Features Oct 25, 2017 at 4:00 am

The terrifying experience of sleep paralysis.

Carolyn Arcabacio

Comments

1
Looks like a night Iggy Pop to me.
3
Eh, I've had this since I was a preteen. If anyone wants to try, I've been able to induce sleep paralysis by taking a midday nap and, once I'm on the brink of sleep, "willing" myself awake. It usually takes a few seconds before I can move again. Kinda interesting experience.
4
I have had this happen periodically over the years. I didn't panic at all though. It was clear to me I was caught between two states.

Isn't that interesting. That the same physical experience can be processed emotionally very differently.

Of course, I didn't have a deepest darkest fear of being locked in....
5
I had this happen for the first time about two years ago. In my case, however, I was barely even able to breathe. A few tiny lung spasms were all I could muster. Physically paralyzed and in a state of absolute terror, I was somehow able to will myself to slowly, ever so slowly, begin to twitch a finger - then barely move my hand; arm; neck; and finally be able to move my chest to be able to breathe. It was like being born again.

Once awake and shaking with a mix of terror and relief, I had half a mind to hit the ER. Goddamn frightening, that. It happened three or four more times that year, although never as bad as the initial experience, and then it vanished - hopefully to never return. And it couldn't have been the night hag, for she was sleeping beside me throughout. That one-night-wife was none the wiser to the guy from Cha Cha nearly dying in the bed beside her.
6
“According to my coworker, a night hag is the spirit of a restless woman who enters people's bedrooms at night and either sits on their chest or has sex with them, she couldn't remember which”. Come November 7th I imagine that memory will snap right back into place!
8
This is just another night for me. I thought everyone did that.
9
When sleep paralysis happens to me I give myself over to it. I sink into a calm state, and let it be. Prior t that it would jolt and haunt me, almost making me afraid to sleep.

When it first hits I am jolted, don't get me wrong, but I realize what's going on, and I kinda just mediate myself into a calm state and enjoy the ride.

My attitude is: If I die I die.
10
I had 3-5 instances of sleep paralysis per month from the time I was 4 years old -- in addition to hypnogogic and hypnopompic hallucinations. On April 20th, I started a high fat diet (ketogenic) to treat vertigo. I have continued on a high-fat diet since the vertigo abated and have not had a single instance of sleep paralysis since.
11
Been There; done That! ( & it was one the scariest experiences I've EVER had.)

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