What is sleep paralysis, and is it rare?
—Mark Fischetti, Lenox, Mass., editor of Scientific American Earth 3.0
Psychologist Christopher French of Goldsmiths College in London explains:
Attacks by demons, ghostly visitations and alien abductions: some people are certain they have experienced such paranormal events. In reality, many of these victims probably had an episode of sleep paralysis.
Sleep paralysis, a momentary inability to move one’s limbs, trunk and head despite being fully conscious, may occur when someone is either drifting off or, more rarely, waking up. During rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep, the muscles of the body are paralyzed, presumably to prevent the dreamer from physically acting out the dream. Researchers are not sure why this normal paralysis happens during consciousness for victims of sleep paralysis, but psychophysiological studies have confirmed that attacks are particularly likely to occur if the person enters REM sleep quickly after hitting the pillow, bypassing the stages of non-REM sleep that usually happen first.
Other factors that make sleep paralysis more likely to occur include drifting off while lying on the back, feeling stressed or experiencing a disruption in normal sleep patterns, such as from shift work, jet lag, caffeine or alcohol.
Although sleep paralysis is a symptom of narcolepsy, it is also common in healthy people. Surveys from different countries show a wide range of estimates: 20 to 60 percent of the normal adult population has experienced sleep paralysis at least once. Around 5 percent of the population has experienced one or more of other disturbing symptoms associated with the disorder. The most common effects include visual hallucinations, such as shadows and light or a human or animal figure in the room, and auditory hallucinations, such as hearing voices or footsteps. A person often also feels pressure on his or her chest and has difficulty breathing.
The reason sleep paralysis may explain tales of ghosts and aliens is the strong sense of a presence, usually harmful, that victims commonly feel during an attack. They also report unusual kinesthetic sensations, such as feelings of being dragged out of bed, vibrating, flying or falling. These episodes can sometimes lead to full-blown out-of-body experiences. Sleep paralysis may be frightening, but it is never dangerous, and thankfully, episodes usually last only a few seconds.
Why am I sometimes awakened in the middle of the night by explosions going off in my head?
—Jade Peifer, Cypress, Fla.
Randolph W. Evans, professor of neurology at the Baylor College of Medicine, responds:
There may be several reasons why you’re experiencing these explosions erupting in your head. Perhaps you’re in love, as the lyrics to Atreyu’s “When Two Are One” suggest:
Bang!
Explosions in my head
that just won’t quit.
A train has crashed into the
wall around my heart ...
Alternatively (and more likely), you have an uncommon sleep disorder, which in 1988 British neurologist John Pearce named “exploding head syndrome.”
During an episode, a person feels a loud bang coming from inside his or her own head, often described as an explosion, a roar or waves crashing against rocks. Eruptions generally occur while people are falling asleep and less frequently when they are waking up. The explosions vary in frequency and happen most often in healthy individuals older than 50. In 10 percent of cases, people perceive a flash of light, and about 5 percent of patients report the sensation that they have stopped breathing and must make a deliberate effort to breathe again. Sufferers may be afraid or anxious in the aftermath of an attack.
