You are sleep, your body becomes paralyzed, you can’t speak, and no matter how hard you try to shake a finger or foot to wake up, you just can’t. While in a paralytic state, you hear voices whispering in your ear. You can feel someone breathing down your neck. You see demonic images, monsters, or ghosts that climb on top of your body and suffocate you, causing your body to become heavy and making it hard to breathe. For seconds or either minutes, you attempt to scream out and push these demonic figures off of your body. Then you wake up peacefully in a quiet room, in your own bed breathing normally as if nothing ever happened.
You experienced something called Hallucinatory Sleep Paralysis (HSP). Sleep Paralysis is a condition when you feel conscious but your body can’t move, which is a sign your body is not moving smoothly through the stages of sleep. Hallucinatory Sleep Paralysis is when you hallucinate while in the sleep paralysis stage.
Many people have linked alien abductions and other supernatural phenomena after experiencing one of these episodes. Each occurence is different and can take place anywhere while dreaming. However, most people who link their experience to something supernatural are usually unaware of what their body is experiencing.
Most religious people call it the “Devil riding your back”. Others will say it is your spirit jumping outside of your body, or an outer body experience. However, doctors have found this is simply a sleeping disorder.
I did research on this condition and found there are millions of people who experience this sleeping “disorder”. For me it usually occurs when I wake up in the middle of the night and can’t fall back to sleep, growing very tired until my body finally shuts down, then the episodes begin.
I feel like my eyes are open but when in reality, they are closed. I can see everything around me but I can’t move. Then a door will open and an image will walk towards me, I may hear a voice in my ear or feel the person or thing getting closer to my body.
Most of the time, it happens while I am sleeping on my back and the figure will climb on me and start choking me. I have experienced these episodes back to back and I’ve found myself waking up in another dream about seven different times. Each time I felt I was shaking myself out of one dream and waking in another, or maybe it was the same dream, but each time the setting was different and I was attacked by a different demon.
It is an unpleasant experience, but I have gotten so used to it after having over a hundred episodes in my life time that when I see images I talk back, challenge them, and curse them out because I know it is not real. This is my coping method. It has helped me get used to being attacked so I won’t feel helpless; I scare the demons away, at least that’s what I tell myself when in reality, it’s just me waking up. It’s psychological.
I am not sure if someone else can wake you out of this type of dream or the effects it may have if they do. I know there are some people who will say it is best not to wake someone out of a nightmare, but to me, this is beyond a nightmare. There is something physically happening to your body; it’s not just a dream. I would love someone to shake me out of it.
There are some people who say they don’t try to come out of it; they just fall asleep and will automatically wake up. But personally, I hate the feeling of barely being able to breathe and would never allow myself to fall into it.
Other Examples
Some people have stated they were raped or attacked by strangers or people and can see and feel the pressure of the act, but can’t move. This can be very terrifying, especially if the person is not aware that they are asleep and that what is happening is not real. When you are explaining this to some people, they may look at you as if your crazy, especially if they have never experienced it themselves. Fortunately, it is not a mental or psychological disorder.
Our minds can play tricks on us.
Additional Information
“When Does Sleep Paralysis Usually Occur?
Sleep paralysis usually occurs at one of two times. If it occurs while you are falling asleep, it’s called hypnagogic or predormital sleep paralysis. If it happens as you are waking up, it’s called hypnopompic or postdormital sleep paralysis.
What Happens With Hypnagogic Sleep Paralysis?
As you fall asleep, your body slowly relaxes. Usually you become less aware, so you do not notice the change. However, if you remain or become aware while falling asleep, you may notice that you cannot move or speak.
What Happens With Hypnopompic Sleep Paralysis?
During sleep, your body alternates between REM (rapid eye movement) and NREM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep. One cycle of REM and NREM sleep lasts about 90 minutes. NREM sleep occurs first and takes up to 75% of your overall sleep time. During NREM sleep, your body relaxes and restores itself. At the end of NREM, your sleep shifts to REM. Your eyes move quickly and dreams occur, but the rest of your body remains very relaxed. Your muscles are “turned off” during REM sleep. If you become aware before the REM cycle has finished, you may notice that you cannot move or speak.”