreams however I am ALWAYS struggling to say something but can't, either because I'm being physically restrained (classic paralysis) or I'm being ignored or talked over. The tension builds and builds, often with the feeling of terror that so many other people talk about but I always manage to cry out and thus wake up, feeling blissfully relieved and go back to sleep almost immediately. The crying out ranges from a murmer to a blood curdling yell that wakes up everyone in the house. The fear is very strong but the resulting release and relief seems to cancel it out. Has anyone else had the same experience? Most still seem locked into the fear aspect, I can't be the only one to go from terror to bliss so quickly.
Over the last few years my S.P. seems to be on the decline however my skill in flying in dreams has improved remarkedly .
P.S. didn't mean to start a new thread, sorry, this was my first time!!
 
I find it interesting that many of the posters on the subject of sleep paralysis say it began in their teens. That’s when they began for me too, and I wonder if there are statistics that show when these episodes usually start and if they decrease or increase with age. I am on the drug Paxil CR and have noticed that since I have been on Paxil (2 years), I have had no instances of sleep paralysis. I have to feel there is some reason for that, perhaps chemicals in the brain that trigger SP are subdued by the Paxil.

I do remember the intensity of the episodes and can't even begin to fathom that some people find them enlightening or interesting, I found them absolutely terrifying! They would begin with a feeling, a sound in my head, an aura; hard to explain but I knew I was entering an episode of SP. The "old hag" would park her bottom on my chest and let me tell you, she is one heavy chick! The weight on my chest would be so oppressive I would have to will myself to breathe. If I didn't concentrate and force each breath, I knew I would stop breathing. I would hear and feel a malevolent presence in the room, always out of view but very much there, which was separate from other auditory and visual hallucinations I would experience. Often I would hallucinate during these episodes of SP that I was getting out of bed, walking around the room, or doing some physical activity and really believe I was doing them, only to find myself still in bed when the paralysis subsided. Once I clearly heard a male voice in the room loudly announce a statistic I had no knowledge of and later when I looked up the statistic, the information the voice had shouted was correct. After an episode ended, I would have to get out of bed and do something.. stretch, walk around, get a drink of water, go to the bathroom, any sort of physical activity... because if I just stayed in bed and tried to go back to sleep I would experience repeat episodes. It seemed that doing a few minutes of activity before going back to bed would somehow break the spell and stop them from recurring that night.

I sympathize with those losing sleep over this and understand how upsetting this whole phenomenon is to most of the people who experience it. Those who have never experienced SP could never understand. I am glad to be rid of the old hag and hope from now on the only old hag I ever find in my bed is me! ;)
 
I had a dream some 2 months ago where I was completely paralysed, there were 3 grey aliens in my room, one by my head at the top of the bed , one at the foot of my bed and one by the door to my room. No matter how much I struggled I could not break free of the paralysis, I've never been so terrified in my life, and also angry at my inability to do anything about it.
Now, I don't believe that I have been gang - probed by Aliens
from zeta reticuli, I think it was a nightmare brought on by an abduction programme night on discovery channel that I had watched some nights before.
I can see why people would think that this was a real event,
as although the event was dream like, it was very powerful.

Could this be my own version of an 'old hag' episode?
 
I've suffered from episodes of sleep paralysis for about twenty years although it's been about two years since my last episode, so for me it started in my mid to late teens. Maybe there's some change in the brain that occurs during puberty that causes it? Anyone heard of cases of pre-pubescant children suffering from it?
In my case I would always be aware that I was about to suffer an episode but was always powerless to prevent it. It would always be preceded by a feeling I find difficult to describe, the best way I can describe it is as if a switch had been thrown inside my head creating a small surge of power.
The feeling of being pushed down by a heavy weight is very real and very frightening. I never suffered visual hallucinations but plenty of auditory ones usually in the form of a voice shouting directly into my ear. Sometimes I would suffer more than one episode in a single night, if the first one happened early enough I would eventually dfrift back to sleep again often suffering a reoccurance. Usually a second episode would be enough to convince me to get up, however early the time.
After the first few attacks I found out that the best way to bring myself out of one was to make a conscious effort to move a part of my body usually a foot, this seemed to the best way of breaking the feeling of paralysis. They seemed to occur more often during times of stress or upheaval.
Anyway it's been a long while since the hag came to call so here's hoping ...
 
