Sleep Paralysis

[truethat]

Well here goes. I've been having a reaccuring situation where I dream about a "demon" (think the John Lithgow version of the twighlight zone) sits tearing at my chest.

As I have been discussing spirituality a great deal with people in preparation for ministry school (and please note I am an atheist) many of my friends are suggesting that I am suffering some sort of "spiritual attack."

Although I am pretty positive that is not the case, I am starting to get a bit unnerved.

I did a bit of research and discovered that it is most likely sleep paralysis. Many people suffer what is called the Hag phenomenon of a small creature sitting on their chest.

However a few things have given me pause. One is that so many different cultures have this same phenomenon. I'm curious about how it relates to spiritual belief in people. What exactly is being manifested.

The other issue stems from this directly. That is physical manifestation of such an attack. I woke up this morning with bruises on my chest. I'm curious if I somehow hit myself while sleeping? Except Sleep Paralysis is supposed to be you not being able to move when you are asleep? So what gives.

Does anyone have any experience with this issue?

 

[not daSkeptic]

I've had a couple bouts of sleep paralysis. With the first one, all I saw were the glowing, red digits of my alarm clock moving about the room with a weird trailing effect. I was unable to move in any way, but the visual slowly diminished until the clock stopped moving. Then I could move.

For the second incident, it felt as though my blankets were pulled tight around me. I struggled and was slowly able to move again.

 

[truethat]

No demons eh? LOL I'm sure me talking about Spiritual issues contributes to it. I'm wondering about the parts of the brain that relate to this. It would seem to me if this was more prominent in the early days of man that it would explain a lot of things.

 

[Miss_Kitt]

A couple of things: One, sleep paralysis / night terrors are not that uncommon, and they always involve something scary. This is different from just a hypnopompic hallucination, where you basically wake up part-way from being asleep and perceive dream-state input and real world input simultaneously. The hypno event does not necessarily involved being scared, whereas the night terror always does. (I've had both, so I'm ultra clear on the difference!!)

Two, you noticed bruises on your chest in the morning, but that doesn't mean they were a result of anything during your dream. It could be that you had some kind of minor chest injury, which resulted in the night terror showing your chest being attacked; and the bruising from this pre-existing injury is what you saw in the morning. (Remember that bruising does not necessarily appear for hours after the injury, depending on how deep down the damaged capillaries are.) Dreams often take in and use input from our real lives.

I suggest that ask yourself what seems to be a greater likelihood: That you are having a well-known and documented brain phenomenon, or that there are actually supernatural beings and you are being targeted for an attack by one?

I had a friend whose pastor suggested that his car having ignition trouble on a Sunday morning was demonic attack to keep him from going to church! So I must admit I don't put too much credence in that line of "reasoning".

I hope your distressing sleep visions get better soon, MK

ETA -- I should clarify that my "night terrors" invariably (and they have happened over several decades) involve some robed, skeletal figure. In the worst events, it's trying to put its hand over my face; others I have only wisps of memory when I awaken, screaming. My hypnopompic hallucinations have a much larger cast of characters, including the Hellhound and the Astronaut/Aviator with his helmet (his head still in it) under his arm. So yeah, perfectly sane, atheist people can see these things due to brain electro/chemical weirdness. I get them more often when I am under a lot of stress or using too much caffeine (or, when I was much younger, other stimulants).

 

[truethat]

Don't get me wrong. I don't think its really demons. But this has not been a one time thing. Its gone on for about a year and a half. Whenever I start discussing spirituality it starts up again. Then it stops.

One I'm interested in understanding what causes faith. I certainly don't think its God or demons but rather a mental issue. A brain activity, temporal lobe or whatnot. Imagine if this has occurred for generations. Early man would obviously create a "thing" out of this experience.

I'm also interested in manifestation of physical issues. The psychosematic issues. The bruises are not the only issues. I have had scratches and pain in other examples. I wonder if you can mentally create physical harm, if that makes any sense.

Don't worry. Still the cynic.

 

[Quinn]

I've had several bouts of sleep paralysis/night terrors. All were (as the name would imply) terrifying, but only one involved the famous "demon" sitting on me. And now that you mention it, he did kinda look like the gremlin on the airplane wing from the Twilight Zone! Which is odd, because I was sleeping on my stomach, meaning he was sitting on my back, so I couldn't see him... but I could still "sense" what he looked like.

