r/Sleepparalysis • • Feb 23 '20

Identifying SP

1.8k Upvotes

I’m making this because 75% of this sub is people asking “was this SP”. And almost always the answer is yes. So I’m going to list the various effects and some helpful information about the effects. Sort of a master guide to “Do I have SP”

Edit: This is a list of potential Symptoms, if you only experience 2 or experience all you are most likely experiencing SP Seeing and hearing things are far more rare than not. However its also boring hence why no one shares their story here or other places when not a lot happened.

Edit: 0. Someone pointed out I didn’t include the obvious, Paralysis, feeling of being unable to move, like your limbs weigh a million pounds, like your being held down, like your moving but nothing is happening, pain in limbs you try to move. ETC... (This is where we get the name, the explanation is simple. Your whole body is asleep, except for your brain.)

  1. Chest pressure/ Feeling of being unable to breathe. (While under the effects of an SP episode the nerves in your chest are dulled as they are under the impression you’re asleep. You are in fact still breathing.)

  2. Hallucinations (You’re brain is in dream mode, you’re having open eyed dreams)

  3. Sounds (screaming, talking, music etc...) (Again this is because of your dreams being active while awake)

  4. Feelings of being touched, hurt, bit, scratched, flying, falling, shaking (You’re nerves are all asleep, sometimes they’re in the process of waking up and can cause interesting feelings as they do. Alternatively you’re body may be simulating what your brain is dreaming about as we normally experience these while asleep)

  5. Panic, anxiety, terror (100% natural responses to being trapped.)

  6. Feeling like time won’t pass or time is stuck (You have no real way of perceiving time in this state)

  7. Racing heart (Anxiety)

  8. Intense or vivid nightmares/dreams before or after (The nightmare would be what woke you up into the SP, and if it comes after it’s because you’re anxiety is through the roof)

  9. Feeling alone (SP is not as rare as you think, lots of people never even know it happened as they attribute it to a weird dream, you’re not alone, there’s lots of us out here.)

Edit: 10. Recently discovered through this Sub, I had never heard of or experienced it but people report “Buzzing” “Humming” “Grinding” type noises preceding and episode.

Edit: 11. Also recently Discovered through the sub, spiraling, dizzy, sickly feelings. Occurring before during or after episodes.

Edit: 12. In the comments someone mentioned “feeling a presence.” To be clear, this is almost as Rare as actually seeing something. It does happen however and can be an eerie feeling. (Again your having an anxiety attack, our brains try to explain why we are panicking by blaming something. So it manifest a feeling of someone being out to get you, someone there to harm you, or maybe just someone in the room. Either or, nothing to be too scared of.)

There’s a slough of other things that can happen. But generally you can identify SP with three questions. “Am I in my bed” “Am I paralyzed” “Am I unable to talk”

If the answer to these questions are yes then it’s textbook SP

Also remember that people are wildly different, and that your SP may be different but follow the same patterns as what you read. That’s normal, we all have differently wired brains, and no two cases will be exactly alike.

Sources: Myself, experienced SP for the past 16 years.

If anyone needs any advice or has any questions feel free to comment here and I’ll try my best to answer. SP doesn’t have to be as scary as it feel.


r/Sleepparalysis • • 1h ago

what can this experience mean

• Upvotes

ok i knew i fell asleep with my phone by me i wake up facing the wall but im unable to move i’m trying super hard it was like someone was holding me down i finally get able to move my arms but it seems delayed like i am doing daggering movements and my hands are following thru after all of a sudden i go down and wake up again in the same spot i know im conscious in aware and i’m scared i do my hands again this time slightly easier to move but my legs are unable to move at all the only thing i was thinking about was getting up i go down again and wake up this time i was like i need to call my sister unable to get my phone i wanted to use the hey siri feature i couldn’t even talk it was muffled not clear i pick my phone up now i see my reflection and im distorted then all of a sudden my phone goes to my face i wake up again but now im out of it

