Have you ever experienced sleep paralysis?
 

The first time it happened to me was absolutely terrifying. Thankfully it's not occurred in a while and when it does, I am able to get myself out of it pretty quickly.

It's not nice though :worry:

Never. Just usual nightmares for me, few and far between like.

I’m not sure what it is exactly actually - what happened?

Basically, you are conscious but unable to move or speak and are sort of inbetween being awake and being asleep. On top of that, you often feel like there's something on top of you or a presence surrounding you.

That's how I'd describe it for me, but obviously it will differ for each person.

Yes. Most terrifying thing ever.

Every single time a man has been stood over me and I've been unable to move or speak.

Dare we bring up the Christmas Ball of '09...?

Rob has gone TOO far this time

I just know I've ****ing jinxed it for myself and some demon is gonna spoon me tonight

Thats exactly word for word how it felt. Its happened to me a few times and it was bloody scary. Felt like I was pinned to the bed by something heavy. My heart was beating fast and I just couldn't move. The feeling of relief afterwards is immense.

I find wriggling my toes helps me break the 'spell' :laugh:

Thats the Rape Drug

:skull:

Screaming.

Marc you are hilariously funny.

Absolutely brutal

No but it sounds really scary

Yes I suffer from it a lot it's horrible

Some people claim a weighted anxiety blanket helps but for me that sounds horrific.

I'll probably get it soon now too after reading this thread you bloody jinx

...yeah I have, Babs...it is really terrifying to feel so scared but not be able to move/speak../...express the terror in any way...I haven’t for quite some time though I have to say...

...as with Cal..(..although I’ve never actually seen anyone, like a man..)...I’ve been aware of someone ‘standing over me..’...I’m aware of their breathing and just their ominous presence but it’s never been a ‘visual’ thing ...I just need to know that I have to move, that I can’t stay ‘frozen’...so for me..?...when it happened, I would physically force myself to move by rolling and rolling myself off the bed...so falling on the floor would make me wake up...it’s horrid...it was so difficult getting to the floor and away from the ‘presence’ that was with me...

I have...its awful. I don't feel a presence I just can't move. The first time it happened it seemed to last for ages but once I knew what it was I can now get out of it easier. Its not happened for a long time now thankfully.

Is there a reason for it? Sounds horrific

Its a form of anxiety my doctor said.

That makes sense Annie

...I do feel that it’s a form of ‘letting anxiety out’ as well, Annie../..releasing it...?...we often become more ‘solvers’ as we get older, so we understand how to work through anxieties, how to break them down and dissolve them..?...but not always so much when we’re younger ...those anxiety monster layers can build and build and need a way to release...the weight of our bodies in sleep paralysis type dreams, being the weight of our anxieties as the layers build...?...

Not like that no. But I can be in between sleep and being awake so I can see everything in the room but dreaming at the same time, so I have seen things that I thought were coming to get me like massive spiders, rats, ghosts, randomly a weasel the other day, or someone I know. But it feels so real as I can still see the room. I jump out of bed in fright and go to turn the light on and to warn my wife and look around the room many times before I properly wake up and realise that nothing is there and its really annoying for my wife!

Yeah I had a period a few years ago when it was happening quite regularly. Same as Annie I never experienced any sort of presence though it was always just the being unable to move & i'd get loud ringing in both ears.

Yes,just once,very weird experience.

Once as a teenager - and I was convinced that there was a tiny demon pulling at the bottom of my duvet while it was happening. I could hear a little growling sound and a tugging sensation at my feet :umm2:. (edit: Yes, we had a dog. No, it wasn't the dog!)

It's not always an anxiety thing, it can be down to bad or messed up sleep patterns, it used to often be called "Night Nurse's Paralysis" because it's common in nurses who work varying shift patterns and have to regularly switch from day shifts to night shifts and back again.

I suspect it happened to me when I was a teen because my sleep pattern was ****ing stupid... I used to sleep 2am - 6am and then "nap" 4pm - 7pm. Honestly I didn't have anything resembling a normal sleep pattern until I had kids. Ironically.

Years ago when I was a teenager I went through a few months of having it every so often, it's horrible

I actually went through a demon related nightmare stage(it was actually the devil with cloven feet and all) when I was a teenager too, one in particular where I became aware that I was dreaming but I could only control what I was doing in the dream so I curled up in a ball on the ground to wait to wake up but I could feel the devil pulling at me and starting to drag me along the ground

That's the Catholic guilt creeping in Niamh! It's airborne!

yeah, i've had it a couple of times

No I haven't thank God but a friend of mine had the demon one when we were in our teens, she thought it was due to her occult practices and joined a pentacostal church! Lol it wasn't for me :)

I had it once last year and it was so scary D:

I was sleeping on my stomach and i could physically feel my arms/legs being pushed into the bed

Only once. Scariest thing that's ever happened to me.
I couldn't move and this freakish figure was approaching me :bawling: