[scrollaway]

Sleep paralysis is mortifying if you don't know what you're dealing with. I can completely understand how that's been the source of many people believing in possessions over the centuries.

Most of my paralysis episodes didn't involve the "evil presence" people often talk about. That is, until a recent one less than a year ago, where I woke up with a giant "invisible" spider on my chest

It's terrifying to be in this state of mind where you know what's happening, but you also really, really feel that presence. I wonder if this is similar to what schizophrenic patients feel.

[ryall]

Yeah I just had one of these a couple of weeks ago. Lying on my side and could feel an evil presence behind me, but couldn't move my body at all, even though I was (or at least believed I was) fully awake. Not fun.

[noir_lord]

When I had massive dental problems a few years ago I was taking codeine 60mg and an over the counter sleep aid (which it turns out is a potentiator for codeine).

I had the worst sleep paralysis I've ever had, I was laid facing the wall with the light and I would have sworn there was absolute evil behind me, it was frankly terrifying.

It broke suddenly and I kept out of bed and shot out the room, took me about 15 minutes for heart rate to come down.

I don't scare easily and I'm a life long atheist but I can see how if you where raised religious you'd assume it was whatever evil presence your religion has.

[zormino]

Seeing figures and humanoid shapes when experiencing sleep paralysis isn't uncommon. I've never seen them myself, I just get a progressively louder ringing noise in my head until it feels like my head is going to blow up. I was always able to break out eventually, but it's terrifying. You can't move and are in pain. The only way I could get out was to find one finger or toe I could wiggle a tiny bit, then keep doing that until my body started to slowly come back to life. It takes some time but eventually you hit a threshold and you come back online pretty fast. It doesn't happen often, but when it does it takes me 2-3 tried to fall alseep as it happens consecutively.

[AznHisoka]

" find one finger or toe I could wiggle a tiny bit"

Do you know for sure that it actually wiggles? Because that's what I tried doing once, and my wife told me that my entire body was still and I just woke up all of a sudden.

[ptrincr]

I've had sleep paralysis but never had the feeling of the presence. I just know I'm stuck. As if some kind of force has frozen my whole body. The first few occasions it is extremely scary, I think after that you know what is happening but it is still very disconcerting.