Sleep paralysis

Hi folks-this thread strikes a chord- I have had this experience many times going back at least thirty years, although I have never had the "violation" aspect happen (thankfully).
As a kid I had this happen quite a lot, especially if I fell asleep on our old leather couch. It seems more likely to occur if I am facing some obstruction such as a pillow. At first it was a panicky feeling, but as I got older I seemed to deal with it better-to me it is as if my mind is awake and my body is asleep and there is a disconnect between the two.Usually I can bring myself out of it by concentrating on moving one hand and really trying to make it thrash about. My mind can sense the hand start to twitch feebly and after a while my body will wake up and be in synch as it were with my already alert mental state. Now I find it almost a bit funny-trying as hard as the dickens to flail my arm about and all I get is a tiny twitch and grunt.
It still happens these days but not quite as often. If anyone finds this happening my advice is to remember that it is a temporary experience and you can ride it out.
Oddly enough, I had a dream last week in which I had this happen in my dream- the mind is a funny place..
 
I have suffered with this phenomoneon since I was 16/17 up until this day (I'm 23 now). When I became a Muslim at 18 I hoped it would end but it did not. After a few frightening episodes a while back I decided to see if there was an "Islaamic" perspective of this epidemic (I call it that because the number of people who go through this is amazing).

Muslims believe that there are 3 types of creation possessing intellect; 1. Angels 2.Humans and 3. "Jinn". The word Jinn could commonly be translated as "Demons". Islaam teaches that they are creatures of the Unseen, or another Dimension parallel to ours and they live amongst us. Like humans, you have good Jinn and bad Jinn, and the evil from amongst the Jinn are referred to as "Shayateen" or "Devils" and the Qur'aan teaches that "Iblees" (or Lucifer) was NOT "A Fallen Angel" but, at the time, "A Noble Jinn who Rebelled Against and Denied the Commandment of God", and behind The Devil is an Army of Devils attacking and deceiving mankind whenever and however they can.

The interesting thing I found out is that the Islaamic scriptures (The Qur'aan and the Sunnah) warns us that the Devils commonly attack the human being when he is at his weakess point. That could be at his last breath of life, when he is sick, when he is "down in the dumps", etc. But the strongest point next to the last breath that the devils choose to attack is "the point in between being awake and asleep" or "the middle point between conciousness and unconciousness". We've all been there and we all go through it when we are asleep, but we are aware of our surroundings, some times you have strange dreams just before the point of "dozing off" as if you are falling over or tripping up but you wake up abruptly just before you hit the floor with a shudder. Anyway, that is the point when the devils are known to attack, even physically at times. Being fully awake or fully asleep is a straight forward experience, but that "in between" point can be strange at times, I find I get the most attacks at this stage of "sub-conciousness". Perhaps that could start off a new topic too if it has not been addressed yet.

Anyway, me being a sufferer of "Sleep Paralysis" I thought I would share this with you. Whilst I was looking into what Islaam says (and I haven't fully investigated this particular topic, but I will do soon) I also came across the "Islaamic" method for protecting yourself prior to "falling asleep" to ensure that "the devils do not attack throughout the night", but I won't go into that yet because that is another thread in itself too. Since I have been putting that method into practice it seems to have worked so far and its been a few months for me since, and that for me is a good sign.

I'll get back to you if I get any more info...
 
I'd love to know what the method is. What works for me is to go back to sleep. I've become pretty good at breaking out of it, too, maybe because I don't take it literally now when it happens.:D
 
pre teen dream

I had sleep paralysis most intensely when I was very young. Certainly before I was in school, and as early as I can remember -I had terrifying visions while paralysed as I went to sleep. As I got older, I learned to break out of it, and after that could fall alseep. I believe I did have a resurgence when I hit puperty though, and had to relearn how to break out of it again. I have not had the Hag type of experience that I can remember. So the theory of those type happening with puberty might hold.
 
The Bruce tells us:

Muslims believe that there are 3 types of creation possessing intellect; 1. Angels 2.Humans and 3. "Jinn". The word Jinn could commonly be translated as "Demons". Islaam teaches that they are creatures of the Unseen, or another Dimension parallel to ours and they live amongst us. Like humans, you have good Jinn and bad Jinn, and the evil from amongst the Jinn are referred to as "Shayateen" or "Devils" and the Qur'aan teaches that "Iblees" (or Lucifer) was NOT "A Fallen Angel" but, at the time, "A Noble Jinn who Rebelled Against and Denied the Commandment of God", and behind The Devil is an Army of Devils attacking and deceiving mankind whenever and however they can.

-------------

While theological explanations are intriguing, I still feel that the explanation to this phenomena lies in science. Probably neuro-physiological and psychological fields.

There are shamanistic or religiously based rituals that often do work within certain psychological constructs, but essentially these rituals operate in the realm of hardwired neurology or embedded training. (I.E.: Pavlovian reactions.)

Some of the first successful psychological manipulations found their genesis in religious ritual; for example, meditation. So there are concrete ways of manipulating some psychological attributes via ancient religious doctrines and theories or ritual.

But I know that we will only truly describe these experiences, (such as sleep paralysis,) via scientific analysis and careful study.

