He feels a "presence" while asleep????

I have two explenations, the scientist and the dreamer inside me are still arguing about this

There are presences around that make people feel paralysed, look into the Hawaii strangling ghosts... people get strangled in their sleep by nasy entities, most dont die but its still... creepy...

You are on the razorblade edge of waking/dreaming, your sub consious is beginning to take sway over the consious, when this happens the motor connections to the body shut down so your physical body dosent move when you dream body does. But your consious thought is still hanging on and you try to move but all the connections are turned off, in turn freaking you out and giving you the heebiejeebies...

Ive had this happen while transitioning into dream, but have also had this happen when fully in dream but there was a nastyness about it.

Swhy I duno which it is or if both but in different situations.

Just thoughts mind you, any other ideas? :bugeye:

 

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You are on the razorblade edge of waking/dreaming, your sub consious is beginning to take sway over the consious, when this happens the motor connections to the body shut down so your physical body dosent move

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I've thought this may be the case myself, it would make sense.
It has been a long time since I've had it happen now, but I remember sometimes there being a sense of panic, and a ominous feeling, however as you explained realizing your paralized but awake could do that in itself...

Of couse the X-files episode on the subject, explained it as an invisible creature sitting on your chest trying to suck the life out of you...but we don't want to believe that ...do we?
Not me anyway !!!

 

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same scenario....

Hi there. My bf has told me the same things. That has been happening to him for years. He feels a stange, demonic like presence next to him while he sleeps. He says he can also feel something pressing on his chest. Why does this happen to him.

He's told me that it never happens when I'm around him at night....but when I'm not next to him at night....it happens. Last night, i was next to him and for some reason, it happened to him. He was scared.

HELP!!!!

 

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I doubt there's an actual demonic presence. It's probably just his reaction to consciously experiencing body paralysis (normal while sleeping). In other words his mind is awake while his body is asleep. Serinanth also suggested this above.

I've experienced body paralysis a few times, but it was scary only because I couldn't move. I found that I could wiggle my fingertips to eventually waken my body. Later I realized that this experience is a precursor to an out-of-body experience (OBE), which is better than Disneyland. Your boyfriend may want to check out the books on OBEs in the New Age section of a large bookstore. They might alleviate his fear and help him to have an OBE. Those books might also discuss the body paralysis and the associated feeling of a demonic presence.

 

Mystech is right, as usual, and the rest of you need to grow up and get a clue. Demons?! Don't make me laugh. This world is overpopulated with fools too stupid to recognize their own ignorance.

 

Well there's always a chance of dismissing something like demons simply because it conflicts with your 21st century, post enlightenment sensibilities. Which isnt really 'thinking' as such and certainly isnt skepticsm (although it can appear like it).
You have to be very careful about this kind of stuff, there's just as much danger of ignorance at both ends of the spectrum really.
Im certain that what the person described in their inital post definitely is sleep paralysis dont get me wrong.
But that doesnt really tell you much other than youre in a stage of sleep paralysis and for some reason you cant consciously 'snap out of it' which probably isnt anything they didnt already know.
It's an interesting topic though, with lots of uncovered ground - why the common archetypes? do the archetypes vary from culture to culture? (cultural divergence) etc. Would be nice to see some expansive studies into this stuff as has been done with NDEs.

 

Sleep paralysis, often referred to as 'night terrors'.
This can be caused by many things. Many sufferers (including my brother) say it happens most commonly when laying on their back. Tell him to try lying on his side.
Sleep paralysis is caused by a timing issue with the brain, when it 'wakes up' before you are actually fully awake (everyone is paralyzed while they are sleeping, but if your brain wakes up [most commonly in REM cycle] you are awake but still paralyzed). People with narcolepsy (another condition caused by timing issues) often get sleep paralysis, and it is common in people with other sleep disorders (like sleep apnea).
It is not uncommon to feel pressure, unexplained fear, smell things, or suffer from hallucinations (as you are still in a slightly 'dreamy' state).
Factors that affect when sleep paralysis occurs include: anxiety/stress, eating before bed (or drinking, like caffeinated beverages), sleeping on your back, irregular sleeping patterns, and lack of exercise. So try tell him to chill out, don't eat any more than 3 hours before bed, sleep on his side, get into a good sleeping schedule, and exercise.

