Waking up with sleep paralysis: anyone else?
in Health ·
Honestly, finding out that I’m not the only one going through this makes things feel a little less heavy... though it doesn't exactly make the experience any better. For me, this has been happening for three or four mornings in a row now—just one of those mornings where it hits me three or four times back-to-back every single time I try to drift back to sleep. It’s like I’m completely paralyzed, unable to move an inch, while this incredibly loud, jarring noise rings in my ears... it's so intense that you can't help but feel terrified. I usually manage to jerk myself awake after about 20 seconds or so, but then, if I close my eyes again, it just grabs me all over again. At that point, I have to just get out of bed because the panic is too much. I’d love to just relax, really, but when you’re stuck like that with that sound... there's zero chance of staying calm. I just spend the whole time trying to fight it and force a movement, but no matter how hard I try, I can't break free for at least 20 seconds. Looking at what everyone else here has posted, it seems like some of you deal with this quite often, but for me, it's been four or five days straight, multiple times per night. I find it hard to believe it's stress-related or anything like that—I haven't been stressed at all lately, actually... I’ve been spending my time outdoors and playing soccer, so I don't buy the "you just need more nature" argument for a second 🤷. If it happens again tomorrow—and let's be real, it probably will—I'll try to just breathe through it and relax, but I highly doubt it'll work 🙂