Think You're Safe in your Sleep? You're Wrong.

-=SLEEP PARALYSIS=-

Of course there's always the slight chance that someone may have broken into your home, but that's not what most people think when they wake up and see a strange figure in their room. Unless you're a very rational thinker, you'll probably think it is some sort of ghost or demon, or a psycho murderer or some kind of living nightmare. Whatever it is, usually when we're scared, we don't think with common sense.
What could make this situation any more scarier? How about, when you try to get up and run, you can't move a single muscle. You find it very difficult to breathe, you feel a large weight pushing down on your chest, and here comes the worst part...you see that the shadowy, strange figure is moving closer and closer to you. Slowly, but surely, you know your death is coming. It approaches your bed and raises a knife. You close your eyes, ready to die...
...and nothing happens. When you open your eyes again, it's gone. Everything is gone. You can breath normally, the weight on your chest is gone, and you can move once again. That's when you start to question if it really even happened. Some people just assume it was some crazy half-awake, half-asleep dream and that's why they thought it was really happening in their room. But it wasn't a dream.

It was Sleep Paralysis. Sleep Paralysis isn't a disease or a sickness. It's not even a brain problem. It could really happen to anyone.

-=WHAT IT IS=-

Sleep Paralysis occurs when you're awoken in the middle of REM sleep. REM stands for Rapid Eye Movement, and this is the time when we have our dreams; at least the most memorable dreams. Although Sleep Paralysis can happen to anyone, it usually happens to people linked with a disorder of Migraines, Narcolepsy, and Anxiety Disorders. If you are going to experience Sleep Paralysis, it will most likely develop in adolescents, but is not limited to that. It could happen at any age. For any reason. I'll explain the reasons it could happen in the next section.
Basically, you've awakened into the dream world. Your dream was disturbed, so you woke up. But since you were in REM sleep, you ended up waking up IN your dream. Kinda cool, huh? Think again. When it happens, you sense a dark, evil spirit in the room. That's what causes you to imagine the figure coming towards you. I don't think that anyone really knows why you sense that dark presence, but it's late at night, you're in your dreams, the setting is perfectly right for something evil to come out.

Some people report that they see a figure sitting on their chest as well...some sort of gremlin or troll, maybe even a full out monster. Then you see the figure walking towards you...it could be anything. Imagine the thing you would be absolutely most scared to see walking towards you late at night. From Jeff the Killer to a deformed demon, you've woken up in your mind so it knows what really scares you the most, and that's most likely what you'll see.

As for the being frozen and not moving a muscle, that's explainable too. In REM sleep, you're in a very deep sleep, and unconscious. You can still experience sensory experiences, but almost all your muscles are paralyzed. The difference between that and Sleep Paralysis is that in Sleep Paralysis, you're very conscious and aware of what's happening.
You find it hard to breath because of the weight on your chest. I really don't know why you get that feeling, but you do. It almost feels like you're not breathing, but you are. It's just harder and slower, so it makes it seem like you aren't. That's simply another scary aspect of Sleep Paralysis.

-=WHY IT HAPPENS=-

Sleep Paralysis could happen for many reasons. Although it does happen more commonly in people with the disorders I listed, the number of sleep paralysis sufferers is about 60 percent of the population. It's much more common than people think it is. However, it isn't a usual recurring thing. It simply happens from 1 to several times, and then never happens again.
It could happen due to a lot of things, even without any reason why! But here are some of the most common reasons it happens:

Stress - stress can strongly affect your sleep, therefore it can cause Sleep Paralysis.

Uneven Sleep Schedule - If you go to sleep at 9 one night, and the next go to sleep at 4 in the morning, that's a pretty bad sleep schedule. Uneven sleeping can confuse your brain, and cause Sleep Paralysis.

Not Enough Sleep - If you're not getting the typical eight hours of sleep, you're more likely to experience Sleep Paralysis.

Trying To Lucid Dream - Lucid dreaming is where you can control your dreams. While that sounds completely awesome, there's a downside. That downside is experiencing Sleep Paralysis. While most people use a whole long process of trying to train themselves to Lucid Dream, I've heard there's a way you can do it in a few minutes. (You lay on your back and close your eyes. If you have a scratch, don't itch it. Don't blink with your eyes closed. Don't move a muscle. You'll feel a weight on your chest and then you can Lucid Dream.) Note that I don't say that works from experience, as I've never tried it. But I wonder if you open your eyes after you feel the weight...will you experience Sleep Paralysis?

