Thread: Why are people scared of Sleep Paralys

I always wonder the same thing. Whenever I get it, I know exactly what it is but I'm still terrified.

I think most people mistakenly think that they are scared because they can't move. I find that this is not true. It's like I wake up with pure chemical adrenaline fear pumping through my veins. Then my mind comes up with a scary hallucination to justify this fear.

I once heard a theory that the paralytic chemicals in your bloodstream give you the same feeling as the chemicals that are released during extreme fear. This is probably total B.S. in scientific terms, but it's how I like to think of it and explain it.

Think of it like a horror movie. It's kind of fun to be scared. You know it's a movie, but you're still afraid and its a great high.

It happened to me once, and I was not scared at all. I had been researching everything to do with lucid dreams at the time, so I was well aware of what was happening. I found it very exciting, and I was hoping it would lead into my first lucid dream.

It didn't, but it's fun to tell people about my experience.

I don't know the actual reason but my guess would be because you're not in control and just lying there not being able to move can strike fear into people. I'm always terrified when I have SP I never ask for it or even try. I always get the shadowy figure over me holding me down. The only way I can suggest to try not being afraid of it would be when you instantly realize you're having a SP to calm your body down and yourself just keep telling yourself it's normal.

I'm not even sure myself for I still get scared when I experience a SP

I still can’t over when I see threads of people wanting to experience a SP ..

Im not scared, as long as I know its just SP

The reason is simple the survival of the fittest profers orginisms with high levels of panic when faced with immobility just because of animals being vulnerable to preditars and such at that time, often when we fear something for no logical reason it has to do with things we learned as a species long ago.

Theres reasons behind each illogical fear humans has.

i dont know why people are afraid of it. except for what LDG said i dont see any other reason. im not afraid of it. It happens every night whether i like it or not. being afraid of it is illogical.

Being afraid of SP makes just as much sense as being afraid of going to sleep cause you dont know whats going on around you.

I think it's fun. :D

Maybe I'm just weird.

I would be scared like crazy if i didn't know what it was, but i've had it 3 times in the past 4 months, i ain't scared. Sometimes it can be VERY annoying, though. One time i tried struggling just for the sake of struggling to try and make things intense as i could for a thrill and i'm yelling "OH MY GOD HELP ME HELP ME" in my head.

I still wonder the same thing, even though I never had one where I'm fully alert. Call me weird, but I want to have one.

This morning i was just lying in bed thinking and the next thing i know my eyes are sorta half closed and i can feel this presence next to me. i think it is a family member so i don't panic at first but then i think what if it's not which kinda makes me panic so i try to get up but i can't, i then hear a voice from the presence saying "good girl" (it's very close to me) so i save up all ym efforts for one big effort which wakes me up.

Thats why people are scared of it!

Originally Posted by Selmuir

Why is the reason people are scared of SP i dont know why im scared off it but it puts me of wilding , I know it cant hurt you but i just ... um .. dont know why im so scared of it, ive had it before and i felt my heart beating very very fast and trying to break out of it, any suggestions to make me not scared of it ?

Evil demons shoving their toungue inside your ere maybe? A big evil demon poking you in the belly?

And you can't move whilst it's happaning. Ever wonder why you put your hand near one of your body parts while looking at someone having their penis chopped off? Well, there's your answer.

Anyway, no advice can be given. I'm going to see if Google knows.

Originally Posted by mylucidworld

This morning i was just lying in bed thinking and the next thing i know my eyes are sorta half closed and i can feel this presence next to me. i think it is a family member so i don't panic at first but then i think what if it's not which kinda makes me panic so i try to get up but i can't, i then hear a voice from the presence saying "good girl" (it's very close to me) so i save up all ym efforts for one big effort which wakes me up.

Thats why people are scared of it!

Am i the only one who never feels a presence?

First 2 times I entered SP I didn't know what was happening...