Some people relate it to epilepsy, also, any sort of brain damage could contribute to the cause. My brother suffered major head injuries as a child. Head injuries can have many effects on the brain. Also, things like brain tumors could be cause.
Doctors seem to suggest that if you have any 'pressure on chest' (or difficulty breathing) in these episodes that is is worth getting looked into by a sleep specialist.

And there are still others who attribute such things to demons, possession, and other spiritual things. That is obviously for the sufferer to decide. From what he tells you, I get the feeling he's not had any real visuals of any sort of demon or anything. So I'd probably attribute that to the 'unexplained fear'.

Ask me if you have any more questions.

 

almost same type of experience

I have the same type of experiences, but a little different. I have the same paralyzing feeling,and sometimes i am able to move. I crawl out of bed and the pressure is still there while I'm crawling towards the door. At first I hear people laughing, then they get angry. After its over my muscles ache, and sometimes my head feels its on fire. It only happens when i sleep at night by myself. I've had occasions like this since I was around 5 years old. I've seen some odd scary things, I'm not sure if its real or in my dreams. But the pressure feels pretty real. I don't really tell anyone because I don't want to sound nuts.

 

Sleep paralysis is an easy thing to look up, as it is a fairly common happening its happened to me a couple of times and be quite scary so yes a lot of you people are just pulling answers out of your ass and giving presumption that the most bizzare must be the most plausable.....
I suppose an asthma attack is being choked by a demon......?
Sleep walking is voodoo magic on your sub-concious........?
Snoring is demononic possesion ....come on folks get bent this is the 21st centuary not the 17th

 

Funny thread - OP was a one post poster. Another one post poster necro'd it in 07. Another one post poster just necro'd again.

Looks like a lot of googlers are picking this up.

Incidently, it's pretty much proven to just be a state of mind from a certain mode of sleep, that can actually be induced to occur on purpose. A researcher on "Alien" abductee reports, caulks up the lion's share of them to this "presense" felt sleep/dream.

100 years ago it was angels and devils. 1000 years ago incubi and succubi, 2000 the immortal gods and goddesses. Whatever the current mythology is.

 

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"The Nightmare" By Henri Fuseli

A painting depicting a demon sitting on the chest of a sleep paralysis victim.

 

I used to suffer terribly from it. I always felt a presence when it happened. Often accompanied by laughter in my head. Used to terrify me as a child.

I get it now maybe once or twice a year. Its still unsettling.

 

Why not just set up a video camera in front of the bed and take pictures all night with it. That way he would see there's nothing there.

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The pressure and laughing is called a hypnopompic hallucination. It often occurs when you have woken up just enough to open your eyes. The hallucination is superimposed on top of your normal sensory perception, but if you observe closely you will find inconsistencies in the hallucinatory presentation... for example if something appears to be glowing, it won't actually cast light on the walls.

The paralysis is something that often goes hand and hand with hypnopompia and both are completely normal. In combination they are a last minute simulation that your mind is putting you through before you are fully awake. Quite often it's a threat simulation so you become fully awake with a bit of adrenalin pumping. It's a brain function that ultimately promotes survival.

If you are really suffering muscle aches and extreme headaches after hypnopompia then I would recommend seeing a physician as they might be signs of an unrelated musclular degenerative issue.

 

I've had a few experiences of this, expressing itself in a various ways, one 'alien', one strange woman strangling me, and the last, was my girlfriend hovering over me like an angel, telling me everything was going to be OK, and I would wake up soon.

It's sleep paralysis and hallucination. A powerful experience sometimes, but harmless.

 

Does it happen more often in men?

 

Don't know... but it does happen less as you get older. The reason being, you're bigger, stronger, and more experienced so the hallucinatory simulations don't have as much value for adults as they would for children.

 

children have night terrors. Are they the same thing?

 

Nope, night terrors are a sleep disorder and the person exhibiting the screaming / thrashing behavior is often not even conscious (dreaming or otherwise). Hynopompic hallucination (what's being described in this thread) occurs during the wake-up process. The experiencer is fully conscious and often paralyzed. The hallucination is superimposed upon normal sensory stimulus.

 

About the same for me. I used to be able to control dreams involving it. Bad guy(or whatever) knocked to the side then I did what I wanted in the super heightened state of conscious, subconscious. (ending either in some sex or flying).

Haven't been able to control it anymore in about 10 years, but can still consciously understand it is occuring and just deal with it until I finally fully awaken.