In honor of the Halloween season, I want to share with you one of the most frightening aspects of my life. Its called sleep paralysis. If you are unaware of this condition, let me provide you with some background (In a very nonclinical way of course). Its a sleeping disorder where your body falls asleep before your brain does. Im not sure of the official cause of it, im just enplaning from experience. You can't move a muscle in your body, you can't talk, blink, nothing. However, you are fully conscious. The only way to break it, is through deep concentration, usually into trying to move a limb or talk. Otherwise it can last for great periods of time. I used to get it quite often, but now I know how to avoid it from happening. However, it still happens from time to time.
This is something that I have had constant experiences with. I get it if i sleep flat on my back, or if i sleep in certain beds. I used to have horrible experiences with it. But over the years i have learn how to control it, and break it before it goes into a cycle. What normally happens, is that i will wake up out of a very light sleep. Almost to the point where i dont ever realize that im sleeping yet. Then i find that my body is completely paralyzed. I used to just wait for it to run its course, then fall back asleep immediately. But then it would happen again moments later, and i would do the same thing, try and break it and fall back asleep. Normally i am so tired, that my body and brain go right back to sleep before i have a chance to react and readjust my body. At this point, it has gone into a cycle, and i start having dreams where i am having sleep paralysis. I would break it, and then wake up to find my body paralyzed. It happens over and over again. Its one of the most frightening things i have ever experienced. It takes so much concentration to break out of, and when you finally do, the idea of going back to bed scares the shit out of you.
There has also been many times when i have felt a horrible pressure on my chest, like someone is holding me down. I don't know if its just my mind fucking with me, but i can usually feel the blankets getting pulled off me, and this really cold air brushing against my face. Its such a violating experience, and i dont know how to explain it. Situations like this usually last about a minute or two, but it feels like an hour. At the time it happens, you can almost swear that its something super natural. Like a ghost or something. This doesn't happen nearly as often as it did, and i am very thankful for that.
I remember the first time i ever had it. I was about 12 years old, and had no idea what was going on. I remembered trying to scream for help, but couldn't because my entire body was paralyzed. It lasted about 5 minutes, but it seemed like an eternity. It wasn't till years later when i discovered that it was a sleep disorder and other people had experienced the same thing.
Its also funny that people who claim to have been abducted by aliens experience sleep paralysis right before it happens. I know thats bullshit, but you can't help it from flowing through your mind when you is having a real bad case of it.