The first time it happened (not the time with the demon), I was lying there for what seemed like the longest time trying to move but unable. The only parts I could move were the tips of my fingers. Then a few minutes after I finally woke up, I happened to notice that the tips of my fingers (both hands) had turned blue. This freaked me out even more, although the blueness faded soon.

It wasn't until the next morning that I figured out where the blue fingertips came from: sweat, and the blue ink from the plastic bag on the cheap loaf of bread I had bought. Turns out night terrors make me hungry, and the first thing I did when I woke up (not counting "utterly lose my $#!+ because I thought supernatural entities were attacking me") was make toast. Moral: our minds are very good at making connections that aren't really there, especially under the stress of something like night terrors.

 

[Klimax]

Interesing.

From time to time I had dream which ends with my death.Everytime some miliseconds before dreamed demise I woke up and stayed unmoving for some seconds,then there was return to sleep.(after checking that everything is normal)

Strange.

 

[Jackalgirl]

Had it happen to me once. It was particularly freaky. I didn't feel as if something was on my chest, but I was completely unable to move. Fortunately, I know about sleep paralysis, so although I was somewhat alarmed, I was not terrified; I just waited it out.

I couldn't begin to tell you why it only occurs when you discuss spirituality; I do recommend, however, that if it begins to truly concern you, that you seek some sort of professional psychological counseling. If that were happening to me, I'd be very curious about the reason why the idea spirituality had such a powerful hold over me.

Also, consider that "spirituality" is such a broad term -- is it the discussion of spirituality that seems to be the trigger, or discussion of a particular religion that seems to be doing it? Have you discussed, say, ideas about the connection between oneself and Deity (or the Universe) with, say, a person following the Hindu religion, or a Buddhist? Do you have the same issues with night terrors after that?

Edited to ask: what kind of ministry school? Do the students belong to a particular sect that has the belief that an evil entity (such as SATAN!!!) and its minions are in fact very real and very active in the world?

 

[Jackalgirl]

ETA -- I should clarify that my "night terrors" invariably (and they have happened over several decades) involve some robed, skeletal figure. In the worst events, it's trying to put its hand over my face; others I have only wisps of memory when I awaken, screaming. My hypnopompic hallucinations have a much larger cast of characters, including the Hellhound and the Astronaut/Aviator with his helmet (his head still in it) under his arm. So yeah, perfectly sane, atheist people can see these things due to brain electro/chemical weirdness. I get them more often when I am under a lot of stress or using too much caffeine (or, when I was much younger, other stimulants).

Man, I wish I had cool night terror hallucinations like this. I just woke up and couldn't move. I am so BORING!

 

[Ysidro]

I never see anything. There's just a terrifying sense of someone behind me. In fact, IT'S THERE RIGHT NOW!!!!! AAAAHHH!!!!! *faints*

 

[Pixel42]

Imagine if this has occurred for generations. Early man would obviously create a "thing" out of this experience.

It has occurred for generations - it's the consequence of a minor malfunction of a brain process that has existed for as long as dreaming has, which is probably at least a million years - and it almost certainly is the root cause of a lot of superstitions.

The wiki article has a long list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis#Folklore

 

[Dorfl]

My only experience with sleep paralysis went more or less like this:

zzz... huh?
Weird, I can't move.
Cool, it must be sleep paralysis!
zzz...

My night terrors have been much more interesting, involving for example waking up with the absolute conviction that Hamlet's family are about to mess with the iterative loop of the universe, thus ending all of existence.

 

[Undesired Walrus]

I've often woken up, felt fairly terrified, and then walked downstairs, picked up my phone and started to dial someone. It's only then I realise I'm actually still in bed, and I never left it, nor picked up a phone.

 

[TX50]

I've had the "demon sitting on my chest trying to strangle me"
dream a few times too. I wonder why that one is so common?
Also had "it" on my back apparently trying to tear my lungs out.
I can see totally why some persons might believe in demons after
experiences like that.

 

[TX50]

I've often woken up, felt fairly terrified, and then walked downstairs, picked up my phone and started to dial someone. It's only then I realise I'm actually still in bed, and I never left it, nor picked up a phone.

I've had one where stuck all over my wall on little "post it" notes was
the most fabulous book ever written (dunno what exactly it was but I just
know it was totally freaking amazing). In the (lucid) dream I tried to scribble
it all down onto a pad. Sadly when I woke up there were no post it notes
and no pad and I couldn't remember a single word of what was written.