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34 Comments
Add CommentI have experienced sleep paralysis for a couple of years now. Sometimes more present than other times. There will be periods of time where I experience it more and sometimes where I simply won't. I do not hear those banging noises but I have hallucinated humans or strange shadows in my room. I have gotten used to it, but at first was very frightening. I usually just focus on my breathing until I regain movement of my limbs. I experience it both going into sleep and coming out of sleep. So does that mean when I am going into sleep and experience sleep paralysis is it that i am immediately entering REM sleep? I have trouble sleeping at night and usually have excessive sleepiness during the day. I think I may have narcolepsy. I do not experience cataplexy though as many narcoleptics do. Could I still be a narcoleptic? What is the treatment for this?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI correlate sleep paralysis very closely to what is called lucid dreaming. Lucid dreaming is in affect when we become conscious during our dream state. As a result of using a number of techniques to achieve this state, we often find ourselves in this state in between both the wakeful state and that of sleep, the result may very well be sleep paralysis. The other causes mentioned would also coincide with that of a state we could consider between that of a state of sleep and a state of being awake.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think we can correlate sleep paralysis very closely with what is called lucid dreaming. Lucid dreaming is in affect when we become conscious during our dream state. As a result of using a number of techniques to achieve this state we often find ourselves in this state in between both the wakeful state and that of sleep, the result may very well be sleep paralysis. The other causes mentioned would also coincide with that of a state we could consider between that of a state of sleep and a state of being awake.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI also experience lucid dreaming as well once in awhile. I don't practice any techniques to do so though. Honestly, I really enjoy lucid dreaming. It is fun and a virtual reality in which I can not get hurt. So I do things i normally can't in real life. Sometimes when I go to bed I get very vivid hypnagogic imagery which sometimes leads me to sleep or to lucid dreams which then leads to sleep paralysis. But nonetheless, I really like hypnagogic imagery and lucid dreaming and all those different mind states not everyone gets to experience. Although I think I may have a sleeping disorder in which I do not feel fully rested even after sleeping 12-14 hours a night.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have experienced both of these. Once I woke up in the morning, and I couldn't lift myself from the bed. Only lasted a few moment, but I really couldn't pick myself up, it was like trying to lift a ton of bricks. The arms moved, and the mind was willing, but the body wasn't.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe head explosion syndrome I experience fairly often, and most usually when I fall asleep while working on my computer. I'll have drifted off with head up and hands still on keyboard, when "Bang!" and it wakes me up. I tell myself to go to bed now. I also used to, though haven't in a long time, experienced a variation of this. I have sometimes "heard" something that can only be described as "Heralding Angel's Trumpets". It seems to me to be something more along the lines of augmented imagination while between wakefulness and sleep states, but it's still a rather pronounced and real quality in experience. I'd be interested in an explanation for that.
it sounds funny to me that you write "thankfully, episodes usually last only a few seconds"—i am thankful for each second that i can live in this state and often actively seek to attain it. i have developed a technique i call conscious sleeping which consists mainly of lying on your back and concentrating on the sounds around you. you get rid of a good part of your daytime conscience, but maintain awareness while your limbs are paralyzed (you can get them back, but it takes a little effort). this is *so* relaxing—a half hour of conscious deep relaxation is worth hours of ordinary sleep!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have experienced sleep paralysis many times as a paralyzing malevolent force somewhere in the room. This was upon awakening, and during that time I was fully conscious of being in my room, the time of day, and could hear ambient sounds (birds outside), feel my body position, etc. but just could not move. I was fully conscious but paralyzed. Whatever force this was seemed intent on suffocating me and I was not able to breath. It was extremely frightening and at the time (pre-internet) I did not know there were others that had similar experiences or what to call it. Later I read of some accounts and learned the ancient folk names for this, the Incubus, Succubus, or the Old Hag.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI learned though experience to relax and it would pass, and then learned how to escape from the paralysis by a simple technique that I have heard also works for others: start by flexing your little finger, then your other fingers, work outwards to flexing hands, then moving arms and you will be able to shake off the paralysis. I also learned not to sleep on my back.
I no longer have these episodes, but I agree with the previous comment, if you can befriend this state and do not have any fear attached to it (you realize you are in control) it can be an empowering and rejuvenating state to be in.
I have had sleep paralysis since I was a child. I hate it. I have had every symptom ranging from shadows, buzzing noises, voices, being dragged from my bed and pinned down, getting up and walking around or getting a drink of water... only to hear that buzzing sound and realize I am still laying in bed unable to move. My mother, grandmother and brother have it as well. I wonder if there are any genetic factors...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI forgot to add that you can escape by creating games in your head. I used to flip cards in my mind until I had 3 matches I know it sounds weird, but that's how I escaped it as a child. I really had to play with my own head, like I was playing a computer card game or something.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisits funny how many contradictions there was in this report. a symptom of narcolepsy, but healthy people experience it often as well? the part of the brain stem that fails to shut down before the rem sleep state? all this is major speculation, seems to me that the basis of these statements were not inspired from studies.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisi have had sleep paralysis about 30 times or so, and i have experienced the exploding sound in my head, but only while falling to sleep, and not related to paralysis.