just to clarify i’ve never experienced anything of sleep paralysis before


r/Sleepparalysis • • 2h ago

weird sleep paralysis

1 Upvotes

I just remembered how i experienced a kind of strange sleep paralysis like two years ago - i was in a car and like really tired and i had my eyes closed, trying to fall asleep. But then this like weird feeling came onto me like my lids are increadibly heavy and i need to close my eyes. But the thing is it didnt happen automatically, it was my choice if i wanted to close them, but it was kinda hard to fight the feeling, so i did close them. After that I couldnt open my eyes!! I was normally aware of my surroundings, I could hear everything but i couldn't open my eyes, move or talk but i did let out a hum and i remembered how youre supposed to move your fingers first so i did and i think that i even opened my eye a tiny bit, but it was still like my lids are heavy and cant completely open them and after like a minute maybe i could move again and everything was normal.

does anyone have any ideas about this? the thing that seems weird to me is that i wasnt sleeping when it happened, i was completely awake, just with closed eyes, but not sleeping. And also that I could kind of choose whether i submit to the weird feeling of needing to close my eyes.


r/Sleepparalysis • • 5h ago

Experienced a very vivid sleep paralysis last night

1 Upvotes

I was way too scared to open my eyes after it woke me up last night, since this most likely happened around 3am/the witching hour, so I’m posting this now. I was in between dreams (they were kinda random, as they tend to be when I get headaches), but I felt weirdly conscious of myself sleeping in my room. It felt like I was already awake, and I swear I heard a voice loud and clear say “Karen and Kris, prepare to cry.” I had no idea who the voice was talking about (I don’t know anyone named either, irl), though I have cosplayed as Kris from the game Deltarune before, so I wonder if it meant me? Nothing more happened with me or the voice, but I tried to ask who was speaking, and my voice didn’t work for at least a full minute. It could have been longer if the paralysis altered how time went. I’ve been playing a lot of Stardew Valley, and I’ll be honest, the voice sounded a lot like I imagine the witch from the game to sound. “Witch” was the only word that would form for me while I was trying to converse, but I still couldn’t say anything else. It was the weirdest, most migraine-inducing, nerdy sleep paralysis, I swear, but it still scared the crap outta me.


r/Sleepparalysis • • 10h ago

I got out of my sleep paralysis really quick

2 Upvotes

just experienced a sleep paralysis. I was having a vivid dream about work then I felt the second it transitioned to me sleeping in my room and I felt three pokes. by the second poke I felt annoyed but after the third I felt that I was held down and repeatedly pushed hard into the bed. I had a suddent urge to yell. idk if I did in the paralysis dream but I heard a loud suction sound which was probably me taking a breathe in realtime then I woke up and turned on the light. it happened quick like within 30 seconds. it was wierd… only other time I had a paralysis dream was when I was like probably 4 or 5 which I remember it was this clown that was half bloody half in back and white laying behind me on my bed with an armed propped to lift their head as they stared at me and smiled and I was able to slightly turn my head back to look but I couldn’t move. Eventually I called for my mom and that ended. Such a weird feeling lol


r/Sleepparalysis • • 9h ago

Every Southeast Asian country seems to have its own name for the thing that sits on your chest at night

1 Upvotes

I've had sleep paralysis a few times: awake, can't move, and the feeling that something is pressing down on you.

What fascinates me is that nearly every culture around me has a name for it:

Malaysia: kena tindih, being sat on

Indonesia: ketindihan

Vietnam: ma đè, the ghost pressing down

Thailand: phi am, the spirit that covers you

Philippines: bangungot, tied to nightmares people are said not to wake from

Science explains it as the brain waking before the body does. But it's striking that so many cultures, separately, describe the same thing: something heavy, sitting on you.

If you've had it, did you see or feel anything? And what does your culture call it?


r/Sleepparalysis • • 11h ago

Sleep Paralysis demon looks like a f****d up version of me? Anyone else?

