Sleep Paralysis

[poliphilo]

I had one of those sleep paralysis dreams last night- and knew- even as I was having it- that I was asleep- and all I needed to do to get out of it was wake up. This didn't stop it from being uniquely awful. The experts say that sleep paralysis accounts for most experiences of incubi and succubi and witches and vampires and abducting aliens- to which I nod my head and say, "Yes, but I've never ever made the mistake of thinking one of these things was anything other than a dream." I was being attacked of course- in this instance by an evil child- a boy with whom I'd been having a peacable conversation only moments earlier. You'd think that finding yourself unable to move would be terrifying enough, but- no- you're also always under attack- and threatened with some kind of violation. I wonder why this is.

Comments

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

If it is evolutionary I can't think why, but it does seem odd that we should scare ourselves silly for no good reason.

Sleep paralysis dreams stand apart from the sleeping brain's ordinary surreal outpourings by virtue of their intensity and their conformity to a strict procedural pattern. The imagery may vary, but the experience of not being able to move, coupled with threatened violation is always the same. Perhaps there's a physiological explanation.