one particular episode i was having a normal dream, which then turned into a real vivid dream, which then turned into a lucid dream. i began to become even more conscious, then i found myself awake on my bed unable to move my body. i could hear what sounded like a plastic bag crumbling around in the corner of the room, and there was also a shadow figure in my room. i could clearly see my room as if my eyes were open. when i finally snapped out of the paralysis i physically opened my eyelids, but was still looking directly at the same thing i was when i was paralysed, when my eyelids were closed.
cdream mentioned that he was able to walk around in one of his episodes..
from all my experiences i can conclude that what this is, is not a "sleep didorder," but a natural occurance where you are not fully in your body, thus not being able to move your physical body. this state is on the edge of a out of body experience, very clearly. i was surprised that it mentioned that at the end of this report, seeing how before the cause was speculated to be from different disorders, but *healthy* people also experience.
the sleep pattern change comment in this report is somewhat relevant. i usually experience this when i am not that tired, thus, not going that deep into sleep, giving more awareness to yourself.
scientific speculations are often biased, because they will usually try to tell you what it isnt, because they do not accept what they are trying to rationalize.
i am not against scientific studies however. science is supposed to investigate the unexplained, not explain the uninvestigated.
I had it a few times. One time I thought I was being attacked by a velociraptor and the other time I recall a guy with a shotgun in the room with me. I simply tried to pull the superman trick with my eyes where I shoot out an intense beam of X-rays, what else could I do when I was stuck and couldn't move!?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI used to have these symptoms a lot as a child, which at the time was very frightening, but have also had them as recently as 4 months ago. I agree with the person that commented on "playing a game with your mind" in which I would visualize a large "control board" with buttons and knobs and by turning the buttons and knobs I would eventually get the right combination and wake myself up. I would as other have stated experience vibrating sensation or thought that I was not alone. The last experience I tried to call out for my wife laying next to me in bed but could not get my voice to work, however it felt as if I was screaming at the top of my lungs.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have experienced both of these. Often the explosions start as a pinpoint and burst outward with a flash and a roar. It jolts me up. Now that I am used to it I can sometimes make it happen by thinking about it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMy sleep paralysis always happens when I am on my back and mostly when I take naps versus my regular sleep time. When this happened the first time I felt very axscious and feerful that somebody was going to sneak in and hurt me when I couldn't move. After I read a little about this I found out it was harmless and now enjoy the times when it does happen. Even though it is still scary I am able to tell myself that everything is all right and go with it.
II have experienced sleep paralysis frequently. I felt a presence in the room and weight on my chest and I couldn't get up. I felt like I was awake but I couldn't move. The figure was demonic looking. I'm not a religious person but I felt bad "vibes" from it and I felt it seemed really evil. I heard voices in Latin, and it was chanting, and the figure got closer. Then I felt like I was on my ceiling and everything started spinning, the weight also got heavier. It was really scary. I've had other episodes but this one has always disturbed me the most. I understand that there's a scientific explanation, but I wonder why so many suffers of sleep paralysis tend to see a demonic like figure or an alien. Perhaps It has something to do with Jung's Archetypes or collective un conscious.
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Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI experienced a terrifying nightmare: An intruder had sneaked into my bedroom, meat cleaver in hand, lusting for my blood. The dream was very vivid, and my sleeping mind believed the attack to be real. My only hope for survival---it seemed to me----lay in quickly grabbing my trusty 45 from the adjacent bed stand, then blazing away, fast as I could pull the trigger.
Unlike the cleaver-armed attacker of my dream, the bed stand was real, as was the fully loaded 45.
I attempted to reach for the gun, but found myself to be paralyzed, unable to move a muscle. Thank God for sleep paralysis!
It was my struggle to regain conscious physical control that eventually brought me to wakefulness, and to the realization that I had been dreaming. The 45 I left undisturbed.