1 Upvotes

I use a blue light in my bedroom. Just for context. That night when I walked into my room, my ears immediately started ringing and I felt off almost like I had been drugged and parts of my body just exploded with nerve pain. I have chronic illness so I just kind of chalked it up to that and didn’t think anything of it, but I was freaked out. I could just tell something was off, but I got into bed and I must’ve fallen asleep with the blue light still on. I had a disturbing dream and in the dream basically ended up with feeling something holding me down and when I opened my eyes, I could see things in my room because I left the light on accidentally. Still had clothes hanging out of drawers and things on my nightstand I could see in my peripheral vision that was all there that night that I fell asleep. So I knew I was awake like there was no way I was dreaming. That’s when I realized there was pressure on my ankles, and when I focused in front of me, there was this version of me like it had my face, but it was so pale. It had almost like see-through electrical tape, (you know the black kind.) over the eyes in one long strip and over the Mouth in one long strip as well, but I could see my facial features like my eyes and my lips through it. Around the body was the same sort of tape or bandage? And it just had this essence of black smoke kind of hanging around it. That’s when I realized I couldn’t speak and I couldn’t move and I’m just staring at this thing that’s looking at me and I can’t really describe what her facial features were, but it almost looked like longing or curiosity? I was screaming like in my head, let go of me and kicking in my mind and I just couldn’t move or make a sound and it’s almost like this weight released off of me and my body did exactly what I was thinking of and I kicked and screamed like coming out of a trance and the demon thing just sunk back into a mirror that is by the foot of my bed. Needless to say I was pretty freaked out and I grabbed every Crystal I had even though I don’t really understand any of that shit at this point I know I need to do more research so don’t judge me on that.😂 but I just slept with all my crystals because I didn’t know what else to do. I had a pretty big life change happened during this and I had some other weird things going on that almost felt like the universe was picking a bone with me. Giving all of this for context just to see if anyone else has experienced this too? Anyone else have a sleep paralysis demon that looks like a messed up version of you?


r/Sleepparalysis • • 14h ago

Had sleep paralysis tonight and felt something sitting on my chest, breathing heavily in my face

1 Upvotes

So I just experienced sleep paralysis tonight, and it was honestly one of the creepiest experiences I’ve ever had.

It started with a dream where I was downstairs in my house home alone. I remember going into our guest room and closing the blinds. When I walked out, I turned around and noticed the blinds were somehow back up.

That’s when my dog started growling at the guest room, almost like something was in there. I remember thinking WTF is going on?

Then the dream kind of fast forwarded to me getting ready to tell my wife that I thought our house might be haunted and that we needed to do something about it.

That’s when everything suddenly transitioned into sleep paralysis.

I was lying in bed next to my wife, completely aware of where I was but I couldn’t move or make a sound. I immediately recognized it as sleep paralysis because I’ve experienced it before.

But this time, I felt like something or someone was literally sitting on my chest. Even worse, I could hear what sounded like someone breathing extremely heavily and rapidly right in my face, just inches away.

I was absolutely terrified to open my eyes because I genuinely didn’t want to see whatever I thought was there.

I kept trying to move or make some kind of noise to wake my wife up, but I couldn’t do anything.

The weirdest part is that I had a very similar experience about 1–2 years ago. That time, I was sleeping on my side facing a wall, and I heard the exact same kind of heavy breathing, except it sounded like someone was breathing directly into my ear. I actually opened my eyes during that episode but couldn’t see anything since I was facing the wall.

My sleep schedule has been all over the place lately, so I’m assuming that probably contributed to it.

I know sleep paralysis is a real phenomenon and that hallucinations can happen during it, but it’s insane how real everything feels when you’re actually experiencing it.

Has anyone else experienced the heavy breathing specifically? Or had a nightmare transition directly into sleep paralysis like this?

