>Sleep paralysis
So while watching some youtubes, I came across a piece of info on psychology testing from way back in the 90's when it was basically still legal to do a lot of weird testing on people.
One of the scientists used to put goggles, headphones, and arm sleeves on people then put them in little rooms. It was to test the affects of taking away someone's senses, and though the experiment was supposed to last 42 days, it often only lasted 4 because patients would be begin to have visual and auditory hallucinations from lack of sensory input.
Ok, now, here's an interesting little connection I just made based on my fiances own trouble with sleep paralysis.
He has described it to me before as "being like sleep paralyzed, but still asleep and being conscious. Sometimes I'll see a shadow in the corner of the room like a 'grey man', and other times I feel like I can almost hear someone whispering, sometimes escalating to shouting". He was born with a lot of health issues, from a bad heart and clubfoot, to a kind of nerve damage. His skin has a hard time feeling things unless it's extreme, like very hot, cold, pain, or upwards of tickling. Now, here's what I think may be an interesting connection that I never thought of before till now.
He sleeps with a loud fan on at night to block out background noise, because any little noises has always caused him to become wide awake almost immediately, ever since he was very young.
What I'm wondering is, could the combination of the nerve damage and drowning sort of white noise from the fan be triggering sleep paralysis and hallucinations given the right set of circumstances? Since he has had a sort of 'regular' sleep paralysis throughout the years since he was a teen, I wonder if this could be making hallucinations worse.
What are your thoughts on this /x/? And do you have similar experiences with sleep? Come share them.
Also, people who practice lucid dreaming have frequent run ins with SP. On reddit there are some good subs for SP and lucid dreaming. People there can likely answer any questions you have.
So a few days ago I think i experienced my first sleep paralysis, although I am not 100% certain, so someone please confirm.
>dreaming
>trying to speak to people in dream
>Its almost impossible, whenever I try, it just sounds like I have weird breathing problems
>take a very deep breath, and I hold it
>instantly wake up, and can see my room
>try to move my arms but I cant
>instantly understand what might be happening
>close my eyes and try wiggling my toes
>gain control of my body after 1-2 seconds
After opening my eyes, the whole ordeal took approximately 4 seconds, and I had control of my body
>>17685120
That's terrible anon, I'm really sorry. Has he been able to link anything during his waking life to these instances? I know scientists are still struggling to explain it.
>>17685134
Will check that out, thank you.
>>17685227
That sounds like a very mild case of it; I'm happy you were able to realize what was happening and get control, most people just panic.
>>17682361
bump
Only 1 time in my life I've almost fell into sleep paralysis
>It's late and I'm bed
>Half asleep, eyes squinting, looking at the TV
>All of a sudden I see this shadowy humanoid figure appear at the foot of my bed
>He's curled up in a ball and then proceeds to stand up
>Right when he stands up I open my eyes wider than they've ever been
>He disappears
I think I just barely escaped sleep paralysis. I've heard horror stories so I'm really glad it didn't happen to me fully
sleep paralysis has never really spooked me the few times that ive had it happen. its just been the most minor shit ever, i dont get what all the horror stories are about.
>someone who lucid dreams a lot so by all rights it should happen more
>>17686448
I think the fear comes from this like...knowing somethings isn't real, isn't really there, and yet you can see, hear, and sometimes feel it.
It's like being almost fully concious during a nightmare, but the type of nightmare where you can't move or cry out for help. You are completely defenseless, and unless you are already good at keeping yourself calm in fearful situations, any panic will escalate ten fold.
>>17687071
Fear comes from activation of the amygdala. Your brain (the neocortex) cant process the "fear response" without a source; this induce hallucinations (visual, sensorial, etc) as a protection mecanism.
Ad
>Things that happen to everyone and have a physical explanation are now paranormal.
No.
>>17687105
same thing as the other thread
I posted this >>17686896
But no; some people want to believe they are "special"
>>17687105
I thought paranormal just meant weird shit that hasn't been able to be completely explained yet?
Scientists still don't completely understand why this happens or what triggers it. Not everything that's 'paranormal' is uncommon or scary.
>>17687105
It is spooky as shit tho.
The couple of times I had it tho, the weird old woman like creature looked like a really shitty muppet or something, like if it'd been in a horror film you'd be like "wtf is this cheap shit?"
>>17687126
they do
read here >>17686896
sleep paralysis is not a mystery anymore
if you want to remain ignorant go ahead, but dont "science dont know lol"
>>17687129
Oh...
>>17687128
Yeah, because you're a chickenshit who's scared of his own shadow.
>>17687126
But it HAS been explained. And "hasn't been able completely explained" doesn't mean much.
>>17687132
>>17687129
Well anon, I do feel like a royal dumbass now, but the point behind making this thread is I was curious if his nerves combined with only hearing white noise at night could somehow be triggering this, or if it's possibly JUST his brain.
>>17687140
Au contraire! Feel better, embrace knowledge.
It can happen in both ways: interruption of REM sleep by a real cause in the world (noise, temperature, involuntary muscular movement, etc); then you will wake up, your brain will be aout of control of your muscle tone (paralysis), this will trigger an axiety that will transform instantly in fear, and from there the amygdala (fight or flight) will take control.
The amigdala is a part of the paleocrotex (primitive brain), and is a "duty" of the neocortex (most developed brain) to control it. But in this case, the amygdala is screaming "DANGER! DANGER!", but your neocortex cant find a source of danger. This produces "pain" to dthe brain as stress, and to avoid it, your brain protects itself creating a source of danger (i feel a presence, i see a shadow, i hear a voice), and you can even hallucinate that source (from aliens, ghost, shadow people, etc)
When this happens, the cycle is broken and the amygdala is slowly controled again
Or, sometimes, the amygdala is a jerk, and just fire the alarm for no reason at all, producing the same effect, just like in the "panic attacks".
So, pick one to explain your experience
Ah, and as a matter of fact, every episode increase the odds of having another one, just because the brain will reinforce the conections used. Unless you control it, by remembering that "its all in your head" during the event.
Sorry for the long post, and the english, im not even american
>>17687160
No, you're actually helping quite a lot because he said his last one was 'very painful' and 'not like the other ones'.
He also suffers from panic attacks pretty easily, so I'm wondering, now, if he worked on his stress and panic attacks, if this could possibly help him reduce how often this happens?
Hmm..
>>17687166
Then is quite posibly that he need medication.
There is a therapy "pill in the pocket" that can be used; A medicine (diazepam, alparazolam, etc) that you take when the panic attack is coming.
The first step is always acepting that this is a real disease; he is not crazy, and he is not being attacked by ghosts.
The best solution is self control and the help of some medicine. Sometimes you dont even need the drugs
I graduated from medicine school last year, but the panics attacks are quite common on this country (Chile), almost always on elder women. Ive treated just 2, and one did it w/o taking the drugs. Just by knowing that there was nothing to fear (panic attack cause no damage to the brain), se started to control the events, by just sitting and relaxing til the fear passed.
For the sleep paralysis is more complicated, as you cant take a pill during the event. But in the intial stage you cant use a sleep inductor, and work on self control from there.
A doctor can help on that.
Hope this help.
>>17687166
It did, thank you!
He hates taking pills, but he might see a doctor.