Rather than being merely an artifact or an accident, appears to me that sleeping paralysis is a mechanism with a purpose. For we all dream, do we not? Thus it seem to me likely that some mechanism must exist to deny majority of our billions and billions of sleeping dreams physical fruition.
Sleepwalkers an exception, of course.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI experienced a terrifying nightmare: An intruder had sneaked into my bedroom, meat cleaver in hand, lusting for my blood. The dream was very vivid, and my sleeping mind believed the attack to be real. My only hope for survival---it seemed to me----lay in quickly grabbing my trusty 45 from the adjacent bed stand, then blazing away, fast as I could pull the trigger.
Unlike the cleaver-armed attacker of my dream, the bed stand was real, as was the fully loaded 45.
I attempted to reach for the gun, but found myself to be paralyzed, unable to move a muscle. Thank God for sleep paralysis!
It was my struggle to regain conscious physical control that eventually brought me to wakefulness, and to the realization that I had been dreaming. The 45 I left undisturbed.
Rather than being merely an artifact or an accident, appears to me that sleeping paralysis is a mechanism with a purpose. For we all dream, do we not? Thus it seem to me likely that some mechanism must exist to deny majority of our billions and billions of sleeping dreams physical fruition.
Sleepwalkers an exception, of course.
i really agree with aylera. I am thankful that someone who suffers with sleep paralysis with explore the fact that science may not be able to explain this one away. I have had horrible sp since the age of 14-21 and now i am 26 and they have come back. I also have awoken from sp and still seen what i saw when i was paralyzed. Couldn't this in fact prove that whatever we may have seen is REAL?? Come on now, us humans don't know everything. There is a whole universe full of stuff that we don't know and understand yet!! I believe that all of us, (sleeping disorder or not) who suffer from this may have some kind of ability to see into a real in this world that most humans are not usually able to see. And so science will tell me it's a chemical forcing me to have hallucinations??? The tell me why all of us have very similar if not the same hallucinations! I have done my fair share of drugs in my lifetime and i know if you got all of us in one room at the same time and gave us all acid that we would not all have the same experience! We would all have "our own" trip. So why would we all be seeing the same thing?? Perhaps it is real!! Something to think about.........
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisi really agree with aylera. I am thankful that someone who suffers with sleep paralysis with explore the fact that science may not be able to explain this one away. I have had horrible sp since the age of 14-21 and now i am 26 and they have come back. I also have awoken from sp and still seen what i saw when i was paralyzed. Couldn't this in fact prove that whatever we may have seen is REAL?? Come on now, us humans don't know everything. There is a whole universe full of stuff that we don't know and understand yet!! I believe that all of us, (sleeping disorder or not) who suffer from this may have some kind of ability to see into a real in this world that most humans are not usually able to see. And so science will tell me it's a chemical forcing me to have hallucinations??? The tell me why all of us have very similar if not the same hallucinations! I have done my fair share of drugs in my lifetime and i know if you got all of us in one room at the same time and gave us all acid that we would not all have the same experience! We would all have "our own" trip. So why would we all be seeing the same thing?? Perhaps it is real!! Something to think about.........
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisi really agree with aylera. I am thankful that someone who suffers with sleep paralysis with explore the fact that science may not be able to explain this one away. I have had horrible sp since the age of 14-21 and now i am 26 and they have come back. I also have awoken from sp and still seen what i saw when i was paralyzed. Couldn't this in fact prove that whatever we may have seen is REAL?? Come on now, us humans don't know everything. There is a whole universe full of stuff that we don't know and understand yet!! I believe that all of us, (sleeping disorder or not) who suffer from this may have some kind of ability to see into a real in this world that most humans are not usually able to see. And so science will tell me it's a chemical forcing me to have hallucinations??? The tell me why all of us have very similar if not the same hallucinations! I have done my fair share of drugs in my lifetime and i know if you got all of us in one room at the same time and gave us all acid that we would not all have the same experience! We would all have "our own" trip. So why would we all be seeing the same thing?? Perhaps it is real!! Something to think about.........