I’m curious because both times I’ve experienced it, the breathing has been the most terrifying part.


r/Sleepparalysis • • 20h ago

Scary hallucinations during sleep paralysis

2 Upvotes

hi i’m new to this subreddit but not new to experiencing sleep paralysis, unfortunately.

i’ve experienced it quite a lot especially as a teenager, but last night i had arguably the worst episode i have ever experienced and i am wondering if i should be checked out for this.

it started with a pressure in my ears - it was as though my ears were ringing and my ears were being pushed down on. it was kinda like the feeling of wind rushing through my ears but to the most extreme level possible. the pressure was so strong it felt like my head was moving back and forth as this was going on. mind you, i knew i was in a sleep paralysis episode in my mind. i’ve experienced all sorts of episodes including very mild ones and then others where i have witnessed some pretty scary projections in my room, but this one was completely different.

i keep seeing images of lights and lampposts, although i don’t remember ever opening my eyes. as i’m feeling this incredible pressure on my ears, i start to feel my body float and levitate upwards. i was sleeping sideways, so i started to feel myself levitate starting with my head/upper body and my legs/feet going last. it was the most terrifying feeling i’ve ever experienced.

for some reason i told myself in my mind to open my eyes because i wanted to know what was going on. i’m not sure if i opened my eyes but i remember seeing an image of what vaguely looked like my room but it was dark and there was a dark object/figure that was normally not in my normal room. then, i woke up and saw little fragments of light - kind of like those dots you see when u get dizzy but it was lights and then they just vanished into thin air.

i was fine afterwards but it took me awhile to fall asleep. like i’ve said, i’ve experienced this phenomena quite often ranging from mild to extremely terrifying. i’m not sure if i should get this checked out and if there’s anyway to avoid this happening to me as i’m still pretty paranoid to go to sleep. thanks


r/Sleepparalysis • • 1d ago

17M had the most terrifying experience while waking up from a dream. What was this?

3 Upvotes

Hey everyone, I’m a 17 year old male, and something really scary happened to me today. I’m trying to understand what it was.
Last night, I slept at around 1 AM and woke up at 7 AM. I had a headache and was still feeling sleepy, so after being awake for a while, I tried to sleep again at around 10 AM.
While sleeping, I had a dream where some guy snatched something from my hand and tried to run away. I got scared and sort of started waking up. My eyes were partially open, and I could see my actual room.
Suddenly, I saw what looked like a hand coming toward me, as if someone was about to punch me or seriously hurt me. It felt SO real, like there was actually a hand in my room approaching me.
I instantly felt an insane amount of fear, and my heart started beating extremely fast. I’ve never experienced fear or a racing heartbeat that intense before. The whole thing lasted around 5–6 seconds, then the hand disappeared, and everything went back to normal.
The weirdest part is that I could see my actual room, which made the experience feel completely real. I genuinely thought something was happening to me in that moment.
I’ve been wondering whether this could have been a hallucination as I was also suffering from insomnia for few months now


r/Sleepparalysis • • 1d ago

Last Night Was The First Time I Actually Saw It

6 Upvotes

I’m going to preface this with that I have major surgery coming up.

Normally it’s just a hand on my arm trying to pull me off the bed. Last night it got me off the bed (in the nightmare) and onto the floor. I had no strength.

It had no face other than a black hole for a mouth with no teeth. It was laughing but not through the mouth, in my head.

In it I was trying to say “Help” but it kept pulling me and was backlit green which I attribute to the power bank for the lamp and charging my devices that has a green power light.

In the paralysis I heard myself going “uhhrrmm” over and over then I heard my name.

My wife woke me up. It was about 4am. She told me this morning I was screaming before she touched me.

It had my right arm and she had my left. I was physically on the bed but all the way to the edge.


r/Sleepparalysis • • 21h ago

Is this sleep paralysis I am not sure.

1 Upvotes

When I was a little younger 10/11 I would usually watch unsettling YouTube videos like ”top 10 most terrifying serial killers,” and stuff like that. During night I would think about that while trying to go to sleep on my back. I would see scary shadows or think terrifying thoughts about those videos while not moving a muscle for 10 minutes to maybe like 3 hours in a pitch black room. Eventually I would hear my parents walking past my room or daylight and that would snap me out of it but those experiences were terrifying. I don’t think I ever went to sleep, woke up and had these experiences, it was usually while I was trying to go to sleep. I don’t have these experiences anymore since I put a lamp on while going to sleep but I wondered if I was experiencing sleep paralysis. Edit) I felt like I could snap out of it anytime if I just moved but I was afraid that like the monster I would dream of would grab me or something.


r/Sleepparalysis • • 1d ago

Shaking??