 

[Athyrio]

I've had sleep disturbances all of my life and still have them (age 60 now). I've had many of the ones that give rise to the belief in OOBE's - during one very vivid one, I tried to leave evidence that it was really happening by arranging a pile of pocket change and my wallet on the dresser (when I finally woke up, no such pile was there). I still have my "OOBE's" - I like to call it that, but it's no such thing - just seems like it. When I come out of it, there is a good-feeling period like afterglow.

I've had the weight on the chest thing many times, once complete with a glimpse of a fat-winged creature as it scampered away from my bed, noisily flapping its wings for me to hear. I've never been diagnosed with sleep apnea, but I believe the experience is tied to something like it, and my mind interprets the thing. Just the other day, I was having a vivid dream, when suddenly the place where I was in the dream exploded. It was so sudden and loud that I woke right up, only to find that it had been a crash of thunder, but the noise of the thunder was incorporated into the last moment of the dream. Weird. You might want to get checked out for sleep apnea.

But one I recall best was during my first year of college. I didn't drink or use drugs at that time, but one afternoon after classes, I was very tired and flopped on my bed and went to sleep. One of my friends popped in to go to supper with me. He tried to awaken me by calling my name, then shouting, then actually grabbing and shaking me. I was totally aware of everything and could actually see him. I was trying my best to respond, to wake up, but my limbs wouldn't move and my tongue wouldn't work. Eventually, I saw him walk over to my desk and write a note that he had been there, and then he left. I continued to struggle to get control of my body and finally I managed to roll out of bed and onto the floor. My legs and arms felt like they weighed a ton. It was some minutes later that I felt safe enough to get up and walk but it took a while for the heavy feeling to go away entirely.

The note he left was there and he verified later everything I had seen him do in my room. I've had similar experiences with that type of sleep disturbance, but none as dramatic.

 

[sleepy_lioness]

I sometimes wake up paralysed, feels like my whole body is made of lead and though my brain is desperately telling my limbs to move they simply won't, and with the sense that there's a presence sitting on my bed. The first few times this was terrifying - I was convinced I was dead or dying - but then a kind person told me about sleep paralysis and now if it happens I just wait til I can move. Except for the time when there really *was* a presence on the bed - next door's cat had got in through the window and decided to jump on me. Nearest I've ever come to a heart attack!

I'm not sure it's connected to spirituality per se. Could the connection just be coincidence?

 

[Tapio]

But one I recall best was during my first year of college. I didn't drink or use drugs at that time, but one afternoon after classes, I was very tired and flopped on my bed and went to sleep. One of my friends popped in to go to supper with me. He tried to awaken me by calling my name, then shouting, then actually grabbing and shaking me. I was totally aware of everything and could actually see him. I was trying my best to respond, to wake up, but my limbs wouldn't move and my tongue wouldn't work. Eventually, I saw him walk over to my desk and write a note that he had been there, and then he left. I continued to struggle to get control of my body and finally I managed to roll out of bed and onto the floor. My legs and arms felt like they weighed a ton. It was some minutes later that I felt safe enough to get up and walk but it took a while for the heavy feeling to go away entirely.

The note he left was there and he verified later everything I had seen him do in my room. I've had similar experiences with that type of sleep disturbance, but none as dramatic.

Wow!

I've always wondered about this, because I've had a few of these experiences, only with me being the "friend".

All this dream-stuff is so wild. As a former Castaneda-freak I still find a weak spot for it. You know...just maybe...what if...

 

[truethat]

It has occurred for generations - it's the consequence of a minor malfunction of a brain process that has existed for as long as dreaming has, which is probably at least a million years - and it almost certainly is the root cause of a lot of superstitions.

The wiki article has a long list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis#Folklore

That article is one that gave me pause. For the reason that it discusses the large number of deaths in men in a certain country. That is a strange detail.

I'm very interested in understanding why people would see a winged demon or a demon sitting on their chest.

When I say that it has occurred for generations I wonder if it has evolved to less and less and less. Say for example the brain needs fantasy stimulation. In the modern era television and movies and daily activities can fill that need. I wonder if back in the beginning this occurred with much more frequency.

I mean take the Salem which hunts or stories of Vampires. If people were actually having these dreams night after night, if a husband described the demon on the chest and then had a heart attack the next day, I can really understand why these people took it seriously.

 

[Brian Jackson]

It's been discussed that popular culture can often dictate what "monsters" we see during sleep paralysis, and why so many folks who experience this in modern times believe it to be alien abduction. Speaking from my own experiences as a practiced lucid dreamer, that train of thought has credibility.