Sleep Paralysis

[LaMotte410]

Tonight was one of the scariest nights of my life . i was in bed watching tv next to my wife , i cant tell you if i was dreaming or awake . i was watching tv and i looked into the hall of my home only to see a black figure and it was like i blinked and it was on top of me . i screamed and was trying to get my wife behind me . Putting myself in between what ever the black thing was and my wife . in an instant it was gone and i was frightened my wife got up and went to the bathroom , the door was cracked enough for me to see her face and it changed and was blackened distorted looking . i was still frightened by the first event and when seeing her face like that i backed away and turned my head . When i looked back at her she was normal . i was still afraid so i went from room to room turning on all the lights when i made my way to my children's room i seen our two dogs shivering on the bunk bed with my two children, who were just waking up to the commotion . i told both of my children and wife to get into my room and i walked thru the house . it felt like someone was watching me and when i went back to my bedroom where my family was , i sat in the bed with them and started to feel like something was choking me as i tried to scream in agony and disbelief i couldn't it felt like i was seriously being strangled . when that feeling was over i told my wife and kids to get in the car as we ran outside the dogs ran outside with us as if they were also scared . my wife drove us down the road as she was also on the phone with police . we seen the police officers and pulled over . sitting at the side of the road talking with officers i asked if they would go check my home . they thought i was having a panic attack and recommended having an emt come out to check me out . i obliged and was seen by an emt blood pressure was thru the roof but i was not forced to go to a hospital by officers or emt . we went back to the house and before doing so i asked if the police officer would accompany us . he followed us to the house my wife went in and grabbed our wallets and personal belongings and we went to the local hospital so i could be checked out . This was a very unreal situation for me as i dont believe in the paranormal . im also not sure why or what it was i was seeing or being touched by but i was being choked and had been awake for several minutes before hand

[XenoFish]

Sounds like a hypnagogic experience.

[Piney]

Your under a lot of stress and fearful of something. The "entity" was your subconscious creating a "Thought Form" out of your fear and stress.

[the13bats]

You went thru all that and after being released from the hospital come here to write about it?

I admit i got confused in your telling but seems your wife would be able to collabarate your story or tell you to relax it was a dream which i fully believe it was, but what does your wife say? if she saw this black thing you were trying to fight that would be interesting.

i have had a lifetime of nervious panic issues and a few cases of intense night terrors, i very much would love to subscribe it to anything except what it really is...my own mind

[papageorge1]

Hmm..Did your wife or kids sense anything unusual? The dogs were shook-up but that could have been the commotion, 

To react the way you did you must have felt pretty certain something real was going on. Have you any history of such events?

I do believe black figures are a mainstay in the annals of the paranormal. 

Anything else unusual gone on recently?

[LaMotte410]

I don't know what i seen it didnt have any features other than it blocked out the light in the hallway like it was solid and when it was on top of me it was very heavy but not heavy enough to keep me from moving . When my wife woke up she was asking me what happened as she was getting out of bed to use the bathroom . i was so shookup and such a mess i could barely get out the words to describe it . this all happened in a flash before i was up searching the house for someone . i have no idea whats going on im not over worked or stressed out about anything . ive been up all night researching sleep paralysis and have come across different accounts all across the globe about black figures . scientifically i was in a state between sleep and being awake . that explains why no one else seen what i seen or felt the things i did . my question after much reading is why do we all see the same sort of thing if it is sleep paralysis  

[Orphalesion]

