What Sleep Paralysis Feels Like
You wake up. Sort of.
To be more specific, your senses wake up.
If your eyes are open you’ll be able to see. This doesn’t sound so bad. You’ve perhaps been blessed with eyesight for years, and are used to processing the world through those face orbs.
But now, eyes open, unable to move, what you see now will be highly dependent on what your brain chooses to show you.
For some reason no one reports talking to a friendly pancake who sits on the edge of the bed, and asks them to ride on its back down the maple syrup river.
The prospect of hanging out in Candy Land until your body restarts is unlikely.
You won’t be nuzzled by a unicorn but instead its scarier cousin, the nightmare. You know it, that dead-eyed horse from the famous painting? Oh, here it is:
What people see during these episodes varies wildly, but there are some classics.
The creeper is the most common of the figures who will torment you. A shadowy figure lurking in the corner of your room, giving you a dreadful sense of foreboding.
Though the creeper may move, getting closer to your bed with each passing second. Or it could choose to crawl on your bed and up your paralyzed body. Some say this creeper has the appearance of a hag-like woman. It is she who presses down on their chest, making it near impossible to breath.
Like the kid in Sixth Sense you might also see dead people. Remember that prayer you made to see your grandma just one more time? Should’ve been more careful what you wished for.
When you have a bed companion you will be tempted to look at them in an effort to make them help you. You can try to do this. Just be aware you’ll probably see their face melt off when you do.
Sometimes you won’t see anything. This is because your eye-lids are closed, even though you are awake.
You’d think this would be a mercy, to remain behind a veil of blackness. Not so for the person who deals with sleep paralysis. Because, despite your blindness, your brain is telling you that something is near you, and getting closer.
I did say ALL of your senses were awake, didn’t I?
Your auditory ability will take the reins and chances are you will hear things. The opening of your door, heavy breathing, a child’s menacing giggle. Although you might just call it a giggle, I find all children’s laughter quite menacing.
You will be desperate to get up, wake up, yell anything. But your throat is frozen and your jaw seems to be wired shut. Your face will experience a strange tingly sensation as you attempt to pry your mouth open by pure will.
The mistake at this point is trying to get up. Somewhere in your brain you’ve registered what is happening. That you’re dreaming. The fear is still there but you can prove it wrong. If only you could get up!
Yet something is holding you down.
You are being buried alive, unable to yell for help, or save yourself.
At this point you start to panic, but if you can hold it together you will remember what to do. While moving your body is extremely difficult, your extremities are a different matter. Attempt to wiggle your finger or clench your hand into a fist. You will put so much more effort into doing something that should be easy that you will wonder if you’re going to break something. You won’t, but you might experience some very sore muscles in the morning.
Don’t worry about that right now though. The weird shadow is getting closer. Something is breathing in your ear.
Heart pounding you must keep trying to make your finger or toe move. Continue trying to clench your hand if you are able. Remind your body that it CAN move. Once you do that all the other muscles will come to life as well.
Somehow, miraculously, your brain realizes and says, “Oh shit! This person is awake!” The signal will be sent to switch on your body on like normal. And, like an ancient printing press, the gears will start.
First that yell you’ve had growing inside you will come out, perverted by a still recovering body. As you scream you’ll shoot up and stare wildly around the room, looking for that thing that was just there. You need to be sure it’s gone.
It will be strange. Because those things you will honestly just saw have disappeared, but the room will be the same. You’ll wonder if you are now in a different stage of the nightmare. Eventually you will understand that this is the real world.
But the uneasy feeling will linger. It could be difficult to go back to sleep, so scared are you that you will fall once again into the same state.
If sleep paralysis happens to you enough it will become easier. You’ll be like a horror movie buff, the one who watches the same scary flick 50 times. They know what’s going to happen and, though they might still feel uneasy or spooked, they’ve got a handle on the situation.
That is where you want to be.
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