Sleep Apnea Causes

I had two episodes last night, both were pretty terrifying. Even as a 18 year old, I was tempted to go crawl in bed with my mom after the second one. The first one I hallucinated an out of body experience, but during the second one I was completely lucid and aware of what was going on.

I was just wondering, is there any relationship between sleep paralysis and depression? My depression seems to be worsening and I’m wondering if these episodes are symptomatic of anything.

Studies conducted have suggested a link between Sleep Paralysis and Social Anxiety (usually comorbid with Depression).

Documentary exploring sleep paralysis and ghostly visions…

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This is a reenactment I made in GMod of what my first ever experience with this interesting little psychological phenomena called sleep paralysis. It happened a couple of years ago when I feel asleep with the TV on in the other room. I have been having them ever since. Usually a few times a month or so, depending on my sleep pattern.

Its a common condition where your brain is literally half asleep and half conscious. Sometimes but not always accompanied by hallucinations, some more terrifying then others.

I have it happen to me regularly and I feel obligated to have such an experience. I know there are many others out there that experience it and are terrified of it, it haunts them and makes it difficult to sleep.

I just want to say stop fearing it, and learn about it. We don’t know a whole lot about our brain and I think this is a huge insight of its power and what it can do. It certainly opens up to lucid dreaming and if you learn to control your fear of it you can have yourself floating around the room or run down your street and take off flying.

Anyways, post comments or video responses of your experiences. I love to hear about them. =]

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My old band Kastle Grey Skull at Zen Sushi 08-16-07 playing Sleep Paralysis one of my old gems.

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I have experienced a nightmare in which I wake up and I am paralyzed and pressed upon by an evil entity. I am between awake and asleep but cannot move or speak. I pray in my sleep and the entity goes away. I researched the ‘dream’ I was having and it sounds like sleep paralysis. Is there anything I can do to lessen the intensity? I would prefer to go through life not thinking demons are attacking me in my sleep, if at all possible.

Actually, sleep paralysis may be secondary to another sleep disorder such as narcolepsy, cataplexy, and hypnagogic hallucinations. It might be best if you visit your GP and get a referral to do some tests while you’re asleep.

Best of luck.

Documentary exploring sleep paralysis and ghostly visions…

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This is a video about sleep paralysis, and how to stop it.
The first half is a collection of testimonies from youtube from various people sharing their experiences with sleep paralysis. .
The second half is a collection of testimonies of people that have ended sleep paralysis taken from an unlikely source: “Alien Abduction Crisis Centers of America” ( http://aaccoa.org )

While the two types of experiences are different in some cases, in others the similarities are undeniable. The interesting part is that they are both stopped the same way.

These experiences are very different apparently we can stop sleep paralysis, or alien abduction the same way, listen to the accounts of people from all kinds of different backgrounds tell you their stories.

There is Hope

Thanks to Joe Jordan and aaccoa for all their love and work.

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I have experienced sleep paralysis for the first time ine my life on wednesday morning and last night it happened twice. I was wondering if t here are any dangerous in this. I went to the doctor’s thursday on a unrelated note and told him about my experience and he explained that it was sleep paralysis. I have somethign wrong with my heart (need further tests to know what it is), could a heart defect cause sleep paralysis? Or something like sleep paralysis?

Sleep paralysis i a frequent phenomenon in youg and anxious people.
We call it "parasomnias" (to impress people), and there are several of them
One, the most frequent, is the sleep paralysis ( not a real paralysis but really scares away the wits out of you), and seeing "insects" crawling on the wall when you are half asleep or half awake…another parasomnia, is falling to the floor for some few seconds, after a burst of laughters..
Sleep paralysis is experioenved by 83,6% of all people, in one moment of life or another, however its extremely common in anxious, young people.
The feeling is being awake for some few seconds 10-20, and being unable to move any part of your body, even when you are aware that you are awake, and have the purpose of moving the limbs…and cant do so…until you can move a toe for instance, and the ability to move spreads to the rest of the body in 2-3 seconds….
Its a very frightening experience, to say the least. however it is caused by anxiety, and will dissapear alone or if annoying too much, then mild amounts of antidepressants (amytriptiline 25 mg ate bed tome or imipramine 10 mg) usually resolves the problem.
Is an all too common question of young people in reproductive age, and aven more scared (unnecesarily so) are boys and girls between 8 to 14 years of age..
Nobody has been harmed or diseased by sleep paralysis,….its more annoying than dangerous (it bears no danger in itself, however it expresses daytime anxiety)
Tou will be OK no matter what…

