Being Ridden by the Witch: Sleep Paralysis Is the Greatest Nightmare • Hacker News Board

Re: Being Ridden by the Witch: Sleep Paralysis Is the Greatest Nightmare

#51

Post by vubuntu » Sat, Sep 14, 2013, 3:21 PM UTC

dylangs1030 wrote: post #31

There are a lot of people who don't know what this is like; as someone who used to regularly experience this, I'd like to share some of my experience. I have been in real situations that legitimately threatened my life and safety, and sleep paralysis consistently gave me comparable levels of stress and fear in each episode. Imagine having a bad nightmare, so bad that you wake up from it. But when you wake up, your ey…

"It's almost debilitating, and caused me insomnia for quite a while."

That is the worst part of it. Insomnia causes more stress and anxiety which causes more episodes of sleep paralysis/night terrors etc. It is a vicious cycle.

Re: Being Ridden by the Witch: Sleep Paralysis Is the Greatest Nightmare

#52

Post by Manger » Sat, Sep 14, 2013, 4:39 PM UTC

gexla wrote: post #24

Wow, there is a term for it! I get this all the time and didn't think enough of it to seek out understanding of it. It's it bit scary, but mostly annoying. If I'm sleeping I want to be sleeping, if I'm awake I want to be awake. Being somewhere in the middle isn't fun. For me it's like a dream where I can see what I would be seeing if I were awake and I can make the decision to try to wake myself up, but moving is rea…

I think I also experienced it several times. Basically, I was seeing what I would see if I was awake, but I could not move and if I tried, I felt I was moving "in my imagination" or in a dream, but not in "reality".

However, I never felt any terror while experiencing this, which makes me doubt it was sleep paralysis. It was just like dreaming I was lying on my bed, unable to move.

It only happened while attempting to nap in the afternoon. Now I try to always listen to music while napping (preventing me from going into deep sleep), so I don't have this kind of experience anymore.

Re: Being Ridden by the Witch: Sleep Paralysis Is the Greatest Nightmare

#53

Post by mobiplayer » Sun, Sep 15, 2013, 12:09 AM UTC

I had this for years and it comes back every now and then.

At first it was absolutely terrifying as I "heard" people walking next to my bed, "felt" my mattress being lifted, "seen" things floating around and other (now) pretty cool hallucinations. Now I'm able to get fully conscious during the process and realise what's going on, but I still have a hard time when I feel I'm suffocating :(

Just an advice, the trick is to focus your brain on your breath, don't panic and raise your awareness of everything that surrounds you. It will calm you down although you won't be able to move or call for help.

Re: Being Ridden by the Witch: Sleep Paralysis Is the Greatest Nightmare

#54

Post by johnchristopher » Mon, Sep 16, 2013, 10:42 AM UTC

I used to experience sleep paralysis on an on and off basis. Sessions were spaced enough that I wouldn't remember them for long. I thought it was due to high-level general anxiety.

There comes one session when I can't and don't want to go back to sleep. I wake up, turn on the computer and get on that old Deftones board. And there, there is a user writing about that topic and how he just experienced it and how he found out an article about it !

That article did a good job of demystifying the whole experience. It does not come from anxiety but can induce it (quite obvious). One interviewee reported he found the experience quite pleasurable, like being held in someone's arms. The article also stated that one you re-frame it in a pleasant way it wouldn't be a bad experience anymore: you could make it border on the erotic side of things.

And since then I have always been especially quiet and relaxed when having a sleep paralysis episode. YMMV.

Note: contrary to what I have seen in comments here you CAN´T force yourself to wake up from a dream.

which is how I decide to see it.