Why are people scared of Sleep Paralys

[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 ?

[Robot_Butler]

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.

[nilsnectar]

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.

[~Erin~]

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 ..

[westonci]

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

[LucidDreamGod]

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.

[AlexLou]

Robot_Butler had it right in the first reply: 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. To add to this, I've had both terrifying SP and SP that isn't frightening at all (it's either one or the other and not anywhere in between) and I think that there's a neurological difference between the two. When I enter frightening SP I feel fear before I see any hallucinations but I always think logically even though the adrenaline's pumping and keep myself calm despite whatever apparitions my mind throws at me. So from my experience it really has nothing to do with awareness of what SP is, or being fully aware, or thinking rationally, because I have all these things going for me.

[Jdeadevil]

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.

[beyond the box]

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

[WILDlife]

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!

[Photolysis]

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.

[ninja9578]

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

[dragonoverlord]

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 __________________ wow my experences with SP are nothing compared to yours. I guess im lucky i never had it that bad

[Vex Kitten]

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

[roguext22]

people poop their pants then they feel they cant move their body ( sp ? lol ) and then they know they lost control...they are helpless... happy pooping.. poo poo..

[Angelmouse]

I used to wake in the night when I was young, about 12 or so and be unable to move. My body felt as if it was made of heavy boxes and there was always a black hole next to my bed. The only thing I could do was lie there until sleep took me again. Used to scare the crap out of me and even now I'm not too keen on sleeping in the dark.

[nahomey]

Personally, I am a little upset that i have not had a sleep paralysis experience in almost 2 years. And even then, I experienced the only ones in my entire life (about 4 in the span of 2 months), and the first, which lasted about 5 minutes in all, occured directly upon waking-up from my very first lucid dream. I'll admit, that first sleep paralysis i endured was a very scary experience because I was oblivious to what was happening and infact was not even aware that such a phenomenon existed. This was also my first out-of-body experience as while i was paralyzed,and quite possitive that i was awake, i exited my body and crawled over to my brothers bed and tried to get him to help me, and in an istant i was back within my body and still paralyzed. my attempts to move or shout out failed for a couple more minutes, in which i can honestly say i was scared more than i have ever been in my life. When i woke up, my brother insisted that i was crazy and must have been dreaming, but unwilling to accept that what i experienced was not real, i researched and came upon the discovery of the condition we call sleep paralysis, and came to understand why and how it occurs. Anyways ever since, i have been very eager to have more encounters with sleep paralysis as i find it to be quite the experience. unfortuately, i had only 3 more in the next couple of months, and have been waiting 2 years for a fifth, and then some.. does anyone have any pointers on ways to increase the frequency of SP?

[telaranrhiod walker]

I think if you try to wild when it already past 6 am its better, because its already morning and not dark=feels safer. Almost all the wilds I've had in the morning were not scary at all I only roll off or sink thru my bed into a dream. But one time I woke up in the middle of the night then I started experiencing SP, because it was really strong(I couldn't get up or move, then I was dreagged from my bed) and I couldn't get out of the SP for about a minute.

[PharoahSunrise]

It used to happen to me so much, and I would be entirely lucid, albeit unable to move during the experience, but instead of saying "its just paralysis, it'll be over soon" I'd try to turn around and scream and think "oh god, go away, go away, stop it, why" and so on and continue to panick without making an effort to understand that its all an illusion... There's just a terrible sensation of fear that you cannot resist while undergoing SP, whether or not you are thinking logically or not. I don't like to see scary hallucinations, even if I know they aren't real, and the concept of hearing screams, seeing gory apparitions and being unable to control it all or move just terrifies me.

[silicovolcaniosis]

some people have fear of it because of the lack of comfort or because of the suffocating sensation that ocassionally happens to some who get it. sometimes i am unable to breath when i get it gasping for air, also ive heard those stories that somewhere in china there were people who died of suffocation because of the paralyzing rem chemicals.

[Lu¢idityy]

Pretty much what i'm gonna try to do is just stay calm and in a way enjoy the experience. It's rare in most people.

[Selmuir]

lol

[amwilliams]

Hey guys.. i'm new.. and.. I've read a long time ago about lucid dreaming and how to do it and never had much sucess. Recently though, I've had a number of regular dreams turn into lucid dreams half way through (naturally).. Then leading to an SD.. which scares me more than anything! I'm scared because it's like the thought of death for me.. and I don't want that! Just feeling helpless about it.. In my mind i'm screaming and trying to kick and throw my arms around but nothing happens.. I would love to learn to lucid dream in a more concious way.. without the SD.. and as for the lucid dreams.. i'm not fully concious.. I have some control but not full control.. Had I full control.. it would be so much more fun

[Dreamhope11]

I get scared of it because its just a natural reaction your brain does, it knows something isn't right because your body can't move when it should, which sends panick messages to you.