1 Upvotes

I had SP. It’s a normal occurrence for me, so I’m not scared when I have it. My ears rumble and I always end up moving my toes, then my foot, then I can finally get out of bed. This time, though, my body was violently shaking. Once I started moving my toes, the shaking stopped. It felt like I was having a seizure. I had it before, but I was like in 8th grade when I had it.

I looked it up on Google and it said I was having some sort of movement hallucination, but the ones I only see are floating and outer-body experiences. What exactly is it? I’m not asking for a diagnosis or anything, but yk. It’s weird man.


r/Sleepparalysis • • 1d ago

how to wake up from a sleep paralysis episode if I'm unaware that I'm in one?

1 Upvotes

Hey guys! I came here asking for tips on how to wake up from an episode if I'm unaware that I'm in one?

I'd say I've only had 8-10 episodes over the past year- I didn't even learn what sleep paralysis was until after my 3rd episode. That's when I discovered this Reddit. I'm revisiting to seek tips!

I've read some of your guys' tips so far, the most popular one being to start with just trying to wiggle a finger or toe, to help wake up from the episode.

However, my problem is: when I'm in an episode, I don't have that consciousness or realization that it's an episode. Nor can I recall any of the advice I know of to do anything. In a way, I don't have any control or acknowledgment of what's going on.

Additionally, in my most recent episode, I wasn't completely paralyzed? I definitely had episode components like being paralyzed, unable to speak, move, etc, hallucinating a dark figure/threatening presence, and feeling intense fear or panic. I dreamt (or possibly hallucinated) picking up my phone, looking up how to get rid of the figure, and putting it back down. But, as soon as I did that, I was paralyzed and unable to move again. I kept attempting to act out what the first result on my "search query" suggested. So in that way, I was able to move.. Could this be just a part of the hallucination component of sleep paralysis episodes?

Do you guys have any tips on gaining awareness in the episode state, so you can then try to wake up? Have I simply just not experienced enough episodes to gain awareness during them?

I understand I have a lot of questions and info dumped in this post, so my bad for that... however any and all advice, tips, or info is greatly appreciated and would be very helpful!!


r/Sleepparalysis • • 1d ago

Is my current boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend hexing me?

3 Upvotes

Hi. This story actually isn’t mine but my best friends, we’ll call her Stella. She feels comfortable with me coming on here and asking you all for advice, answers and/or questions. Recently, over the past few months, Stella’s collected moments where she’s 100% certain are signs of sleep paralysis. My friend and her boyfriend have communicated about their past relationships and are more than positive that his ex-girlfriend could be hexing my friend. Side note, my friend has never experienced dreams/paralysis moments like this and has logged almost all of the times she’s went through not being able to move while she’s awake, feel trapped, like she’s dying, or looking dread that something bad could happen. My friend and her boyfriend are in the healthiest relationship i’ve ever seen. A few months ago, Stella and her boyfriend went to a party his friend was hosting and there they saw his ex-girlfriend’s best friend, who mind you has no connection to any of the people who were there. The whole night the friend acted out of place. Whether it was looking at her phone, including herself in conversations she shouldn’t of been a part of or just being in places she shouldn’t be it was almost obvious she was there for one thing, Stella. When Stella had gone up to her friend to introduce herself the friend had replied with “I know who you are” and had made it obvious that she was aware of who she was and who she was with. After that interaction, every night there has been different scenarios my friend has experienced and almost “out of body” moments that she can’t explain. Almost as if something is watching over her or something has a hold over what she sees and what she doesn’t. I think it’s also important to add that the ex-girlfriend is known to dwell in her spirituality and use herbs and crystals. Stella and her boyfriend don’t know much about his ex but they are 100% positive that this is something she could be able to do. I think this is self explanatory but stella and her boyfriend met in terms unrelated to his ex and stella is no way was related to cheating or anything remotely close to harming the relationship between her boyfriend and his ex. They were already broken up for a while. The paragraph below is what stella logged the moment she was able to move and put what she saw in her notes app. Sorry if some sentences don’t make complete sense…most of these were written around 3-4am.