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisi started having the crazy dreams when i was 6 years old and now im 17 and iv been dealing with the sp for a few years i guess. its terrifying and i simply dont understand how people can say that they are use to it or no longer afraid of it. I dred going to sleep. no one i know has any idea what im talking about or has expirienced it. ive never actually seen a physical presence of something, i just hear this really deep voice it feels like something is holding me down and tickling me and i cannot move at all.i scream at the top of my lungs for someone to wake me up.I feel an intense tingling sensation when i snap out of it and im so extremely paranoid when i wake up that i cant move anyway.theres been a few times when i thaught i was dead and i could feel my mom slapping me in the face and screaming and every thing was just spinning.listening to music when im trying to go to sleep helps me alot sometimes because i can focus on the music but its terrible when joni mitchell's voice turns into something demonic. i dont know what to do about it really
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have had what sounds like "sleep paralysis" many times before. Years ago I had many episodes of waking up on my back feeling weight on me and feeling like I cannot move. Years ago, when my husband and I were in marital counseling I told the counselor about what was happening and he told me it was what is called "body memories". He led me to believe, for a while, that it was because of me having been sexually abused as a child, and having repressed the memory of it, was why I was experiencing this. I was so stressed out about it that they put me on a high dose of an antidepressant to help me sleep. The episodes continued and the counselor led me to believe I had to allow the "body memories" to come out so I would lie in bed feeling the weight sensations for an hour or more. When I would try to get up it felt as if I had been run over-- I ached all over.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe counselor had me do "repressed memory therapy" for almost two years and it cost me several thouands of dollars for this bogus therapy. It caused me a great deal of stress and nearly destroyed and the lives of my family. After I left that counseling I stopped sleeping on my back and the sleep paralysis stopped. Now years later I still do sometimes awake on my back feeling the sleep paralysis, but it does not scare me anymore.
I've experienced sleep paralysis only once before. It was the most frightening thing that's happened to me. I heard unexplainable buzzing noises which still scare me just thinking about them. Luckily I didn't see a figure or have a sense of being dragged out of bed. I woke up laying on my arm side. I couldn't open my eyes for a few seconds, after that, I was able to breathe again but still couldn't move any other part of my body. Being 16, it has greatly interested me in the subject of not only sleep paralysis, but all sleeping and neurological disorders. Reading and listening to other peoples stories and experiences have made me want to help them and become a doctor (for neurology) when I get older.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI've had many episodes of sleep paralysis since I was 5, and I have seen, heard, and felt things. It scared me to death to sleep sometimes because when it happened it felt like i was being physically sucked up into it, and when that happened and I opened my eyes for as long as I could it wouldn't happen. Then I would just not go to sleep for hours. One time I heard AND saw a dog barking. I would try to scream for help but I couldn't. Then just about 6 months ago I looked up sleeping disorders and found sleep paralysis and realized that's what was happening to me.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt has happened to me a couple times. I felt the "being dragged out of bed" version. It is pretty scary.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's been 31 years of sleep paralysis. I have been paralyzed by sleep paralysis as much as 5 to 8 times in a day. I normally get 3 in a week. It is a way of life for me now. I understand your view on sleep paralysis but until you've lived it as I have, you will not truly understand what occurs and the coping with the entities that come into your presence.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisi get sleep paralysis all the time. its very scary..especially wen i see things.... demons, angels... i saw a friendly angel about 2 yrs ago. she died in my brothers home and told me her name. i didnt see her face or hear her, but i knew.. she was a bright light hovering over me (this happened waking up, it was daylight..)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisa week ago, a man...a demon attacked me. i havent been able to sleep since then. i leave my light on but cant fall asleep til daylight hits....
i have found a pattern.... everytime i watch the show ghost adventures on the travel channel, my strong Christian bff tells me that im leaving a gateway open. when the angel came to me.... i taunted the ghosts in my brothers home... they messed with me every night for about a month until she finally showed herself to me and made peace. these are demons. these are not hallucinations. i saw them clear as day.
the demon a week ago was erratic. he paced my doorway really fast about 5 times then lunged at me like superman flies. he was a white shadow. not bright.
im having problems finding people that relate. if anyone wants a friend who experiences the same things as u do, plz email me. maybe we can be friends on facebook.
my bff showed me psalms 91. its supposed to protect u. read psalms 91 over a bottle of oil to bless it. read it again as u spread the oil over ur body. face eyes temples ears arms and shirt and pants before going to bed. sleep with the Bible if you need to.
i am doing this tonight.
