Ik everyone says it's cuz of stress or meds or bad sleep hygiene, but idk people who stay up all night gaming, drug problems, night shifts and none of them get it. I'm a med student who has to pull all nighters at least once a week and I'm chronically stressed and I get it. I can't change my sleep schedule idk what to do, why is this happening to me and not them 😭
I'm a 26-year-old guy, and for as long as I can remember, I've had this problem with horror dreams. It happens mostly when I sleep alone, but sometimes even when I'm not.
Often I feel like something is standing next to me, or a dark, black, human-like figure is sitting on top of me. Other times I dream that I'm actually fighting a ghost or something supernatural. In the middle of it, I realise it's a dream and try to wake myself up out of fear. I try to say God's name, and I end up waking up screaming.
I always thought these were just bad dreams, but I don't really know much about it. Is this some kind of medical or mental health condition? And is there a solution?
i’ve had sleep paralysis my whole life. I usually have one of two dream types, either I feel my feet being tugged or dragged upwards and lifted into the air by hands and I am unable to wake up, or I just can’t breathe or move so I have to wiggle my toes and fingers to get out which is not as bad. i’ve gotten used to it so it’s not so scary anymore. I just woke up from a really intense one after not having sleep paralysis for a while, that really scared me.
I felt the usual pulling on my feet, but it was much more aggressive. I for some reason started trying to pull my feet away from the hands, which I have done before. Usually the hands just keep pulling and it’s whatever. It’s kinda cool because I know it’s just a dream and I am aware but asleep.
This time instead I felt more hands that started grabbing and tugging on my hands and face, when i was pulling my feet back. It felt like all my limbs were being pulled apart. I bit down on the hand in my mouth and I it felt so realistic. I also heard my roommates in the background, and was able to open my eyes a bit but couldn’t see much because there was a blanket over my head. This made it feel like It was actually happening. I tried grabbing a hand and putting it infront of my face and I actually saw a hand go by my view. I’ve never had a visual thing during sleep paralysis before.
I knew I wasn’t actually moving in real life but I was moving like in the dream if that makes sense?
I was finally able to wake up, after it taking much longer than usual to break out of. It seemed like a different “presence” than usual and a combination of my two usual types. It seemed so much more of a reality than a dream since I could hear my roommates and I could see my room.
I’m not sure why it was so bad but I’m assuming it’s from stress, or because I started to panic? Usually when i start getting my feet pulled I just accept it and wait it out it just was so much different than normal. I still feel really freaked out.
Can anyone relate to this type of experience of being grabbed and getting libs tugged on? or does anyone know why it might have been worse this time?
I can already see on this subreddit that this is a universal experience where ppl were "assaulted" in their sp dreams— but i just wanna make a post about my own experience bc I cannot forget it, however i feel weird bringing it up in conversation even with my closest friends.
It felt so realistic i could literally feel the "dick" inside me— it actually scared the fuck out of me because (SA MENTION) >!I have been assaulted in my sleep before, and even though theres no possible way it could have happened again, i felt i had to drag myself out of sleep paralysis in a BIG panic just to make sure it wasnt actually happening.!< >!I had already developed a somnophilia kink partially because of the actual assault, (that i only explore in hypotheticals/fiction and NEVER irl, even though i would only want to be on the receiving end anyways)!< so i theorized that maybe my subconscious picked that part of me to build an episode around, but DAMN it felt so entirely real that (TMI ⬇️) >!i actually did orgasm from it!< while also simultaneously had a panic attack 😭
I just had never actually had that happen in my sleep before, it was both traumatizing and satisfying/relieving at the same time. I know and knew even then what i felt was >!just my pelvic floor/vaginal muscles tensing from orgasm,!< but again I had never experienced that before. Ive had >!wet dreams where I've been given oral,!< but even then, those certainly didn't feel as intense as this.
Anyways, yeah, hope that he calls me back i guess 😭😂 /lh /j
I've had SP my entire life, but don't experience it often. It happens when my sleep schedule is messed up, when I am exhausted or in periods of high stress. I would say it only happens once every two months. In a lot of stories here I have read that people hallucinate and have a recurring "sleep paralysis figure" that they see in their room. I have never had any visual hallucinations because my eyes are closed when it happens. But I can see disturbing images or visions in my mind whenever it happens, like short dreams. Sometimes I see nothing.
I do have strong auditory hallucinations though, basically everything that has been reported here; loud dissonant music, loud knocking on the door, footsteps, things breaking/creaking, white noise/buzzing, voices (hearing my name, whispers, crying or screaming when I remain in SP for too long).
I have another sound I hear everytime in SP that I haven't seen reported here. It occurs right before and it sounds like two sharp objects clashing against eachother, like a "zinging" noise. When that happens I know that SP is coming and about half of the time I can move my body to prevent it from happening. When I prevent it though and I try to fall asleep normally again, I hear it again. This happens back to back until actively stay awake for a while (cleaning my room/reading or walking around) or inevitably have an episode.
The episodes usually don't last long (about 20 seconds) and I have been getting better at waking myself up from them because they used to last over a minute when I was a child. But as I'm getting older I've been having more different & louder hallucinations which makes my SP more disturbing.
Does anyone else experience this specific sound and is there a way to train yourself in preventing it most of the time?
Thank you!
Sidenote: If I have made mistakes in spelling or grammar it is because english isn't my first language, and everyone's stories are really interesting and I enjoy reading them!
Anytime I experience, it’s always negative / scary / anxiety inducing hallucination. Anyone experience the opposite or something calming ? Do I have to like rewire or retrain my brain?
I am quite stressed and deal with anxious moments daily. Is that the issue ?
Like you “get out” of bed thinking you are awake but something is off then realize you are still dreaming only to “repeat” the cycle over and over until you eventually really awake. I had followed by the dog running across my back dream within a dream and the man pressing down on me. Not fun.