[Traci]

I may be making something out of nothing, but I was having tons of trouble falling asleep last night because I was so anxious; So I'm not really what to make of this because I maybe I was nodding off and it was a dream but it felt really real. Anyways, at some point I was startled awake (at least I believe so) and I felt like someone had their hands around my neck from behind me. Not to mention I thought I heard breathing behind me as well but it didn't sound like me. A few seconds later the feeling was gone and I was able to move so I got up, turned around and of course nothing was there. All and all, it really freaked me out. I even turned on the light for the rest of the night but I was still unable to sleep.

 

[Omnium11]

Yes yes yes! Thats it! Its freakin crazy. My theory is that it is sort of a panic attack is triggered right in the state between sleep and wake. I forget which brain waves are active then (theta maybe?)

Its happened to me twice. I always overpower it with 'good emotions' etc. I posted my sleep paralysis here before let me dig it up.

 

[Traci]

It was a pretty high stress day for me yesterday. I even had a regular panic attack too, heh.

 

[Omnium11]

Alright well I couldn't find the post but anyways my first sleep paralysis happened a couple months after a bad trip. I was laying in bed and heard like an echoish giggle like it came from a little girl or something. I then feel myself get shifted like 3 inches backwards in bed. This startles me so I am completely awake. I sort of relax and am about to drift off to sleep when all the sudden I hear the giggle again and feel myself get shifted another 3 inches back in my bed. Next thing I know this blue ghost like ectoplasmic face is staring straight down at me and I can't move and I feel this pressure on my chest like someone is pushing down on me. I just stared at its face and it felt like I was being possessed by someone or something. Definitely felt like a very strong powerful presence was taking over my mind. I sort of overpowered it with good emotions and positivity and I woke up completely and it was gone.

The 2nd time it happened to me I was having a dream where I was about 10 years old and reading calvin and hobbes in my old room upstairs. I was laying on the floor reading when all the sudden I felt a presence come out of the wall and walk past me. I remember I pretended I was asleep and had the thought that 'this has happened before, you just have to pretend you are asleep and it will go away.' Anyway so all the sudden in the dream I remember that my mom is alone in her room. So I summon up all my courage and leave into the hallway where the ghost had went. I remember right as I enter the hallway I am standing staring right at a ghost that was cloaked in black / dark grey. It was about 7 inches shorter than me and I was just staring at it completely frozen. Next thing I know I'm in my moms room and my dad was also in there. I was trying to tell them what happened but I was so nervous that I was just barely stammering in an effort to talk. So I wake up and am in bed thinking about the dream. All the sudden I feel that familiar feeling of pressure on my chest. Like someone very strong was pushing down on me. Next I hear a loud powerful voice (think pinhead from hellraiser movies) say "NOW THE BODY IS YOURS" I didn't get the impression it was talking to me more like it was talking to someone else. Then I once again feel like I'm being possessed, like a war for control of my mind, this time instead of actually seeing a ghost physically I sort of saw it in my minds eye or something, looked like grim reaper or something. I overpowered it with good emotions as well and it went away.

Both times I was really creeped out afterwords. Oh yeah and each time I was paralyzed and couldn't move while it was happening.

 

[SourD]

Lol sounds like a ghost to me

 

[Traci]

Lol sounds like a ghost to me

Oh yes, let's scare me cause that was my first thought.

 

[Traci]

Alright well I couldn't find the post but anyways my first sleep paralysis happened a couple months after a bad trip. I was laying in bed and heard like an echoish giggle like it came from a little girl or something. I then feel myself get shifted like 3 inches backwards in bed. This startles me so I am completely awake. I sort of relax and am about to drift off to sleep when all the sudden I hear the giggle again and feel myself get shifted another 3 inches back in my bed. Next thing I know this blue ghost like ectoplasmic face is staring straight down at me and I can't move and I feel this pressure on my chest like someone is pushing down on me. I just stared at its face and it felt like I was being possessed by someone or something. Definitely felt like a very strong powerful presence was taking over my mind. I sort of overpowered it with good emotions and positivity and I woke up completely and it was gone.