This is a short i made after i found out about the condition sleep paralysis, as i was learning about it i thought it would make a great idea for a short film. This is the first film i have ‘completed’ using my complete hv30 rig. It was entirley shot on a canon HV30 w/ a letus flip 35mm adaptor in 24p with +6 db of gain, edited in premier pro CS3, colour corrected using magic bullet. I am open to all opinions and critisisms on the short (although some of you i’m sure will state that the picture is too dark as i have heard that from some, well this was the look i was going for and i’m very happy with it – infact i made it darker in post). Audio was recorded using Rode video mic on boom. I’m not sure what else i can say but if you have any questions please ask and i will be happy to anser. The footage has been scaled down to 720p to meet this sites 1280x720p max resolution from its original 1440×1080 24p but still looks quite good ( for internet standards ). Hope to hear some feedback regards Marty.

Heres the info on sleep paralysis :

Sleep paralysis is a condition defined by paralysis of skeletal muscles and or absence of reflexes that occurs upon awakening from sleep or during falling asleep. Sleep paralysis occurs when the brain awakes from a sleeping state, but the body paralysis persists. This leaves the person fully conscious, but unable to move. In addition, the state may be accompanied by terrifying hallucinations and an acute sense of danger .Sleep paralysis is particularly frightening to the individual due to the vividness of such hallucinations. The paralysis can last from several seconds to several minutes after which the individual may experience panic symptoms and the realization that the distorted perceptions were false.

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And also while sleeping at night?
I often get sleep paralysis. And I find them pretty scary while I have them. Evey time I have them, almost every time I have them, I fear something bad will happen to me, like I’m dying or something ( which, once I’m out of the sleep paralysis, I see that I’m alright physically).

Thanks for all answers.

From Wikipedia:
Sleep paralysis is a common condition characterized by transient partial or total paralysis of skeletal muscles and areflexia that occurs upon awakening from sleep or less often while falling asleep. Stimuli such as touch or sound may terminate the episode, which usually has a duration of seconds to minutes. This condition may occur in normal subjects or be associated with narcolepsy, cataplexy, and hypnagogic hallucinations. The pathophysiology of this condition is closely related to the normal hypotonia that occur during REM sleep. When considered to be a disease, isolated sleep paralysis is classified as MeSH D020188.

Physiologically, it is closely related to the paralysis that occurs as a natural part of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, which is known as REM atonia. Sleep paralysis occurs when the brain awakes from a REM state, but the bodily paralysis persists. This leaves the person fully conscious, but unable to move. In addition, the state may be accompanied by terrifying hallucinations (hypnopompic or hypnagogic) and an acute sense of danger. Sleep paralysis is particularly frightening to the individual due to the vividness of such hallucinations. The hallucinatory element to sleep paralysis makes it even more likely that someone will interpret the experience as a dream, since completely fanciful, or dream-like, objects may appear in the room alongside one’s normal vision. Some scientists have proposed this condition as a theory for alien abductions and ghostly encounters.

The paralysis can last from several seconds to several minutes "after which the individual may experience panic symptoms and the realization that the distorted perceptions were false". When there is an absence of narcolepsy, sleep paralysis is referred to as isolated sleep paralysis (ISP). "ISP appears to be far more common and recurrent among African Americans than among White Americans or Nigerian Blacks", and is often referred to within African American communities as "the witch riding your back"

Sleep paralysis is most often associated with narcolepsy, a neurological condition in which the person has uncontrollable naps. However, there are many people who experience sleep paralysis without having signs of narcolepsy. Sometimes it runs in families. There is no known explanation why some people experience this paralysis. It is not harmful, although most people report feeling very afraid because they do not know what is happening, and within minutes they gradually or abruptly are able to move again; the episode is often terminated by a sound or a touch on the body.

In some cases, when hypnogogic hallucinations are present, people feel that someone is in the room with them, some experience the feeling that someone or something is sitting on their chest and they feel impending death and suffocation. That has been called the “Hag Phenomena” and has been happening to people over the centuries. These things cause people much anxiety and terror, but there is no physical harm.

What else can you tell me about sleep paralysis?

* Some people with disrupted sleep schedules or circadian rhythm disturbances experience sleep paralysis
* A study found that 35% of subjects with isolated sleep paralysis also reported a history of wake panic attacks unrelated to the experience of paralysis
* Sixteen percent of these persons with isolated sleep paralysis met the criteria for panic disorder

How can I stop the sleep paralysis?

In severe cases, where episodes take place at least once a week for 6 months, medication may be used.

You may be able to minimize the episodes by following good sleep hygiene:

* getting enough sleep
* reduce stress
* exercise regularly (but not too close to bedtime)
* keep a regular sleep schedule