by Suzanne Rozier
One night last summer, I experienced waking up several times from deep sleep to find that I couldn’t move any part of my body (except for my eyes). Feeling that there was some other presence in the room lurking at the foot of my bed, I tried over and over again to turn my head so I could see what was there; once I could finally move again, I found that there was nothing.
In the morning, fully awake, I realized that what I had experienced the previous night was a mild episode of sleep paralysis, something I had read about before on the Internet. Sleep paralysis is a brief state of being unable to move ones body upon either falling asleep or waking up, and it’s usually accompanied by an ominous feeling that there is some kind of ghost or demon in the room, or even visual or auditory hallucinations.
J. Allan Cheyne of the University of Waterloo has conducted a significant amount of research related to sleep paralysis, and has compiled a comprehensive website (http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/S_P.html) detailing the results of his research, as well as a survey to fill out if you have ever experienced this phenomenon. According to his research, first episodes of sleep paralysis typically occur to adolescents, suggesting it as a possible reason for children’s fear during the night. Sleep paralysis has also been associated with narcolepsy, although not all narcoleptics experience it and not all people who have experienced sleep paralysis have narcolepsy.
The biological explanation for sleep paralysis is simple: when we are asleep, certain neurotransmitters are blocked out in our brain to prevent us from acting out our dreams. Sleep paralysis occurs for the few moments either immediately before we go to sleep or right after we wake up, when we are conscious but those neurotransmitters are still being blocked, preventing us from moving. (http://www.sevenoaksmag.com/features/57_feat1.html
I haven’t experienced sleep paralysis again since that night last summer, and it may never happen to me again. With some people it happens periodically, and some people will never experience it at all. But now you know: if you ever wake up and find yourself paralyzed, don’t freak out — it will go away soon.
Hi Suzanne,
Sleep paralysis is a funky thing. I’ve had it several times, and my personal theory is that it’s connected to stress and anxiety.
It’s a shame that it’s not covered more in the mainstream media, but it’s great there are people like Dr. Cheyne out there studying it, and de-freakifying it, becuase it is actually pretty common.
I’m a writer and I’ve been trying to pitch articles on the subject, but so far, I think I must be pitching to the lucky ones who haven’t had it…
Good post, and good advice, too. It’s freaky, but it can’t hurt you.
Comment by maikopunk — March 20, 2008 @ 6:10 pm
Scrolling through the articles on the Blog, I must admit I was immediately drawn to your post. I too, as am sure many people have, experienced that same feeling of terror after waking up in the middle of the night, unable to move my body and unsure if I will ever be able to do so again. It’s nice to know I’m not alone going through such traumatic experiences.
After researching the subject of sleep paralysis on the internet, I found a very interesting article on science news that discusses Cheyne’s research, as well as looking at various instances of this strange phenomenon around the world. One such case I found particularly intriguing was that of a 48-year old Vietnamese woman who suffers from sleep paralysis. She reported seeing “three ghastly demons stalk into her room, each covered in fur and displaying long fangs,” with “one of the creatures lean[ing] close to her head; the second hold[ing] down her legs; and the third pin[ing] down her arms.” (Bower, http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20050709/bob9.asp). After thorough analysis, her Psychiatrist, Dr. Devon E. Hinton, established a connection between his
patient’s nightmares and the experiences she had had 20 years ago living in Cambodia during the horrific rule of the Khmer Rouge. From this, Hinton has been able to link sleep paralysis with post-traumatic stress disorder, and that “many Cambodian refugees relive past horrors through sleep paralysis.” (Bower, http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20050709/bob9.asp). While these dreams are not themselves dangerous, when coupled with PTSD, they can often result in panic attacks or other more harmful experiences. I know personally, most of my experiences watching the film version of “It”—a Stephen King novel about a monster who dresses up as a clown and kill children—when I was 3 years old has been a source of fear for me ever since.
I hope this has been informative, and sincerely wish that neither of us ever has to go though this again.
