10 Terrifying Facts about Sleep Paralysis

Experiences reported include difficulty breathing due to a weighted chest, feelings of panic and fear. Sleep paralysis has been a widespread point of fascination for many years. Some have claimed the cause to be stemming from a demon, spirit, and even part of the alien abduction experience. What do you think is true? Have you experienced sleep paralysis before?

#sleepparalysis #sleep #psych2go

Writer: Laura Santospirito
Script Editor: Denise Ding & Kelly Soong
Music & Sound Design: Urban Goose Studios
VO: Amanda Silvera
Animator: Zuzia
YouTube Manager: Cindy Cheong

Citations:

[ReynaSingh]

Sleep paralysis is an otherworldly experience. People don’t realize how scary it can be.

[Unknow_Ade]

Finally a person who doesn't put the scariest images!

[jackscott]

Sleep paralysis isn't just unpleasant, it's genuinely horrifying. Several times I literally thought I was going to die because I couldn't move at all, could barely breathe, and it felt like a force was smothering me into my bed.

[pranjalipentakota]

How many of you are watching this right after having your sleep paralysis experience? I just had my first one 😭😭 it was scary af i thought i was gonna die

[ceruleanx]

I’m so used to sleep paralysis by now that when it comes I’m just like “Ah shit, here we go again.”

[itdoesntmatteranymore]

“Roses are red”
“Violets are blue”
“Outside I’m sleeping”
“But inside I’m screaming”

[rhainjeus]

Thank god i watched this before sleeping

[leyyqqww]

what i hate the most about sleep paralysis are the false awakenings, when i thought i finally escaped but i actually didn't. I experienced sleep paralysis 3 times already and this shit keeps happening

[tabithaweasley]

I feel like “paralysis” doesn’t really explain what it feels like. I can still feel my body, I just can’t move it. It feels more like I’m in a full body cast or stuck under a pile of bricks with someone sitting on my chest.

[Wfle]

1. *It happens to mostly adults*
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2. *Sleep paralysis is when the brain awakens before the muscles*
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3. *It happens closer to the morning*
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4. *It can occur with other sleeping disorders*
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5. *Episodes may last several minutes*
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6. *It is remembered clearly*
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7. *Hallucinations are common and often scary*
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8. *It happens in REM sleep*
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9. *It is genetic*
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10. *It can be prevented*
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[amiaaa]

I remember how terrified I was. I wanted to scream so bad. But nothing was coming out. I hope it never happens again.

[HowtolucidOfficial]

Me: trying to relax, sleep, maybe lucid dream
My sleep paralysis: I’m boutta end this mans whole career

[yourrichaunt]

Bro can we discuss how sweet and soft spoken her voice is, so comforting.

[alishfn]

literally 99% won’t see this but if you do, God bless you, stay safe and have a wonderful day

[TrangleC]

I used to suffer from sleep paralysis when I was a child and teen, but it went away. I might even have beaten it myself.
It almost always happened when I tried taking a nap during the day, rarely at night and it was really spooky stuff until I learned about what sleep paralysis is as an adult.
It would always start with a intense buzzing and humming sound, like static on a radio or an old TV and then I would feel how something scary, some form of entity, like a half transparent shadow would approach my bed and loom over me while I couldn't move.

Reading Stephen King's "It" as a child helped me. In it he describes the "Ritual of Chudd" where you defeat a demon by challenging it to a duel of the mind and metaphorically biting into its tongue and not letting go till it begs for mercy.

So when it happened again, I would become really aggressive and confrontational, mentally challenging the shadow to a fight and while I couldn't really bite it's tongue, I imagined turning into a powerful beast, usually a large crocodile for some reason and just rip the shadow to pieces in my mind.
The last few times it happened I got outright giddy with anticipation. "So, you came back to get your ass kicked again?" I was thinking.
Shortly after that it stopped for good.

I'm not saying that I believe in supernatural stuff and I somehow defeated a demon or something, but I do think I kind of healed myself from the sleep paralysis affliction somehow though some form of self-hypnosis or by taking charge of my dreams.

Now it kind of is my go-to without even thinking about it. Even in regular nightmares, I always turn into a crocodile or some sort of monster and turn it around on whatever is coming after me in the nightmare. I'm strangely aggressive and predatory in my dreams, always hunting down, fighting and mauling the scary stuff instead of being afraid of it. It is as if in my dreams the ability to fear was replaced with a single minded chain dog-like bloodlust and aggression.

[bk-bxmi]

"Like a demon, or a monster"
*shows cat*

[GREYFL]

Imagine the first person who got sleep paralysis poor person

[sir_prize]

I used to get sleep paralysis a lot--about every other day when I was in my late teens. The most important thing when it happens is to remain completely calm and relaxed. If you relax and don't try to move, it usually goes away very quickly. However, if you fight it and try to move, then the sleep paralysis lasts longer, and you're more likely to start getting the hallucinations.

[Shawátis]

I have a cousin who suffered an episode of sleep paralysis while in a medical surgery.

My cousin who I used to be friends with, suffered a lot of knee injuries throughout his life whilst playing various sports like football and hockey. He eventually got a major knee surgury done in the hospital. He was given some form of anesthesia, which later became futile after the surgery commenced. He was a very large man, both in weight and height and was very athletic; I reckon the anesthesia was just unable to accommodate his large frame. He woke up mid-surgery and felt EVERYTHING. He described it as the worst pain one could possibly imagine, and that it felt like it lasted for HOURS. He even mentioned that he cried throughout it but was stuck in his paralyzed body and could not move nor communicate. It was quite a traumatic experience, no doubt.

Has anything like this ever happen to anyone else? Seriously… sleep paralysis ain’t no joke.

[neemohwairimu]

“Sleep doesn't help if it's your soul that's tired.”