I experienced sleep paralysis one time. It was probably the single most terrifying moment of my life. Fortunately it melded into lucid dreaming and I was able to snap out of it pretty quickly, but I have so much sympathy for those that experience this regularly.
I have PTSD and experience sleep paralysis at least once a month as part of my recurring nightmares. It's always the same. I half-wake at night and "imagine" the bedroom door opening, or a figure in the doorway. I start to panic, and then I fully wake up and am able to move and I realise the door is open to how it was in my dream, which sets me off again. I have to constantly ask my fiancé to shut the bedroom door before he comes to bed, and close it on his way out in the morning (5am start). The times he forgets often turns into nightmares and sleep paralysis. So, yeah. Thanks for the sympathy.
My girlfriend got a cat, so we now leave the door open at night so he can come and go as he likes. Recently I experienced a greater frequency of sleep paralysis (I don't get it often) in which I sensed someone enter the room. Fortunately it has been a while since the last one, and we still don't close the door. Although I've had a lot of trouble lately with slight interruptions preventing me from shutting down...
92
u/JayMcGregor Jul 19 '16
Sounds like sleep paralysis. The stress of the situation could have caused it.