Sleep Disorders: What Does Sleep Paralysis Feel Like?

One afternoon during my freshman year of college, I was lying in my dorm room bed trying to nap. I was on my back, with my left arm stretched out palm up. In her bed opposite mine, my roommate had already beaten me to sleep. I lay there, cursing my usual insomnia, when suddenly things didn’t seem right.

My body felt heavy, stiff, in a word: paralyzed. I tried to pull my arm back, and found I couldn’t move it. My face was aimed at my roommate’s bed and I could not turn my head any other way. I heard the rushing of white noise in my ears. My eyes were closed, and then above the noise I could hear what I assumed to be my roommate talking. The words seemed incoherent and somehow…creepy. I opened my eyes with tremendous effort – they felt cemented shut. Once I forced them open, I could see my roommate peacefully slumbering away. The talking had stopped.

Unable to keep my eyelids open any longer, I let them close. The voice began again. I couldn’t speak or sit up, so I forced myself to look once more. Again, my roommate was fast asleep in silence. For a few minutes this went on; I grew more and more upset with each cycle.

While looking confusedly at the only view my locked muscles allowed, the door to my room opened a bit - I saw it in my peripheral vision. Unable to turn and look, I strained to follow the movement with my eyes. To my horror, something slinked into the room. It was dark-colored and creeping facedown across the floor.

My heart was racing wildly. My rational mind screamed that I must have been dreaming, but it felt very real. I couldn’t see what the creature was or where it had gone. Immobilized in my supine position, I was powerless to defend myself. Without warning, it leapt from the floor and sat on my chest, suffocating me.   I couldn't even call out for help.

Then suddenly my muscles were free. I was in bed, heart racing. Everything seemed as it had been when I laid down. My roommate was still asleep, and I was…awake.