My Alien Encounter or Sleep Paralysis
By: tmhogirl (24 January 2009)
I decided to write about this experience even though I know that by posting, I am possibly in danger of losing any credibility that I have left. But I guess as a society, we are used to keeping quiet about topics that do not sit comfortably in our smug existence. Having discussed this issue with a professional who I respect a great deal, and subsequently researched the topic, I felt more comfortable writing about it. I also feel that if this was something people that people freely talked about, I would not be as freaked out about it as I was.
Have you ever experienced the following?
• You wake up early in the morning, fully alert, aware of yourself, your environment and everything around you, but there is only one difference.
• As much as you try, you are incapable of any movement or speech, you are completely paralysed.
• You are conscious enough to freak out, get scared, pray, and to even wonder whether you were dead.
• You freak out, you scream and cry out loud but no sound comes out, you try to fight the paralysis but nothing happens.
• Sometimes you may even feel like there is something there with you, pushing you down into, making you incapable of movement.
• You may also occasionally have this experience accompanied by some buzzing noise.
• You may even hallucinate, see dark figures or even an alien.
• You are fully awake, aware of consciousness, you are no longer sleeping and this is not a dream.
• The experience is extremely distressing, frightening, and you have an acute sense of fear.
• You sometimes even wonder whether you have died, or whether this is the end of life as you know it.
It happened to me.
All of the above have happened to me a few times in the past. Last week, it happened, with a new dimension, the hallucinatory or alien dimension. Yes, I woke up completely paralysed, and in addition to the feeling of extreme fear and distress, I thought I saw an alien hovering over me. It looked like the usual alien image with a big head, but it was darkly coloured and not green coloured. It also had eyes that looked like a scan, like it was scanning my head.
Time out for you to take the piss?
OK, I shall give you time to take the piss, laugh at me, knock yourself out with laughter, shake your head in disbelief, wonder whether I have once again lost the plot, or even if I ever had the plot before I continue. Now you have done all that, behave yourself and read on.
WTF?
Is this a figment of my rather overactive imagination? Was it a dream? Was I really awake and completely paralysed, unable to move, or speak? Did I see what looked like an alien? Was I hallucinating? Am I making it all up?
I barely if ever watch Sci-fi programmes or movies and as in my conscious thoughts have never had any fascination about aliens, the experience totally freaked me out.
Seriously, what the hell is this all about?
I knew that I was at risk of being labelled a loony but this time, I wanted to find out more about this phenomenon. I tentatively approached a few people about it, only to find out that it wasn't such a rarity after all. I wasn't a weirdo, and I wasn't a special being bestowed with the honour of being chosen by aliens for their advanced studies…damn. There was even a name for this stuff, and it was recognised as something easily explained by science and medicine.
I was very surprised to find out that there had even been a TV programme in a major UK channel about the phenomenon, and that documentaries have even been made about it, with different programmes in the United States. I found YouTube videos full of people with similar experiences, some have even recorded themselves whilst under sleep paralysis. Scary viewing.
I spoke to a close friend who is Mr Dependable, and as sane as they come, and he very casually told me that this has happened to him quite a few times. He also had an explanation about its cause which further talks and research would reveal to be completely spot on.
I wanted to examine even more and discussed this issue with a psychotherapist who I respect tremendously. I had felt uncomfortable approaching him initially as he is actually someone whose opinion of me, I care about. He confirms that this is a common occurrence. He gave me the name for it, sleep paralysis, and we spent a most interesting hour talking about it.
The psychotherapist also confirms that sleep paralysis had nothing to do with my mental health. I wasn't crazy. So sorry to disappoint some of you piss takers, but I haven't lost it again. Hold off the men in white coat.
What is sleep paralysis?
The easiest way to explain sleep paralysis is that when we sleep, our bodies are somewhat paralysed so that we do not act out our dreams. Sometimes, we wake up, but the brain still thinks that we are asleep, and it maintains this paralysed state. We are fully conscious and aware of our environment, but are unable to move or speak.
Sleep paralysis is particularly frightening because it may be accompanied by terrifying hallucinations and an acute sense of danger. Objects may also appear in the room.
Whilst the condition is apparently common and is not considered something to worry about, if it occurs at least once a week for a period of six months, medication may be used to treat it.
How to minimize episodes of sleep paralysis
Doctors believe that good sleep hygiene could help with sleep paralysis. Also:
• Going to bed at a regular time
• Getting enough sleep
• Reducing stress
• Not sleeping on your back
• Exercising regularly
So is information power?
I am glad that I took the time to find out more about sleep paralysis. Although initially I was very scared with all the things I read and watched about it, I am also better equipped to deal with it, next time it happens to me, if indeed, there is a next time. If it happens again, I will not be totally scared, freaked out thinking there is impending danger and doom, I shall relax, and let it pass knowing that it happens to people all over the world, and that with a little time, my body and brain will catch up with each other, and then all shall be well again.
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Comments on this post:
"I won't take the mickey. What a dreadful experience. I've never heard of it but of course having searched on Google, there are lots!"
andys (24 January 2009)
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"I've heard of this. You are not alone babe. Thanks for posting. I am sure it will help other people come to terms with it. Hugs xx"
london1 (24 January 2009)
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"Thank you all so much for the support!"
tmhogirl (24 January 2009)
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"OMG! I swear this has happened to me once. Fucking hell! Feels good to have a name for it. Thanks for posting!"
summer (24 January 2009)
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"Thanks Summer. I am finding out that this happens everywhere. My friend has just sent me a link - she posted this story on one of her blogs and some of the comments from there from people who have experienced similar, are incredible!"
tmhogirl (24 January 2009)
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"I just love the way you write, I was mesmerized from the first sentence and was actually getting ready to hear some horrific tale. luckily this has not happened to me and i've actually never heard, thanks for the knowledge anyway"
SASHA (24 January 2009)
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"Thanks for the impacting this knowledge, I have a friend it happened to, now I have a name for it"
GROOVY (24 January 2009)
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"Sasha, that you so much, that's very kind of you. Groovy, thanks so much for sharing. I hope your friend is dealing with it OK. I am getting lots of emails from people who have experienced this!"
tmhogirl (24 January 2009)
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