The 2nd time it happened to me I was having a dream where I was about 10 years old and reading calvin and hobbes in my old room upstairs. I was laying on the floor reading when all the sudden I felt a presence come out of the wall and walk past me. I remember I pretended I was asleep and had the thought that 'this has happened before, you just have to pretend you are asleep and it will go away.' Anyway so all the sudden in the dream I remember that my mom is alone in her room. So I summon up all my courage and leave into the hallway where the ghost had went. I remember right as I enter the hallway I am standing staring right at a ghost that was cloaked in black / dark grey. It was about 7 inches shorter than me and I was just staring at it completely frozen. Next thing I know I'm in my moms room and my dad was also in there. I was trying to tell them what happened but I was so nervous that I was just barely stammering in an effort to talk. So I wake up and am in bed thinking about the dream. All the sudden I feel that familiar feeling of pressure on my chest. Like someone very strong was pushing down on me. Next I hear a loud powerful voice (think pinhead from hellraiser movies) say "NOW THE BODY IS YOURS" I didn't get the impression it was talking to me more like it was talking to someone else. Then I once again feel like I'm being possessed, like a war for control of my mind, this time instead of actually seeing a ghost physically I sort of saw it in my minds eye or something, looked like grim reaper or something. I overpowered it with good emotions as well and it went away.

Both times I was really creeped out afterwords. Oh yeah and each time I was paralyzed and couldn't move while it was happening.

Yeh, way creepy. I mean I didn't see anything. I just heard and felt something.

 

[Louis]

heh that happens to me all the time, high stress day or not, I've actually gotten used to it. I remember asking someone and it is sleep paralysis, a ton of people got it too, not just with SA. The first time it happened I was so sure someone was behind me when I could move I punched, and of course hit nothing. 2nd time I was sleeping on my back and saw this weird demon thing laughing at me and asking for my soul. Now I just kinda close my eyes and try to go back to sleep even though it feels so real.

It happens right before you fall asleep, something to do with your heart, I'll see if I cant find the article again.

 

[LoneLioness]

Alien abduction. I see grey beings around me when it happens to me

 

[Omnium11]

Alien abduction. I see grey beings around me when it happens to me

Holy crap that would scare the hell out of me. Aliens (especially greys) always terrified me the most. Especially after reading communion when I was a kid. I've had a strange obsession with aliens ever since. I'm glad I get ghosts instead =P

 

[socially inept]

I may be making something out of nothing, but I was having tons of trouble falling asleep last night because I was so anxious; So I'm not really what to make of this because I maybe I was nodding off and it was a dream but it felt really real. Anyways, at some point I was startled awake (at least I believe so) and I felt like someone had their hands around my neck from behind me. Not to mention I thought I heard breathing behind me as well but it didn't sound like me. A few seconds later the feeling was gone and I was able to move so I got up, turned around and of course nothing was there. All and all, it really freaked me out. I even turned on the light for the rest of the night but I was still unable to sleep.

i had this exact same thing the other night. i was asleep and then i sort of half woke up . i was like half asleep and in a trance sort of thing and then i could just sort of intuitively percieve this ghost thing coming towards me from one side of the room and i absolutely [email protected] myself , i was scared still . also i was paralysied , i could not move. as it was coming towards me i was trying to move so i could protect myself but i was stuck stiff. then i felt its hands around my neck trying to strangle me and i was trying to get it off me but again i just could not move, i was stiff. it was funny because i couldnt move so i tried to spit at it and when i did it actually moved back and let go off my neck. but then it came back for more so i tried to spit again but this time i couldnt even spit , my mouth wouldnt move

finally i woke up properly and put the light on for the rest of the night

its a horribe experience it really is, i wouldnt wish it on anyone , its so scary.
i went through a stage a few years ago were for a few months it was happening quite frequently

since then though it maybe only happens once or twice a year now

with your experiecne the thing to consider is :

1)was you scared stiff and couldnt move

if you wasnt scared and you wasnt paralysed to the spot then it might not have been sleep paralysies , it might have actually been a ghost touching your neck

 

[Hysteric]

I may be making something out of nothing, but I was having tons of trouble falling asleep last night because I was so anxious; So I'm not really what to make of this because I maybe I was nodding off and it was a dream but it felt really real. Anyways, at some point I was startled awake (at least I believe so) and I felt like someone had their hands around my neck from behind me. Not to mention I thought I heard breathing behind me as well but it didn't sound like me. A few seconds later the feeling was gone and I was able to move so I got up, turned around and of course nothing was there. All and all, it really freaked me out. I even turned on the light for the rest of the night but I was still unable to sleep.