Misha from Philly
lovemishamail@yahoo.com
The first sleep paralysis I experienced was awful. I remember the sensation of being ripped out of my bed and slammed across the floor. I could feel the carpet fibers on my face and see the outline of the bottom of my dresser in my darkly lit bedroom. Feeling the presence of evil. Knowing I was NOT dreaming, and knowing something was NOT normal. I assumed I was dead but didn't understand what I was doing on the floor unable to move or how I got there. I can't remember if I went back to sleep from this state or awoke in my bed but either way I know my body never left the bed.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMost of the "SP's" since then have not been as dramatic as the first and I have never been involuntarily thrown out of my bed since the first encounter, but some other weird stuff like the sound of a man talking into my mind really loud in an unknown language. I could not see him but I just wanted him to shut up! And then watching a snake climb up my wall that was in the form of a belt. Strange stuff. I'm still not sure about whether this is purely chemical-physical or if the spiritual really exists and intertwines with our physical world.
Regardless, it is interesting stuff and really makes you contemplate consciousness and our ability to sense and experience the world around us.
got sleeping paralysis as child about 10 years old and only lately at 22 found out what happened to me it use to happen a lot. Reading every ones comments I realize that I experienced it in different ways its not always the same or as intense. I am 23 and it has started again.. I get it in an out-of-body experience way, not so much hallucinations anymore. It is awesome to understand what is happening and less scary and shorter knowing it is “not real”. However I was “travelling” all over my room a while ago realizing what was happening I tested myself by making a mental note of an object in my room I could only see from an high angle.. next morning I got on a chair and there it was.. I really did see it. This is weird but it does not scare me. I get bad vibrations and it almost feels like a seizure. The next morning I feel hung over almost like I took drugs and alcohol. I wanted it to go away but figure I could have a lot of fun flying around my room if only I could control it… I have no coordination while this happens.. I hope it does not continue but if it does I will start experimenting like I see some other people do.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have experienced sleep paralysis many times over the last 3 years. I am not sure if i had experienced it before this period of time but since first taking MDMA about 3 years ago, i experience sleep paralysis at least once per month. If i have had ecstasy it is almost guaranteed that in the week after taking it i will have a sleep paralysis experience at least once. The sleep paralysis is always a confronting and frightening experience, there is a palpable sense of morbidity in the room as you are lying there unable to move, screaming at the top of my lungs with no sound coming out and trying to get up and move, i always awake from these experiences by trying to pull my paralysed self out of the bed when i do wake up i am lying on my back, head on pillow, thinking to myself.... brains are amazing organs.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have had sleep paralysis for awhile now. I am not too sure when it started but it occurs several times almost every single night. It is less likely to happen when I am sleeping in the bed with someone else but almost always occurs when I am alone. It is the scariest feeling I have ever experienced! For a long time I felt like I was crazy or something. I told a few people about my sleep issues and they all looked at me like I was nuts...that's when I turned to the web to research it for myself. I am so glad to find out that I am not the only one that this happens to. This info was very helpful!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMy sleep paralysis occurs when I am falling asleep...like right when you are drifting off. Sometimes I start to have a bad dream, but it doesn't seem like I am sleeping because I am fully aware even though my eyes are closed at this point. In my head, I know I am dreaming. I try to move to wake myself up from the bad dream but can't. I try everything...jerking, pinching, slapping, kicking but I am unable to move any part of my body. Eventually, I am able to open my eyes. I see my bedroom exactly how it really is, but I still cannot move. Sometimes I start to doze off again but I fight it by talking to myself "in my head." Many times I experience hallucinations at this point. Mostly I see shadows out of the corner of my eyes but I can not turn my head to look. Less frequently I hear things....whispers, voices? I am not 100% sure. Finally, I wake up in a panic.
