MovieChat Forums > The Nightmare (2015) Discussion > My own experiences

My own experiences

posted 9 years ago by arshsingh1984
6 replies | jump to latest

I couldn't relate to a lot of the stuff they said about the sleep paralysis in this movie. The whole "prayer works" was just bunk from my experience. I have also had it less and less as I have gotten older. My last one was over a year ago when I was swamped with work, a break-up, and financial stress.

I could usually tell very early in the evening if I was going to have sleep paralysis that night (though i could have just been psyching myself out). I would have had a nap earlier in the day (due to poor sleep) and woke up with a "hazy"/buzzing feeling which didn't go away. Then when I got to bed at night to actually sleep, the buzzing would intensify, I'd go numb, pressure feeling on my body would happen, difficulty to breathe, and an intense feeling of dread would overtake me. Once or twice I'd seen the so-called shadow man from the corner of my eye, but typically it was more of a sensation of something being in the room.

One night I actually woke up after hearing someone fall down the stairs (all in my head). These episodes were much more frequent in my early teens but have since subsided into my late twenties.

I also developed a coping mechanism after i started seeing the shadow man; I began sleeping either on my stomach, or under the sheets on nights that I thought I would experience this. I also learned to jerk awake and adjust if SP ever caught me on an unexpected night. These coping techniques never stopped the SP,but prevented me from seeing anything.

I was very relieved to know that there is a medical explanation (obviously demons wouldn't be very pleasant to deal with). My friend's cousin isn't as much of a skeptic about such stuff as I am, and he is convinced that one night his late grandmother climbed out of a picture and climbed on his chest and began to bite his neck bloody. And i think the danger of this documentary is that it leans too much toward the supernatural explanations of such experiences and doesn't try to balance it out too much with "it is all in your head". I will file it under entertaining/kinda-scary/hokey.

On a final note, I have shared my SP experiences with many people and they have never "caught it".

[–] JamesMcFly 9 years ago

What do you mean they never Caught It? Like Got It? As in what you were trying to explain? I get all of what you have said, but I have experienced this phenomenon, sort of. I have experienced the "Old Hag Syndrome:" you can't move (SP) coupled with the heavy feeling on your chest as if you can't breath. I would wake up from it with a huge gasp!

And that person falling down the stairs sound? That is freaky! I think it's when you between sleep and waking concence. Like your mind is starting to make things happen so it doesn't loose itself when the SP kicks in so you don't kill yourself or sleep walk or something else you shouldn't be doing when asleep. I'd usually hear someone scream my name, but my wife nor my cats would hear anything. Or I'd hear someone scream or yell. It's really all in our heads.

Check this out: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis

[–] arshsingh1984 9 years ago

In the documentary, they claim that some of the friends and family who were told about said experiences went on to have their own SP episodes. Hence they "caught it". I've never had anyone tell me that after i described it to theme unless they already have had sleep paralysis. The idea of it being contagious isn't something I've ever heard before.

[–] facelessone 9 years ago

You know, that heavy feeling where you can't breathe and you wake up with a huge gasp may be sleep apnea. It happens to me all the time. I haven't had it checked out myself so this is pretty hypocritical, but supposedly, it can be dangerous and should be reported to your doctor.

[–] arshsingh1984 9 years ago

just had another episode last night. felt like an angry god was coming toward me from behind in the form of a great cloud. odd...

[–] gandhiaayush-829-801613 9 years ago

My experience is exactly like yours, never seen anyone but the sensation is always there. I can never tell when this will happen though and have spent years having this experiences while leaving alone and it has made me develop counter mechanism where I had to wake myself by any means possible. The worst feeling in my case is knowing that there is no one in the house.

Have you ever experienced lucid dreams? For example, sometimes I can dream an entire movie (like I am the one directing or the main character of the movie) or be physically in an area where you have never been before but still know where everything is (or where to go). I think this ultimately became counter mechanism in my case as I grew up.

I actually never thought about this and discussed it with anyone until today when I saw this movie and saw this board and now I can not stop thinking about it.

[–] leshaholland 9 years ago

Agreed. No balance, no science.