Sleep Paralysis

I could hear voices of my family members all around me conversing normally, and I was eager to see them and join their conversation but I couldn't. I tried to move but I could not lift a single limb, I tried to speak but I could not budge my vocal chords or open my mouth to speak. I lie immobile on my bed underneath warm blankets, suppressed under depths of water. All I could do was imagine moving again, speaking again, hugging my family again and consuming every intricate piece of my environment once more. My heart began to pound viscously from anxiety. My arms felt as though they were encased in lead, I felt small and non existent, what I would give to raise my vocal chords to shout,

"Wake Me Up!"

Many of us have experienced this inability to move while feeling or being awake. Some of us have lain paralyzed, completely helpless on our own beds inside of our very home amongst family, unaware of the silent horror. Many of us experience this but do not tell. What is this strange sensation that has us jumping out of our skin and sealing our lips?

This happens during our R.E.M. sleep, (no allusion to the band) when we dream and when our bodies enter the fifth stage of sleep where sleep concludes .Many people like myself don't talk about it for fear of being thought odd and or most importantly because of our own fear and lack of knowledge about what is happening to our bodies. Sleep paralysis occurs to prevent us from acting out the actual movement in our dreams, and it usually occurs a little after waking up or for some a little after falling asleep. This is known to be normal and many of us experience it and despite how scary it is to become temporarily paralyzed, we are actually not being harmed.

Some cultures perceive sleep paralysis different and If you want to see how certain cultures perceive sleep paralysis check out; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis, it is very interesting and spooky.

My first experience with sleep paralysis (as explained in the opening text) happened when I was very young; 7,or 8, I can still remember it very vividly, it was one of the worst experiences that I have ever had. So if you have ever experienced this sensation just know that you are not alone, you can fill out the Waterloo Unusual Sleep Experiences Questionnaire, which focuses on gathering different answers and experiences from people who have experienced sleep paralysis in aid to seek more information and further research on sleep paralysis. I have taken the survey it'll take about 10-15 minutes. It can be found at; http://watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/S_P.html

References;

I have used in my third paragraph

http://www.happynews.com/living/sleep/rem-sleep.htm- Susan Pitman

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis,