Sleep paralysis is a pretty scary thing. Till now, I never knew what it was called. I just knew it was pretty freaky.

Has anyone had these?

Well, sometimes I sleep in a poor position and my arms or legs go numb. But that's not the same thing.

When you have this, you can't move at all but you're aware and awake. Pretty scary.

I used to get it all the time.

The first 50 or so were scary, but after that I became very curious about exploring the sources of the fear it created.

Weird stuff, though.

It used to happen to me a lot, but now that I've been going to bed earlier, it hasn't been an issue.

The funniest one I had goes a little like this: I was having a "normal" dream about this psychotic midget with red suspenders, long beard and a hatchet that was going around my office and scalping people. When he came at me, I tried to take him on but he was covered in grease and I couldn't get a hold of him. I fell over and he run up behind me, grabbed my hair and was about to scalp me.

This is when I "woke up", but I went into the sleep paralysis thing. It's happened before so I just laid there for a bit (obviously, since I was paralysed ). Then the hallucinations start and up pops the psycho midget at the foot of my bed. He runs up the bed over me and raises his hatchet. Meanwhile, I'm desperately trying to move my arms to take a shot at him.

The midget is just about to bury his hatchet in my face when the paralysis stops, however I had been trying really hard to move so when I could I followed through with the movement and ended up punching the wall next to my bed a few times before I realised what was going on.

My hand was sore for the next few days. Stupid midget.

I had plenty of other ones that weren't as interesting. Vampires, guys with chainsaws, zombies, general evil presence etc.

It hasn't happened to me for at least eleven years. But I hated it since I tend to have a lot of nightmares and paranoia when I'm asleep. And after waking up from a nightmare and finding you cant move. . .yeah.

I haven't had it but my girlfriend says she has it sometimes where a ghostly woman is standing over her. I feel bad for her, is there a way to prevent it?

It happened to me once.

It happens when your spirit is still in the dream world but your consciousness has already returned to the body.

No, never.

Yet a week ago I had a dream where I was paralyzed and I woke up with a sore neck. Hmm.

I've had this a couple times, I think, but I only remember once for sure. It was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life--lying there unable to open my eyes, scream, or do anything--even though I'd heard of sleep paralysis before and knew what was going on. Thankfully I didn't hallucinate anything, and I could hear my family watching TV next to me (I was taking a nap on the couch).

It's never happened to me before.

yeah, I've had it, often tied up with somewhat lucid dreams and slipping in and out of consiousness. hasn't happened for a while though, which is good

Happened to me once. I woke up and was lying in bed, and everything around me was normal, except that it somehow seemed abnormally dark (it was night, but there's always some light coming in my window). Then I realized that I couldn't move. More accurately, I felt like I could kind of move laterally, but as soon as I tried to rise I would be forced back down. It felt like there was some sort of large dark entity pinning me to the bed. I realized I must be dreaming, so I tried to will myself awake. It seemed to work, but I "awoke" into the same state. I tried again, this time "waking up" for real. Afterward, I thought it had been a dream, but once I'd heard of sleep paralysis I realized that that's what it was. In any case, it was a truly frightening experience.

Sometimes I start to get drowsy, followed by a period of unconsciousness.

Which is when you decide to post on massassi.

Lack of sleep and sleeping on your back can increase the frequency of it.

All these accounts of sleep paralysis but no alien abduction stories? I guess the crazy midget makes up for it..

Well, sometimes I have the feeling that I'm falling down.

That's what I've always thought.

I haven't had it in a very long time, but I *have* been getting better at dream recall via writing down exactly what happened as soon as I wake up. Maybe that has something to do with it, I dunno. It'll probably start up again when I start lucid dreaming regularly.

I've had it before, but I always assumes it was my body being too lazy to get up.
I'd be laying there thinking "Ok you need to get up now" but for some reason I didn't movie. It's gone on for 30-40 minutes before.

Am I a freak?

I had this happen not too long ago.