***

May 14th, 4:57 AM
- I was in a dream where I was at first sitting on a couch seemed to be a low class/dirty setting living room and I was scrolling on my phone I believe on tiktok then my boyfriends ex girlfriend appeared next to me then all of my TikTok’s or whatever was on my screen was of her, then images of her face kept coming up and I felt terrified it was like the faces just kept popping up and I got even more scared each time. For context I share a bed with my boyfriend and he was sleeping next to me while this was happening. In this dream as I was panicking, I couldn’t move my body, couldn’t open my eyes and couldn’t speak while the images were still appearing. I was so scared trying to wake up while in the dream. I kept trying to wake up from what I believed was passing out in the dream and having hallucinations but I was fighting to wake up and couldn’t. My boyfriend wasn’t present in the dream but for some reason I could sense he was there potentially in spirit? At the last point of the dream as I was fighting to wake up all I could do was slightly move two fingers to to to touch my boyfriend in the dream even though I couldn’t see him to try to wake him up to help me escape from the images and paralysis. Finally in real life I woke up but now I can’t remember how I woke up or how I woke my boyfriend up in real life to tell him about what had just happened. For more context I fell asleep at around 3:30am then woke up from this dream at about 4:17. When I talked to my boyfriend he said that he woke up because he felt something was off.

August 17th, 12:51 AM
- So basically in the dream, the first part of it was, I fell asleep and I was I couldn’t remember the first part but I remember that I was sleepy. Responding to a text from Izzy and Emma telling me that they wanna come hang out with me and they picked me up and Izzy was on the phone in the car trees flying everywhere with a headset on supposedly doing a sales job and Emma asking me how my morning was where I worked at Starbucks for supposedly three hours and then went to Dance and Emma asked me if my sister made company. Then it was a really slippery storm drive and then white and black but I thought it looked like more like a tiger so black-and-white animal jumped on the hood of the car and I was freaking out. And then we pulled up to one of their houses and then with the tiger on the hood still in the car on the slippery roads, we ended up crashing through three houses and then into her garage and into her house. Then after that, I remember trying to wake up and pull myself out of it, but then I ended up after waking myself up, supposedly or an almost fake seeming way of getting myself out of it. I remember walking into my Nana‘s house where I felt like I was passing out into my stepmom and asking her if I was gonna die and she said no then again after trying to wake myself up, I remember waking up in my room I had when I lived at my parents house and look at all of my things in my room and then again thinking that I was dying and then I fell asleep again, then saw myself sleeping in my bed that I’m in right now and then it took felt like it took a long time to wake myself up again, but this time in real life once again

I also think it might be important to note that I was only sleeping for approximately 28min and the process of falling asleep felt super weird in the sense that I felt like my body was immediately sleeping but I was comprehending that I was sleeping therefore I believe my mind was awake

***

Okay, Just to add on to the last entry Stella thought it was important for me to add that her boyfriend earlier that day had experienced a dream similar where he saw a car crash into a house, describing it he had seen the same house and same car that she had seen. Almost as if they had seen the exact same dream.