References:
Bower, Bruce. “Night of the Crusher.” Science New Online. Retrieved March 19, 2008 from http://intro2psych.wordpress.com/2008/03/04/jamshed-bharucha-comes-to-vassar/#comments
Comment by Jared Kaner — March 24, 2008 @ 9:23 pm
Hi
I’ve been having these episodes since my late teens. They used to be fairly common, a few times a month. But they’ve now subsided to about 4 time a year, in my 30s.
I suffer the usual symptoms, paralysis, and the buzzing noise in the ears, more like a loud on- going bass that just gets louder and deeper. Really scary.
However, i also get auditory hallucinations of random noises. They’re so vivid that the first time it happened to me i didn’t realise it until i put 2 an 2 together. A brother and sister arguing at 3am in the morning???? That’s not right. When i tried to move and call out for help nothing happened.
Other sounds have been children playing in a playground, the front door opening and closing repeatedly and the sound of some one screaming in pain… All very freaky and scary.
It’s reassuring to know that there are other people going through the same thing, though i haven’t met heard of any body having auditory hallucinations.
Well that’s my bit.
Comment by Joe — March 29, 2008 @ 4:42 am
!!!Me Too!!! 25 yrs. old I was half asleep on the couch the other night and something pinned me to the bed and felt like it was sucking energy from me…then a bright white pulsing light came on over me. I could not speak or cry for help..I prayed in my mind until it left. Now
my heart and chest is in a constant pain..
I think “SLEEP PARALYSIS” is a bullshit scientific explanation for demons and extraterrestrial entities imposing on us against our will. And people are being socially programmed to deny the possibility of ANYTHING outside the “NORM”.. and if you think my claim sounds “far-out” or crazy then the above probably applies to you.
Comment by Keith — November 15, 2008 @ 10:06 pm
This was a great post- I’ve also been having these experiences since I was younger. I don’t think I’ve had auditory hallucinations like Joe talks about, but definitely visual ones. Sometimes I’ll be almost fully conscious but just unable to move, and sometimes it will be more like a vivid dream- I’ll think I’m awake until something really freaky happens to make me realize that I’m not. It’s also interesting what Jared writes about the Vietnamese woman’s hallucinations, as different cultures have come up with mythical explanations for these experiences, and sleep paralysis has been put forward as the reason for many supernatural claims that have been made. For example, a study conducted in Bristol, UK (http://www.susanblackmore.co.uk/Articles/ejufoas00.html) proposed sleep paralysis as the likely explanation for people who reported being abducted by aliens.
Comment by Jimmy McCumber — December 5, 2008 @ 3:54 pm
A few weeks ago I experienced that same frightening sensation of being paralyzed, unable to scream and aware of a presence in the room. I very clearly felt like someone was stroking my forehead but it was in no way comforting. I had read this blog post and many of the comments as well doing some of my own research on the topic; all of which explained the biological reasons fairly clearly. However, after reading the post by Keith, I became interested in what the more spiritual explanations are. I found the Spiritual Research Foundation site and their main reasoning for sleep paralysis is attack by a demon. According to their statistics (not really sure where they came from), sleep paralysis occurs far more frequently to “non-seekers” than it does to “God seekers” because they have less access to God’s protection. Similarly, sleep paralysis occurs to young adults because they are more vulnerable to attack by demons due to their desire for worldly things. I cannot say that I agree with this method of thinking but it was definitely interesting to see the other side.
Comment by Nika Filatova — December 13, 2008 @ 12:40 pm
The same thing happened to me last night. I wanted to know what the cause of this was, and before reading this (which seems like a very good and valid conclusion), I thought that perhaps since I had my pillow folded tightly like a taco, the pressure on the back of my neck was blocking neurons going to and from my brain. Considering the fact that I’m not scientist, this seems to make more sense. Otherwise, I would not have woken up!
Comment by Carlos Fernandez — January 23, 2009 @ 7:58 pm