I deal with this sleep paralysis on a regular basis. To the point now where I don't freak out anymore, but just wait until my muscles respond.

I found that sleep paralysis happens when dehydrated, completely exhausted, or just not enough sleep.

The thing is to understand that you are experiencing this, which is difficult when one part of the brain is trying to wake the rest of the body up. So a coat hanging on the door can become the gate to hell, or the cat sleeping next to you can become a spider the size of your PlayStation.

Before I knew what was happening I would come out of the paralysis violently, looking to kill the thing that isn't there anymore; fight or flight.

The best thing you can do for someone who experiences this is to help them understand the science behind this disorder.

Also see Exploding Head Syndrome. Cool stuff, which science can explain!

^I've had different versions of sleep paralysis too. When I was younger, things in a dark environment would become monsters, so occasionally I'd wake up and find innocent household object knocked to the ground or broken. As I got older, I'd occasionally wake up with the weird static sound in my ears and not be able to move anything but my eyes. No demons or aliens. For me, it was linked to either stress or strong codine cough medicine. It's rare anymore, but I experienced this weird heavy eyelid syndrome that seems to be related to the phenomena the other night. Very strange and surreal.

I get sleep paralysis from time to time. Used to freak me out. I thought there was a ghost in my room. I could "feel" it presense. I was terrified and unable to scream. Them I would feel it slowly pushing on top of me and I thought it was trying to suffocate me. The worse one was when I felt a vibrating inside me which led me to the natural conclusion that this "ghost" was now raping me. It wasn't until I watched a documentary on sleep disorders that the penny dropped. I wonder what would happen to me if I never watched obscure docs late at night... probably be in a cult by now!

Weird thing is I still get it now and it still terrifies me but I don't hallucinate any presemce I just try and scream myself awake. Difference is I'm not freaked out after the event.
THANKYOU SCIENCE

I have a different form of sleep paralysis. I don't have any visual or audio hallucinations, but I do wake up, am aware of my surroundings, can't move whatsoever and can barely breathe. There are only two ways that I get out of this paralyzed state; 1) try breathing and moaning as loud as possible to wake my GF so she can wake me up by pushing on my body. 2) wait for it to subside.

Either way, it's pretty scary, and luckily doesn't happen that often.

I wonder if Sleep Apnea plays any role in sleep paralysis?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_apnea

This happens to me, too. If I focus on moving my feet or toes, I can usually snap out of it, but my subconscious doesn't seem to remember it immediately.

I also have had dreams within dreams many times. I'll dream I've woken up and I go about my day, only to find that I'm asleep again, in bed, dreaming that I'm waking up.

*dead

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