Is this recurring nightmare a form of Sleep Paralysis?

I’ve had a recurring type of nightmare throughout my life which I’ve always found interesting. It’s not a dream Ive had regularly and I can only recall having it maybe 4-5 times in my life but in it I’m always in my house (childhood or current) at night. Usually I’m around my stairs and alone in the dark. Suddenly something will trigger the situation to turn nightmarish and I will become terrified in the dream and feel like an evil haunting presence is all around me and on occasions I hear scary voices and even terrifying screams! Then I find I have gone blind and as I try to open my eyes I can’t. They’re too heavy and seem to be stuck down and all I can see is a faint fuzzy strip of grey where my eyes can just see through. I also find my body has gone stiff and I can only move in slow motion and usually I’m trying to hurry up the stairs and back to my bedroom but I’m unable to get there or move properly. In one situation this evil presence even took me and pinned me to the floor and as I tried to cry out for help I couldn’t speak and only a whisper came out. Terrifying!

Luckily these dreams aren’t too persistent. After learning about lucid dreaming and practicing and improving my recall though I’ve had two of these dreams within a few months of each other and wonder if they are more common then I expected. It’s lead me to wonder if this is a form of sleep paralysis but not one where I’m confined to my bed as is the typical SP scenario. There are key similarities. The evil presence in the room along with scary noises and voices, the setting is within my house, I’m unable to move properly, speak and open my eyes which is like a form of paralysis.

The dream probably stems from a silly childhood fear that is still a little present in my adult life. When I’m going to bed I usually walk past my dark staircase and I always feel a little scared to look down encase something scary is looking back up! It’s an irrational fear but I think it seeps into my dreams sometimes as I see that dark staircase every night before bed.

Can anyone who has experienced SP relate to this and has anyone else had similar nightmares?

Sleep paralysis as a disorder only occurs while falling asleep or after waking up. A nightmare occurs after falling asleep and before waking up from it so a nightmare can't be a form of sleep paralysis as a disorder. That said, it's possible to dream about experiences similar to sleep paralysis. I've had at least one similar nightmare. I recall one dream where I was in bed and couldn't move while I could hear noises and feel ghosts or something touching my body. I've also had dreams without an evil presence where it's difficult to move or speak.

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Originally Posted by dolphin

Sleep paralysis as a disorder only occurs while falling asleep or after waking up. A nightmare occurs after falling asleep and before waking up from it so a nightmare can't be a form of sleep paralysis as a disorder. That said, it's possible to dream about experiences similar to sleep paralysis. I've had at least one similar nightmare. I recall one dream where I was in bed and couldn't move while I could hear noises and feel ghosts or something touching my body. I've also had dreams without an evil presence where it's difficult to move or speak.

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Hi, Thanks for your message. I figured it wasn’t a literal form of the sleep Paralysis disorder but noticed details were similar to those described and experienced by people who have had such events. I’m wondering if these sort of nightmares are a result of your mind becoming partially Aware of sleep atonia. For example, eyes unable to open and body stiff or paralysed. It seems these sensations would be caused by awareness of this leaking into the dream in some way.

The cause of the nightmare would be the something that triggers the dream to turn nightmarish. I think it's possible that being aware of sleep atonia could be the cause of the nightmare, but it's also possible that this awareness would be simply correlated with the nightmare rather than also being the cause of it. For example, personally during a dream, just because my dream body is more difficult to move than I would like wouldn't necessarily make that dream a nightmare to me, though it might to someone else.

I don't think it's SP. My episodes are usually me lying awake but unable to move anything but my eyes. I hallucinate beings in the room sometimes. It used to terrify me and having grown up in a religious home I though demons were after me. After lucid dreaming I learned to use it to re-enter the dream state fully lucid. Some of my most intense LDs started from waking in SP. I haven't had a full on SP moment in a really long time. I really miss it lol.

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Originally Posted by dolphin

just because my dream body is more difficult to move than I would like wouldn't necessarily make that dream a nightmare to me, though it might to someone else.

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That’s true, I’ve had other dreams that have the reduced mobility symptoms Such as when I’m running or get into a fight in a dream. I just never understood these specific nightmares growing up and after learning about lucid dreaming and SP It suddenly seemed to make sense.

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Originally Posted by Xanous

I don't think it's SP. My episodes are usually me lying awake but unable to move anything but my eyes. I hallucinate beings in the room sometimes. It used to terrify me and having grown up in a religious home I though demons were after me. After lucid dreaming I learned to use it to re-enter the dream state fully lucid. Some of my most intense LDs started from waking in SP. I haven't had a full on SP moment in a really long time. I really miss it lol.

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Sounds terrifying. Thats the kind of experience I was comparing it to but as mentioned I have never been confined to my bed which is why I was uncertain whether this was like a lesser type of SP but caused by the awareness of sleep atonia. I’m glad you found a way to turn it to your advantage. My experiences are definitely less real and in the normal dream/ nightmare classification. I wonder what would happen if I became lucid in one?

Well, this type of stuff is really hard to define in my opinion. I can only compare to what I experience so I suppose it could be different for everyone. I don't like worrying too much about terminology for that reason. Perhaps you were in some stage similar to SP. I do have dreams from time to time where I am sluggish and it is difficult to move. It makes me wonder what that is. Perhaps there is a part of me that's slightly lucid and it confuses my subC.