Originally Posted by
Rorcanna
I have episodes regularly, it's a side-effect of my medication but quite frankly, I used to have episodes of sleep paralysis for as long as I can remember.
My episodes will always be me laying on my back in bed, looking out over the room. I'll then see something, for example a man with a very square, long face staring at me from the darkest corner of the room. He's got milky, white eyes and a very "flat" expression, not many attributes to his face other than the eyes and mouth which has no lips.
When I was younger, I used to scream for help during the episode, crying. Once the episode let go of me, I would be angered with my dad that he had not come rushing to my aid when I was frantic with fear. The first time it happened, my parents literally believed that someone had actually been in my room, and I was brought to hospital for a physical despite my description of the "man" being outlandish to say the least and not at all realistic.
It quickly became obvious to the doctors however that I was suffering from sleep paralysis. As I got older, I started getting far greater control of my dreams and now whilst I can be "caught" in a sleep paralysis for a short time, I can also be totally aware of what's going on and thus interrupt the process. I believe lucid dreaming is a pretty common trick for people to adopt in these cases. I no longer fear the episodes, and I have a special pillow against the wall which prevents me from rolling over onto my back, since that's when the episodes are triggered. <.<
Whenever people speak of seeing "angels" or "aliens" or "demons" during the night, I think sleep paralysis.