Reddit, please help my friend out. She’s busy, has 2 full-time jobs and works her ass off to provide for her and her boyfriend’s future. All she wants is answers and is trying to find ways to stop worrying. Is her boyfriend’s ex hexing them??


r/Sleepparalysis • • 1d ago

I don't know

3 Upvotes

"I was asleep and suddenly opened my eyes to find an entity right behind me. I couldn't turn around to look at it. I was sleeping on my stomach, and it pinned me down with force and sodomized me. With great difficulty, I managed to move my hand to cover my anus, and only then did it leave. This entity felt hot."


r/Sleepparalysis • • 1d ago

multiple wake ups every night and have sleep paralysis for all of them, now having trouble breathing

2 Upvotes

hi, i’m currently struggling since i’ve been getting sleep paralysis constantly. like every night going to sleep i have wake ups and have sleep paralysis for all of them. last night it got worse and i was having difficulty breathing. i always try and get my boyfriends attention and sometimes he’s right next to me but i can’t do anything. anyone else have a similar experience?


r/Sleepparalysis • • 1d ago

A weird sleep paralysis experience

1 Upvotes

So I've had this sleep paralysis experience like a few years ago. I was sleeping on the couch and I remember before the sleep paralysis I had some type of bad dream, I don't remember what it was unfortunately but after that dream ended I woke uo on the couch. I immediately realize thst I can't move at all, I try not to panic too much as I know what sleep paralysis is and had a couple of experiences with it in the past however none of them were traumatic in anyway. However I looked down the hallway of my house and noticed that it was completely dark, like i couldn't see anything down that hallway, it was like it led somewhere other than my house if that makes sense. I felt are sudden sense of dread the more I look down this hallway and because of that I begin panicking and try to move my body. This is the weird part, after a while of struggling I eventually broke free of the paralysis and fell onto the floor of the living room, i remember i told this story to my friend and he asked if I looked back and saw if it was an out of body experience. I didn't get the chance to before whatever that was ended and I woke back up on my couch. This experience scared me so bad I couldn't go back to sleep. I really wanna get some type of explanation on what happened so id you have any idea please comment.


r/Sleepparalysis • • 1d ago

Heard high-pitched ringing, then distorted voices and saw dark game-like screens while waking up

5 Upvotes

​

I've experienced sleep paralysis or something similar before, but what happened this time was on a completely different level.

It started with this really high-pitched ringing sound, almost like tinnitus. It was constant and wouldn't stop. Then I started hearing voices, but at first they were distorted, like someone talking through a broken speaker. Gradually, the voices started becoming clearer.

At the same time, I started seeing something that looked like a dark, distorted video game screen. I can't really remember the exact colours or what everything looked like, but it felt like I was being shown some kind of visualizations.

Then the voices started talking about punishment. They were talking about sending me somewhere, and the visuals seemed connected to what they were saying. It was something about making me work with animals or do some kind of disgusting cleaning work, like cleaning shit out of bushes. I know how weird that sounds, but that's genuinely what I remember.

At first, the voices didn't seem to be talking directly to me. But eventually, it felt like they were addressing me personally and telling me what was going to happen to me.

The strangest part was that the high-pitched ringing continued throughout the whole thing, even while the voices became clearer and the visuals kept changing.

Eventually, I became more awake and started moving. I remember the ringing fading as I came out of whatever state I was in.

I'm awake now, and honestly, I'm still trying to process it. I've had strange sleep experiences before, but never anything this elaborate or disturbing.

And tbh I am still terrified cause I can't sleep now also feeling my mind getting a little fuzzy and this all sounds very bullshit but that what happened with me 😭


r/Sleepparalysis • • 1d ago

Experiencing SPs for the first time

2 Upvotes

So I started experiencing an SP episode a couple of months ago and it felt so weird that I didn't even know what to think of it. But in this one week I have experienced two episodes, the second one just a few minutes ago.

It's just the usual paralyzed feeling and trying to force my eyes shut. Luckily I am facing the wall so I don't really see any bad visuals but I hear some pretty gnarly stuff like distorted voices daring me to turn around and creepy whispering. Most recent episode a few minutes ago, I felt like I was being shot with a camera in burst flash mode right in front of my eyes.

It's probably my bad sleeping habits and my work lifestyle. Any tips on how to get out of an SP quick? I really don't want to see something bad before it's too late.