At least once a night during these episodes I feel like I cannot breathe. Not like someone is choking me but I just am unable to breathe. It is extremely frightening. Also during these episodes, I feel a lot of pressure on top of my body as if someone is holding me down. It freaks me out. I scream for God to help me in my head, but all I can do is wait it out until I do wake up. After reading this article some things clicked. This definitely happens more often when I am sleeping flat on my back. Also the "explosions" that was addressed happen to me as well. It sounds like someone picked up a huge textbook and dropped it on a flat surface a couple feet. Most of the time it is so loud that it wakes me up. Everything that I experience causes me to wake up in complete panic and confusion because you dont know which part of the situation was real and which was a dream. It seems like the only time this does not happen is when I have been drinking because then I just pass out. Hmm there's is a thought lol =]
I am 50+ female with sleep apnia. I have had very vivid dreams since puberty. I recently started experiencing explosions in my head that wake me up.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThese are not like waves or a small explosion. They range from atomic bomb to percussion bomb. I even wake up with a smoke taste in my mouth. I had these while hospitalised and asked doctors and nurses what they were, they had no clue. This is the first article I have seen that tries to explain them.
But it just is not exactly like mine.
I have also had the very vivid dreams since about puberty. Now I have sleep apnea and I use a bipap unit.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisApril 2010 while hospitalized was my first experiences with my head exploding. It is in different intensities, sometimes almost like an electronic buzz startling me awake. Others where my head is literally on fire in the dream. One was like a balloon busting in my face again startling to wake. I have began to journal when I have these to try to determine if foods or drugs could be cause. But no doctor at hospital would not even attempt to come forward with an explanation for my symptoms, so discouraging that I had to diagnose myself online.
Hi:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have had several episodes of "sleep paralysis"-with an evil presence. It is a very terrifying experience. While science tries to logically describe the mechanism behind it, they fall terribly short on presenting any empirical evidence to back their explanation for this phenomenon. They describe the symptoms, compare it to other sleep patterns, correlate it to an explanation of alien abductions or ghostly encounters, because they simply have no idea what it really is and in their need to understand, give it a simple label. I can say... the feeling of total horror, terror and that of an abject evil presence has never been more clear and vivid than during this experience. If this is a hallucination, than how does one label a mundane daily experience that can be passed off as anything? I do not even concede the underlying premise that what I have experienced is sleep paralysis. The only way I can regain any sense of safety, and dissipate the real and impending threat is by praying internally incessantly over and over until I sense that the evil presence has gone. Just last night this very matter occurred, before that about a year ago, twice in quick succession, and then before that a long time ago. I have noticed that it seems to occur at a time in my life when I am spiritually growing, closer to God and leaving my self destructive and negative habits and life behind me. I am not sure if something is reaching toward my soul, a darkness to threaten or scare me, but whatever it may be, it does not like when I pray to bind its influence over me, becuase it quickly goes away.
Physiological symptoms of sleep paralysis are the same with those of syncope. Thus, sleep paralysis is caused by syncope. For experts in cardiovascular diseases, sleep paralysis or syncope is a common symptoms of cardiovascular disease【1】.For a long time, due to the ignorance of physiological knowledge of syncope , ischemie cerebrale , slow beat, fast beat and so on, psychological illusion in people’s sleep generated by such physical symptoms i.e. the nightmare really has puzzled the psychologists, therefore they put forward a wide range of wrong even absurd views onthe nightmares, which both have no scientific basis, and could not be confirmed, even more were not self-consistent.For example, a medical expert Debacke drew the correct conclusion that the anxiety-dream resulted from ischemie cerebrale according to the physiological symptoms of the anxiety-dream of a boy of thirteen. Freud called such view was a " medical mythology" in the book of Dream Psychology. Most important,the experiment confirmed the idea. For example, a place in country , there is a "haunted" bed which makes people have sleep paralysis or syncope every night, and it is this fact that the pillow in the bed is too high will reduce cerebral blood flow.【1】http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Sleep-Disorders/Nocturnal-fainting/show/11612
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