Second time I was trying to enter SP and was doing a good job of it...but after awhile I was getting into a really deep sleep or something (I could still tell I was concious) but it felt like I wasn't breathing...everything was fine but it just felt like I wasnt

Hey
I have had SP twice though this was before i had ever heard about it so i was very scared.

the first time was only for a brief moment and i got scared, but i didnt think much about it.

The second time was alot worse, i was in bed and had just drifted off, remembered i need to do something and woke up. i went to hop up but found i couldnt. it wasnt until i realised that i couldnt move (a second or two) that i felt a massive weight pressing down on my chest, i tried to lift my arm but i couldnt, i tried to scream but couldnt. my heart was beating unbelievably and i tried with all my might to move, as soon as i could, i ran away from my bed to my mother to tell her what happened

though i now know what it is, if it happened again i would still be scared, no matter what i told myself cause it would catch me by surprise.

i was lucky the first time i had a SP experience that i learned what it was 2 weeks ago and was well aware the whole time of what it was. i didnt feel any presece and it was fun just watching my arm sit there as i strugged to move it.

I once experienced involuntary SP a few months ago. I could have been halucinating, but I could have sworn I saw a little girl running in my room, dressing in a pink shirt and red pants and laughing. I was freaked out becuase I could not move, so I closed my eyes and went to sleep. This was shortly after I used a Ouija board, which I will never touch again...I told my friend, who is a clairevoyant, that I have used a Ouija board and she said she would meditate on the subject. & the next day she said I had brought the spirit of a 8 year old girl using the board. And I was very shocked, because I did not tell her about the girl in my room, because I wanted to see what she would say. Weird stuff, huh?

I must have experienced it over 100 times in the past year - and every time I fall into this state I'm initially scared. The lack of control in this state is where a lot of fear comes from.

And also with OBEs and the presence. The scary thing about it is I don't know if it's real or not - so when it does happen, it does scare me.

But overall, SP is a thrill overall.

It's probably the lack of control, as blade said. The times I've had it, it wasn't the fact that I couldn't move that scared me, though, it was the other things that occured. Creepy noises and such.

To overcome the fear (if you have enough awarenesss to do so) just lay still and remain calm. Struggling only makes it worse. Think calm reassuring thoughts.

well matey i LD alot and i do expereience this, i can move and altho i try i just cant, then i think i cant breathe but then iv learnt to slow myself down and slowly come out of it, BTW!! does anyone else try to move there jaw and wen it does move (wile LD) it sorta jutters about or shivvers? and yes i do hear people screaming at me or crying wile im freaking out, but once iv calmed down it goes

wel this has happened me about 3 or 4 times and man is it weird. Never knew your body is paralysed while sleeping until i came here!...i usually try to pull myself up into a sitting position but can feel the sheer tension on my neck when im trying this..but wow some relief when i manage it!

Some people might be scared because the sensation is rather bizarre.

I've got to the stage where I can trigger it now, though the first time, even though I knew exactly what was going on, it still caused my heartrate to go through the roof.

As I'm familiar with the sensation now, nothing happens.

Sleep paralysis ranges from being nothing at all to feeling extremely violent. I've had times where I felt as if I was being thrown around my room, other times I felt like I was being pulled apart. I knew that it wasn't going to hurt me but was quiet frightening. Don't be put off by my experiences though, most of the time SP just feels tingly for me. And something I like the thrill ride

Sleep paralysis ranges from being nothing at all to feeling extremely violent. I've had times where I felt as if I was being thrown around my room, other times I felt like I was being pulled apart. I knew that it wasn't going to hurt me but was quiet frightening. Don't be put off by my experiences though, most of the time SP just feels tingly for me. And something I like the thrill ride
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wow my experences with SP are nothing compared to yours. I guess im lucky i never had it that bad

I was afraid of it because I'd get it through my whole life and had no idea what the hell it was. Not until I was much older did I learn its a natural part of going to sleep and I slowly beat out the fear that came with waking in SP. Now I very rarely ever wake in that state, which is kind of nice since it was like a curse I had to endure for most of my life