Sleeping On Your Back - Strange, I know. But in most Sleep Paralysis occurrences, the victim was sleeping on their back. I guess it puts pressure on part of the brain or something. To avoid Sleep Paralysis, try sleeping on your side or stomach.


-=IT'S NOT ALL BAD THOUGH=-

If you ever find yourself experiencing Sleep Paralysis, the most important thing to do is to realize that none of it is real or actually happening, that it'll be over in a few minutes, and that this is an opportunity for you to Lucid Dream...in real life! That's right, when you experience Sleep Paralysis, you're actually also Lucid Dreaming! Though, of course, you don't control the scary figure to come close to you and try to kill you (what kind of genius would??) , you can bend the situation if you concentrate hard enough. I've heard one person say that they close their eyes and think of the beach, with the soft waves crashing on the shore. That relaxes them so that when they open their eyes, they are able to control what goes on in their room. Use this opportunity to think of some crazy things and experiment with your mind. Sadly, it will only last a few minutes, but hey...I'd rather miss the way I could control my dreams in real life (oh my gosh this sounds so weird and confusing) than live my entire life thinking of how scary the whole Sleep Paralysis was.

I've heard that you can snap out of Sleep Paralysis by rapidly moving your eyes side to side or trying to move your finger or toe just half an inch. I guess since those are such small muscles, you're able to move them if you really concentrate.

However, I've never experienced Sleep Paralysis. Most of me is terrified by the thought of ever experiencing it...but part of me is curious, and actually wants to have it happen to me.

"Sleep paralysis" is not a disease, not a sickness, and happens to everyone. Everyone gets it. It's natural. Everyone has that system put into their bodies, with the exception of sleep walkers.

Sleep Paralysis is the body's defense with dreams. If your body did not have this complex system, then you would most likely act out what happened in your dreams.

What happens, is when you're in deep sleep, your body releases hormones and chemicals and such to almost turn off all nerves reactions and stimulation, and relaxing the muscles extremely. In other words, the body purposely fills itself with chemicals and hormones to paralyze itself. So, you do not end up hurting yourself.

The reason why many people don't experience it, is because, it's hard to wake up in the middle of dreams, and the time period of when the body is completely paralyzed from the chemicals and hormones isn't that long, I believe it's a good 30 minutes to an hour or two. And, the body filling itself with these chemicals doesn't happen just like that. It slowly paralyzes your body, then towards waking up, slowly cuts down production of the chemicals and hormones.

When you wake up in the middle of it, when you have complete paralysis, your body immediately stops producing the chemicals and hormones and in a good 30 seconds to even a couple minutes(my experience with the couple minutes) you will be mobile again. But, if this happens to you, it happens to you so fast that you don't even feel like a couple minutes has butt.

Ever woken up too early and you just feel unusually more sloppy than on normal days? It's because this chemical is still in affect.


Now, some people have problems with this system, because it's still being, how you could say, still being built. Some people(like me) when waking up from a scary dream, and the chemicals and hormones are still lingering, when you think of something very intense and scary and stuff, your body will put itself into paralysis immediately as you're awake, which is freaking scary as heck.

Some people don't produce enough, not strong enough, or none at all which causes them to sleep walk.

It's all complicated.


but, to sum this up, it happens to everyone. It isn't caused by stress, or an uneven sleep schedule, it's just the sub-conscious' response, or adaptation to tame and keep dominance of your conscious' naive and wild dreams.

dayung i hope i dont get that
tarantulas are my worst fear i scream whenever i see a tiny spider
imagine a big spider coming towards me and im frozen
...
yes you see my problem now

Well, Shadow, that's what every single article I've read online has said. o-o xD but you say it as if its happened to you...if it has, what was it like? What did you see? How long did it last?? I could ask so many questions. I've always wanted to ask someone who's experienced Sleep Paralysis about it.

Admin / Jess wrote:Well, Shadow, that's what every single article I've read online has said. o-o xD but you say it as if its happened to you...if it has, what was it like? What did you see? How long did it last?? I could ask so many questions. I've always wanted to ask someone who's experienced Sleep Paralysis about it.

When it happened to me, it was just, scary as hell. Like, I couldn't move. And, It was hard to fight it. I had to literally use all of my stregnth just to roll to the side, or lift my head up.

When I've woken up in mid sleep, I'd try to shoot forward up, know what I'm saying? But when i couldn't, obviously, I'd just lay there, and wait for it to wear off. And, sometimes, my eye vision was all, not bad, but blurry, like, clouds covered it i udnno xD

When I kept going into that state, because i needed to drink water, I can't even describe that. Like, all i was focused on, was getting out of my sleep and getting out of bed and drinking water.