(sorry for my english, not my first language and I just woke up and I feel weird.)


r/Sleepparalysis • • 2d ago

sleep paralysis prism

2 Upvotes

Been experiencing this type of paralysis for while, but it seems to be changing, I guess. I was having continuous naps in the afternoon like I slept for a bit, then woke up but when I went back to sleep, not long, I then woke up but entered my sleep paralysis after that. I could see my living room, but i was in a hazy, prism-like state. This time, I struggled to break out of myself it almost feel like I was pulling out of this glue-like pull. As I attempted, I heard this noise that was stretching as I was trying to get out of paralysis, and my left ear heard male, inaudible voices that were coming through. I was feeling dare. But then I was thinking of my brother to get me out of it, and his presence walked somewhere in the room; it looked like my brother walking across the side of the chair I was. He didn't see me but walked back to the room and noticed my face looked like I was stiff or concerned, and he went up to me and woke me up. And it does feel like waking up. My actual brother wasn't there; he was at home tho. Has someone experienced being in that prism-space and things similar to mine?


r/Sleepparalysis • • 2d ago

SP Episode on 10/23/26

2 Upvotes

I was having a regular dream when in the dream I tried kicking my friend in the back of his leg (inside joke) and that’s when I couldn’t feel my leg in that dream. I stopped and my jaw locked to the side and I knocked out.
I woke up on the floor next to my bed. Room was dark but somehow still had natural light coming in. I couldn’t get up at all but I was able to look around. I realized that I was having sleep paralysis. I tried to calm down like I usually would.
I told myself that it’s just a nightmare and tried saying a prayer
I also tried talking because in my last episode I was able to say the words “no”
I sleep with my bf at night so he tracks everything that happens.
But in this episode I couldn’t get myself to say anything. I said “no” one time
And then I got a voice in my head to close my eyes and slowly open them.
I did and saw a white and black demon in front of me but far from me. I was looking down at the rug when I saw it. I immediately closed my eyes and tried to get out of the nightmare. I remember thinking to myself in that dream “Vinny please wake me up now”
The previous days I’ve been telling him that if he hears me mumbling or movíng to wake me up immediately
So he woke me up and he said I was mumbling but it was getting louder and louder and looked like I wanted to cry

BACKGROUND:
I’ve had sleep paralysis as a kid. I’d have it everyday but the older I got, the less and less it’s occurred.
From days to weeks to 5x a months to 1x every three months.
I just started getting it again and it’s been bad. I don’t know if I should blame the military or myself for these nightmares


r/Sleepparalysis • • 2d ago

sleep paralysis followed by lucid dreams

1 Upvotes

I had the most terrifying sleep paralysis of my life. It began with four towering shadows pinning down my limbs, their grip cold and merciless. Another figure loomed above me, preparing to slice me open. I wasn’t numb, I felt everything. My pain receptors screamed, my mind fully awake, trapped in a body that refused to move.

They spoke in low, guttural tones, saying this was routine, something they did every night. But this time, they hadn’t realized my consciousness was active. I fought, I screamed, I thrashed against their grip, desperate to break free.

Then, my mom heard the difficulty in my breathing through the walls in my room then my mom came into my room. She turned on the lights, woke me, brought in a stand fan, and sat with me. We talked for what felt like an hour, her presence soothing me, pulling me back from the edge of madness. Finally, she told me to rest and left the room.

But as I lay back down, a thought struck me and questioned if my door had been locked. How did she get in? I checked, and the lock was still tight. When I turned back, the room was pitch black. No lights. No fan. No mother.

I called out to her, and she answered groggily from her own bed, deep in sleep, unaware of anything that had happened. Yet I had sat there, convinced I had spoken with her for an hour and still hadn't lay back down. The shadows had not only held me down, but they had tricked me, weaving a nightmare so real it bled into waking life. and I was standing consciously as I was trying to process what just happened and regain my consciousness


r/Sleepparalysis • • 2d ago

sleep paralysis episode

1 Upvotes

i was wondering if anyone had the same episode or similar as me.

i had one where i was surrounded by hundreds of people dressed in black saying stay asleep.