You don't have to be stressed, overworked, depressed or anything else for sleep paralysis and hallucinations to happen, it just makes it more likely. As piney said, negative things in our lives can manifest that way, but if there's nothing like that in your life, then it might have been a simple trick of the mind.
Shadow people are a very basic form of hallucination that are produced by very old (and in some cases very vital) parts of ourselves; our human brain is programmed to notice human shapes to the point that we sometimes create human shapes/faces out of anything it's called Pareidolia.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia  In addition to that the fear of the dark, unknown and strangers is a deep set one in our human brain (since those things posed great dangers when we still lived in the wild), you as a person might not be afraid of those things, but it wasn't the conscious, rational part of the brain that created those visuals.
All these things often combine in Shadow People. There was light and shadow available in the bedroom, there was an open gate, there might have been a minute movement caused by wind or a little bit of flicker in the lights in the hallway...and your subconscious mind alerted you that there might be a potential danger approaching standing at the entrance, as you see your instincts immediately went to trying to protect your wife from this "intruder", as would have been necessary in a stone age/pre-stone age evrionment. It was a glitch were your brain misinterpreted stimuli into a danger and was overzealous in calling you into action. Since your mind was altered by the unusual state of sleep-paralysis, the instinctive part of your brain and your body (including your senses) continued to respond as if there had been an intruder, so they sent you into a hyper-vigilant state, this explains you seeing shadows on your wife's face (your eyes were still trying to find and identify the shadow man) and the sensation of being strangled (you expected an attack and being strangled is one of the only ways a human can kill another without weapons)
Your instincts kicked in, you gathered your family in the place you knew was safe, and went to scout your domain for the intruder, your dogs (who look at your for guidance and are very sensitive to your mood) took up on this vigilant state and acted in accordance and all that stress raised your blood pressure (though I'd still monitor that just to be sure).

So, regardless of anything else, the positive knowledge you can take away from this is that your first instinct, even when still half-asleep, in a dangerous situation is to protect your family and that if there had been a danger/intruder your actions might have prevented something bad from happening. 

From a rational side you can make it clear to yourself that it was just a glitch caused by the outdated software of our brains, which in many ways still acts like we were wilderness dwelling hunter-gathers in constant danger from wild animals and intruders from hostile tribes. And that can happen to any of us. 

I also sometimes get sleep paralysis. The only spectacular hallucination I had however was some weird creature made out of bubbles and crab's legs crawling across my chest. If you have sleep paralysis more often then you can learn to recognize that state, make yourself conscious of the fact that it's SP and calm yourself to stave off hallucinations until it is over. I like to concentrate on trying to wiggle my toes and fingers.

 

Edited August 4, 2019 by Orphalesion

[the13bats]

9 hours ago, LaMotte410 said:

I don't know what i seen it didnt have any features other than it blocked out the light in the hallway like it was solid and when it was on top of me it was very heavy but not heavy enough to keep me from moving . When my wife woke up she was asking me what happened as she was getting out of bed to use the bathroom . i was so shookup and such a mess i could barely get out the words to describe it . this all happened in a flash before i was up searching the house for someone . i have no idea whats going on im not over worked or stressed out about anything . ive been up all night researching sleep paralysis and have come across different accounts all across the globe about black figures . scientifically i was in a state between sleep and being awake . that explains why no one else seen what i seen or felt the things i did . my question after much reading is why do we all see the same sort of thing if it is sleep paralysis  

Humans are humans.

after learning your wife didnt see anything and this episode started and finished in your mind im convinced its a sleep issue and since it did disrupt yours and your families life i would suggest seeking legitmate professional help.

My wifes ex and their daughter had such issues and he came close a few times to hurting my wife badly, he would wake and in some messed up mind think she was whatever creature or being that he needed to defeat and attack her.

[Rachel1972]

Here in Newfoundland we call that getting hagged.  Its when you think you are awake but really you are asleep.  Then you are having a nightmare and can't wake up.  Sometimes it feels like you are being held down and can't move.  You want to scream but can't.  That's when you had a tiring day maybe over tired.  And when you sleep you believe you are awake.  The nightmare seems so real.  You get paralyzed with fear during your nightmare and can't wake up.  

[Bed of chaos]

As noted by others here, shadow people have been linked to sleep paralysis. Its possible it triggered a panic attack (shortness of breath, heart palpitations) panic attacks (though I don't believe they're actually deadly) mimic symptoms of heart attacks and can be very, very, scary. High blood pressure isn't something anyone should mess around with  (if it  keeps happening) u can go to any pharmacy and buy a bp monitor for 20-40$, good luck.

Edited August 20, 2019 by Bed of chaos