What does sleep paralysis feel like?
Sleep paralysis is something that happens to me quite regularly when I’ve had stress in my life and have difficulties getting enough sleep. I have had different kinds of sleep paralysis episodes, ranging from the mildly scary to the mind-bending waking nightmare. Waking up in the middle of the night and realising you are unable to move a muscle is distressing in itself but sometimes sleep paralysis also induces hallucinations. The hallucinations are somehow related to the fact that your mind is still partly in the sleeping state although you are technically awake and have consciousness. I have the impression that the fear induced by an episode of sleep paralysis is somehow related to the so-called “fight or flight” mechanism which is activated in the human brain at a moment of imminent threat, real or imagined. When I have a mild episode of sleep paralysis, there is the feeling of being heavy and unable to move or, as you put it, pinned down, but when it’s really severe, I have halluci
