Thoughts on sleep paralysis?
 

Hallucinations in sleep paralysis or the idea of a dark spirit or entity trying to attack or possess someone who is in a weakened state.

For a while when I was severely depressed and my sleeping schedule was all messed up, I would have sleep paralysis almost every time I tried to fall asleep for months. They were usually not that bad but two incidences stood out to me and I'll never forget them. Was it just a hallucination or was it something else?

Usually during an episode I either cannot move and speak or occasionally I can't breathe, but during one time I was falling asleep and I could feel my body start to go numb while still half awake. All of a sudden I feel this dark presence over me (I couldn't see anything I just felt it) and it started chocking me and said in a deep demonic voice, "Let me in!" I couldn't breathe and started to freak out and it yelled it again and I said no inside my mind but then it entered (like smoke) through my mouth. That one really creeped me out and being that I was in a bad state of mind (depression etc.) sometimes I think about it and can't help but wonder if it was just a hallucination.

The second one that bothered me was when I got ready for bed. I left the door a little open and the lights were on in the living room so there was light shining through the opening. I got into bed and sleep paralysis took over me. I heard the door creak open a tiny bit and a dark shadow figure walked in. it walked towards me and crawled onto the bed over me and tried to open my legs. I said a prayer over and over again and tried to just stay calm and it went away I could move again.

These dreams (not hallucinations) are from your feeling depressed. This has more to do with Psychological issues. The last dream could be a repressed memory being partly recalled.

Hello Nami,
I'm not an expert on anything mentioned on this forum, but here I go.
I think that what you are seeing/feeling is real.
I used to have for over a year sleep paralysis, and one time while sleeping my girlfriend saw a dark figure chocking me while I slept. What kind of sleep paralysis can be seen by someone else who is fully awake?
In those days, every night I had dreams, normal dreams, but at the end of each dream, I felt/saw a presence and had a feeling of being stalked and cornered.

Do you know how I fixed this issue?
I started praying to God, asking for protection, right before I sleep. I haven't had any nightmare or chocking spirit ever since. God is there to protect you, you just need to ask him. I'm still afraid of going to sleep, but at least I know I won't get chocked nor have horrible nightmares.
If I do get attacked while sleeping, in my dreams, I pray to God and ask him for protection, and I repeat my prayers over and over again until the nightmare stops. I actually noticed that such bad dreams last a lot less when I pray while in my dream.

How does anyone tell the difference between a psychological experience and the paranormal? This is a big stumbling block for me. Dreams & hallucinations can seem VERY real at times

you have to go with your gut on this. But I will give you my pov.
There is no way, and I say that as someone who has experienced both sleep paralysis and visitations where Paralysis is induced on my body, that every case of what ppl call sleep paralysis is actually sleep paralysis.
To call what I and so many others have experienced "a dream", or tell us to relax through it, and what ever else advice you will get from various sources, including doctors, is foolish.

Not all cases are the same. Don't paint it all with the same brush!

Not everyone is able to describe or even remember all the small details that take place.

it's weird experince for sure
whatever it is i believe by the sheer fear of it
that it's not a good experince i had it many times when i was younger

there is two theories one is a spiritual attack
the other brain waking up before body
take your pick

eventually it will wear off and go away

My opinion is that sleep paralysis happens in a zone where the body cannot move. It's a lock-down that happens every single night of our lives, only most of the time we are asleep and don't know.
If we happen to be "awake while asleep" -that is, conscious in that particular zone, which is not generally common, we become aware of being unable to move physically.
That is one of the most frightening things any living creature can experience. There we are in a state we are unsure of and our instinct is screaming in the "fight-or-flight" mechanism (fundamental to all living creatures) Only it suddenly doesn't work!
No wonder there are umpteen reports of negative things happening in sleep paralysis. Fear and panic take over.
If we relax instead, know it for what it is, and realise we are actually conscious during a sleep phase in which we're not usually conscious, we can often use that conscious awareness to advantage, and leave the body!
That could happen if the physical was completely let go of at that point. And the mish-mash of fear-created semi-dreams/ impressions.

I agree with skygazer. I have experienced some abnormal and disturbing physical manifestations while in the bed that can't be explained away by sleep paralysis. I have been literally choked and had my hands wrapped up inside the sheets so tight I couldn't fend of whatever was on the attack. I've also had a visitor that came 4 nights in a row - not likely to be sleep paralysis. But different people, based on their own personal experiences, will come to their own unique conclusion. Welcome to the forum cc_nami BTW.

Continue with the praying. Maybe you could get a protection stone to keep with you whilst you sleep like black tourmaline. I have read about black tourmaline being very protective against negative energies and psychic attacks. It's a very powerful stone. I keep mine under my pillow every night and sometimes when I feel scared I fall asleep with it in my hand.

I am sorry you experienced that. I know how traumatizing it can be, and nothing like what sleep paralysis actually is.
I fought like crazy before the paralysis completely took over...I was very young and what ever it was, didn't subdue me the way it should have. I've since been told that some children are born with a very strong soul presence that will attempt to prevent such things. An aspect of my soul was taken that night which I just recently retrieved. I spent much of my life suffering from post traumatic stress disorder because of that incident.