-Sudi
 
Dear Sudi,

I appreciate your response and respect your point of view. I should have made something clear which I was too tired to remember last night. With regards to Sleep Paralysis then I also respect the scientific understanding of this and partly accept that. At times I tend to find I get attacks when I have severely disrupted my sleep pattern (if I even have one). I remember the first ever attack I had, I had just returned from a training weekend with the TA and due to the training programme, we got hardly any sleep at all! When I did finally got my head down, after a few hours I was woken up and I had my first frightening sleep paralysis experience:

It was as if I was woken wide awake by something. I remembered sitting up thinking to myself "What has woken me up?" because I know that once I am asleep, I AM ASLEEP! Anyway, at the time I was staying at my granmothers flat, on the couch. I remember I was just about to lie down again when it suddenly felt as if there was a large, evil "presence" standing in the doorway to the living room. I couldn't see anything, but I just "felt" it was there. I didn't like it so I began to slump down again and started to crawl under the covers (lol, what a brave TA squaddie I was...) when I "felt" this "presence" move towards me, when it was on top of me that was when the paralysis kicked in. I couldn't move an inch, it felt similar to the unbearable pins and needles you get when you've been sitting on your leg for too long, and when you stand up you collapse again. Anyway, I had that all over, I could hear a buzzing inside my head, I tried with all my might to scream or cry out, but I just couldn't get the sound out of my mouth. After what seemed like forever being trapped, the "thing" moved off and the feeling subsided. I was too shocked to say do anything, I was drenched in sweat and I felt drunk. After a minute I felt this "presence" coming for me again, at which point I screamed my warcry (I screamed for my life in other words), and my granmother came running in to save the day. I explained between blubbers to the best of my ability what happened. She reassured me that there was no unseen presence in the house, gave me a gigantic brass crucifix to sleep with, and went back to bed. So I threw the crucifix across the couch, turned on the telly, sparked up a fag and sat watching telly until dawn.

All joking aside I hope you can understand my terror. I had never, ever experienced anything like that in my life but little did I know at the time it would continue for years to come. I remembered at the time I used to buy a magazine called "X-Factor", anyone remember that? And to my surprise the main article for the month was Sleep Paralysis. One explanation seemed believable to me. It said that "when a persons sleep pattern is disrupted, a person may just be falling to sleep, or waking up, but the human body thinks that the body is fully asleep, thus the paralysis sets in. Part of the mind also thinks it is asleep, and begins to mix the dreamstate into reality, thus one feels not alone or actually sees something..." something like that anyway.

Now at times I can accept that, but what I did not understand at the time was why was I suddenly "woken up" from a very deep sleep, able to move normally and after a minute or two I get attacked? Also when we look back on page 1 of this thread and we read about MsClaireVoyant's account, I do not doubt her at all as that was a bit too real to be a mix of "dream" and "reality". That convinces me that there is a bit more at play here at times, which goes back to my Jinn theory.

And that is only a "Theory", I am not a scholar or a person of knowledge about these matters.
 
The Bruce tells us:
At times I tend to find I get attacks when I have severely disrupted my sleep pattern (if I even have one).
------------------

Thanks for the further clarification. Your experience also mirrors one sleep paralysis experince I had, concerning the dark menacing figure. That only happened once with me and I don't want to ever experience it again. I have, however had other episodes of "waking" and not being able to move.

I think your mention of "sleep pattern" disturbances might also reinforce the biological origins in sleep paralysis.

My main question: Since many people who do have sleep paralysis, often do experience the same dark forboding figure, (mine had a triangular shaped body with what looked to be the outline of a pointy-brimmed hat,) WHY do we all sense the same type entity? Are we all wired for the same ultimately terrifying iconographic figure?

Good luck with your investigations. Let us know what else you uncover in your studies.

-Sudi
 
Infidel said:
I had a dream some 2 months ago where I was completely paralysed, there were 3 grey aliens in my room, one by my head at the top of the bed , one at the foot of my bed and one by the door to my room. No matter how much I struggled I could not break free of the paralysis, I've never been so terrified in my life, and also angry at my inability to do anything about it.
Now, I don't believe that I have been gang - probed by Aliens
from zeta reticuli, I think it was a nightmare brought on by an abduction programme night on discovery channel that I had watched some nights before.
I can see why people would think that this was a real event,
as although the event was dream like, it was very powerful.

Could this be my own version of an 'old hag' episode?
Click to expand...

I was reading this thinking, "I don't remember posting that on here." Then I realised it was someone else - but I had EXACTLY the same experience, although I actually saw the greys walk into the room by the side of the bed. It was the only "alien" episode of SP I've had though, I normally just feel like there's a burglar or something in the house with me and try to touch my dog so he'll wake me up. Never works!
 
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