Sleep Paralysis - A Terrifying Experience

Fortunately, I've only experienced sleep paralysis once. It was the most frightening thing that I ever experienced. I woke up from my sleep and I could not open up my eyes, move my body or speak. I was total paralyzed. I was awake, aware of the sounds around me and I could feel my husband roll over next to me, but no matter how hard I tried to force myself to move or speak, I couldn't. I remember trying, with all my might, and nothing happening. It was terrifying. It wasn't a bad dream. I was totally awake. I will never forget that terrifying feeling of being away but paralyzed. I remember panicking and thinking, "Why can't I move, why can't I speak?". I tried to scream to my husband, "Move me, wake me, shake me!". Nothing would come out of my mouth. It was almost like an out of body experience. Finally, after a few seconds, perhaps minutes, I was able to voice a whisper but without moving my mouth, so it sounded like the girl in the video below. The whisper was not loud enough to wake my husband, who I was pleading to for help. I eventually came out of the paralysis, and when I did, I felt terrified, confused and exhausted. That afternoon I researched the Internet and discovered that what I experienced, like millions of other people, was sleep paralysis. After researching it, reading others people's stories about it, and watching youtube videos on sleep paralysis, I feel very fortunate that I didn't experience some of the other common terrors associated with sleep paralysis, such as feeling clothes being torn off, visits by demons and terrifying hullucinations.

Sleep paralysis is a feeling of being conscious but unable to move. A sleep paralysis episode can last a few seconds to a few minutes. It usually occurs when falling asleep or when waking up. When sleep paralysis occurs when a person is falling asleep, the person remains awake while their body shuts down for REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep.  When sleep paralysis occures when a person is waking up, the person becomes aware before the REM sleep is complete.  

Surveys suggest that 20-60% of people have experienced sleep paralysis at least once. It is common for people who have narcolepsy to experience sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis is often accompanied Hypnagogic Hallucinations.