Ohh I've experienced this before, never open your eyes! Not pleasant, I'm telling you. You just have to kind of use all of your will power to try to break out of it. I tend to hear all sorts when in that state like screaming, toilet flushing, (lol?) bells ringing & sirens etc. Sleep paralysis is such a strange experience.

I only ever came across it when practicing lucid dreaming. Has anyone had any experience with this? I found it to be quite the amusing passtime :b

 

[rumjungle]

Yes...some of these experiences sound like sleep paralysis to me. The hallucination part where you feel like there is an evil presence in the room is called the 'Old Hag' phenonemon and has been documented in many different cultures. It is common for most people to experience it at least once in their lifetime.

Personally I've experienced it about 4-5 times now usually when I'm falling asleep, I've only experienced the hallucination of an evil force once when I woke up.

 

[Traci]

Ohh I've experienced this before, never open your eyes! Not pleasant, I'm telling you. You just have to kind of use all of your will power to try to break out of it. I tend to hear all sorts when in that state like screaming, toilet flushing, (lol?) bells ringing & sirens etc. Sleep paralysis is such a strange experience.

I only ever came across it when practicing lucid dreaming. Has anyone had any experience with this? I found it to be quite the amusing passtime :b

I dunno I was so scared I'm sure they were wide open. I didn't really have a choice, haha.

 

[mrfixit]

i believe sleep paralys it's due to stress, sleeping late, maybe SA, and other things but not any phenomena. some experts say it's due to the mind waking up faster then the body. the body releases a chemical that will make your body, in a way, freeze so the body won't act out the dreams. if one dreams that one is running, this chemical prevents the body from acting out the running. so is this lagging of the body going back to normal after waking up that makes someone feel that can't move. in other words, the mind wakes up first then the body.

i don't think it's ghost or aliens.
_

"my life is a jigsaw puzzle, with some pieces missing" - mrfixit

 

[rumjungle]

i believe sleep paralys it's due to stress, sleeping late, maybe SA, and other things but not any phenomena. some experts say it's due to the mind waking up faster then the body. the body releases a chemical that will make your body, in a way, freeze so the body won't act out the dreams. if one dreams that one is running, this chemical prevents the body from acting out the running. so is this lagging of the body going back to normal after waking up that makes someone feel that can't move. in other words, the mind wakes up first then the body.

i don't think it's ghost or aliens.

Yes neither do I...sorry perhaps I was a bit vague in my explanation. When I said 'Old Hag' phenonema I meant it merely as a term to describe the hallucinations rather than attribute them to some paranormal source. The hallucinations probably have something to do with the mind being between consciousness and subconsciousness (REM sleep). There has yet to be a physioloical explanation for it, only a few possibilities. Your melatonin levels can also be a factor...it has nothing to do with social anxiety (maybe stress) as far as I'm aware, anyone can experience it. It's definately more common for people who have sleep disorders issues like narcolepsy.

 

[radames]

I hear that sleep paralysis is the moment right before you can astrally project. I have had it happen a few times when I was in high school. I always thought that if I crossed my legs when I fell asleep then it would happen because I would always wake up once my legs were uncrossed.
So, I made sure that my legs were far apart when I went to sleep from then on. There was another time where I felt something trying to smother me in my sleep. I could actually feel and almost see this spirit thrashing around in that dark world between waking and sleeping, almost like in the blackness you see right as you close your eyes. I could feel my body on the bed trying to wake up and it finally did once my roommate let some light in the room. It is like the dark tried to keep you "in the dark."

Other times, in high school, I would see a tall, dark shape in my room but it wouldn't do anything so I didn't feel completely terrified.

 

[fern]

I experience sleep paralysis about twice a year, it's really terrifying. The only way I can describe it is that it feels like being buried alive.

I've read that it only happens when you sleep on your back. Which might be true, I know all the times that it has happened to me I was sleeping on my back.

 

[Traci]

I experience sleep paralysis about twice a year, it's really terrifying. The only way I can describe it is that it feels like being buried alive.

I've read that it only happens when you sleep on your back. Which might be true, I know all the times that it has happened to me I was sleeping on my back.

Yeah, I heard about that too. I always sleep on my back- it's the only way I sleep.

 

[CopadoMexicano]

Ive had panic attacks at night while in my sleep and wake up gasping for air