I was asleep, and dreamt I was in my chemistry class. In the dream, I got a very bad head rush (similar to the one that made me pass out in real life), and in the dream I could not speak. Suddenly, I remember seeing black, and I could feel my body, arms, lips, but I could not speak, nor lift my arms, legs, or even fingers. I was very scared and almost started crying when I suddenly snapped out of it and could move.

Very scary experience...

I've had it happen twice. It's awesome. The first time I woke up and couldn't move, and had a really strong sensation that something was walking on the pillow next to my head. I thought it was my cat, but my door was closed so he couldn't have gotten in. It wasn't scary at all, though.

The other time was the most horrific experience of my life, it was so cool. I had the scariest and most real nightmare ever, where I was at a stop sign and across the street a child rode his bike across the road, but he turned to look at me and his eyes were glowing points of light and his body was transparent. I freaked out and had an almost seizure-like episode as reality crumbled around me....then I woke up, and couldn't move, but my mind was still terrified from the dream, like it was real. After I went back to sleep and woke up again, I was back to normal.

It's a really cool experience, i'll tell you that.

Never had it, thank god. From what I've read I never want to experience it.

Had it once when I was a kid. I woke up because I felt really sick, but couldn't move, which was weird. After a bit I could yell, but it took forever for my parents to wake up. That's where I started to get worried, that I was so sick and couldn't move and no one could hear me to come and help.

Eventually my Dad came, and I had to go to the bathroom, but couldn't support my own weight, so he had to carry me. This, plus how bad I felt, convinced him I needed to go to the emergency room, where I learned I had the stomach flu.

Not that I recall intensely, at least.

However, I tend to be a very lucid sleeper. Is anyone else like that? Like, often I'm aware of the fact that I'm sleeping and every time I shift position [particularly if I'm next to someone] it's almost a conscious thing and I feel my bed and blankets and such, or as I'm dreaming be all oh yeah this is a dream oh well.

I used to get it a lot when I was 19-22

Now I sleep soundly with no issues, even when I kill people.

Soundly.

if(getThingFlags(source) & 0x8){
  do her}
elseif(getThingFlags(source) & 0x4){
  do other babe}
else{
  do a dude}

Really?

I always sleep really fitfully after committing murder. It's not that I care about the victim, but usually I'm worried that I left some sort of evidence.

Yeah, I'm the same way. I rarely have a dream where I'm not lucid.

As for sleep paralysis, yeah it's really freaky. My bedroom door is past the foot of my bed, and whenever I have it I usually see the door open and the silhouette of someone, then they slowly walk towards me. For some reason by the time they get to me the fear usually snaps me awake (and mobile).

.

Well like Axis said, for the first time it's scary but interesting later on.

82nd, wouldn't it be scary if you had a sleep paralysis and some enemy came into your bunk?

Nobody ever says anything different when I tell that story. Then they don't talk to me at all. Am I doing something wrong?

greasy midget... ahhhhh

I've had it several times before, but never accompanied with a dream that i can remember. Its usually when I'm napping and I'll begin to wake up but won't be able to move my body. Its somewhat frustrating especially when I can still hear the TV but can't open my eyes to see it.

I get it alot.

It's more annoying than anything. Not at all interesting. And WTF, seriously there is nothing to be scared of.

actually i know several people who have had sleep paralysis to the point that they can no longer breathe, that would be a bit frightening.

You may know that once you wake up, but when you're in that state it may not be so obvious, especially if it is accompanied by hallucinations.

Maybe I'm not lame enough hallucinate over something so trivial.


Next you'll tell me that some people when their feet fall asleep think they're being bitten by demons.

I never thought this day would come but...

<3

Nah, it happens differently to different people. I think it's pretty standard that you generally get the feeling of a presence in the room, or some sort of paranoia. I imagine since you're still partly dreaming, your mind will fill in whatever it thinks is appropriate in regards to that feeling. I think what happens probably says a lot about you.

For instance, I look for logical solutions. Hence, my cat in the room. However, the next time I had just had a horrifying dream about everything i knew and believed being proven wrong and my reality collapsing, so that time I think I saw shadow people crawling around the room, as I had read about before, since hey, no more rules of reality!

Rob, you apparently have no feelings or emotions.