More sleep-related tales
I had a very bizarre and slightly disturbing thing happen to me yesterday night before I fell asleep. As I was drifting off I suddenly became aware of a strange buzzing around me - I can't really call it a noise, because though I could hear it, it didn't feel like it was being picked up by my ears, but kind of surrounding me, the feeling of the sound/sensation akin to pins and needles, and yet not a somatic sensation. I use the words "became aware of" because it didn't feel to me like it was of an acute onset, but rather something that grew until it reached a sufficient level of being that it could register on my pre-somnolent consciousness. And even as I was made aware of this buzzing, I felt like my mind could not process what was happening, as if it was trapped and moving very slowly. I seemed to feel a presence behind me, because I was sleeping on my front, and I wanted to turn around, but I couldn't. This was when I started feeling a bit alarmed, but I was not afraid for some reason. My heart rate remained as it was, perhaps speeding up a little, but definitely not becoming tachycardic, and my breaths came evenly though I felt a little short of breath. I struggled to wriggle my toes, to move my arms, but they would not respond, and my mind continued to struggle sluggishly through its prison of impulse-retarding treacle to effect some kind of action. Finally, my foot twitched, and as if that was a key to some mysterious door, the buzzing disappeared and I was able to move again, and I was now fully conscious.
I relaxed, but as I tried to fall asleep again, this repeated itself. And after moving my hand this time, after much difficulty, and dispelling the strange sensation, I turned to another position, only to have it happen again. At this point in time I became increasingly worried and yet for some reason my mind felt detached from the whole situation, as if my higher logical functions were registering this as something surreal, almost as if I was experiencing a dream. But I'm very sure it was not a dream. Part of me considered if I should just get out of bed and call my parents, but another part kept saying, "It's nothing. It will stop. Just go to sleep."
But it continued to happen, and this time, the fourth or fifth episode, I tried to call out, or perhaps I was trying to say a prayer, something to acknowledge this as within the realm of the paranormal and not just some trick of my nerves or mind. My eyes could not open, and after my greatest efforts I made some noises, "Maar-gaaah-nerrh", not at all what I intended to say. The sensation dissipated and I trembled in my bed, wondering what on earth this could be. Part of me refused to believe that it was anything to be worried about, and another wanted to run into my parents' room. I was still floating in the grogginess of pre-sleep, and as I lay there debating what to do, my arguments growing weaker and less coherent, I drifted into slumber.
The strange sensation never happened again.
Was it some kind of ultra-real dream? A hypnagogic hallucination seems like a plausible explanation, and as I now read the article on Wikipedia, there is a section on sleep paralysis, that sounds a lot like what I experienced. It calms me somewhat to think it was probably just that and nothing paranormal in nature, but it's the first time something like this has happened to me, and part of me feels rather unsettled by the whole experience.
I relaxed, but as I tried to fall asleep again, this repeated itself. And after moving my hand this time, after much difficulty, and dispelling the strange sensation, I turned to another position, only to have it happen again. At this point in time I became increasingly worried and yet for some reason my mind felt detached from the whole situation, as if my higher logical functions were registering this as something surreal, almost as if I was experiencing a dream. But I'm very sure it was not a dream. Part of me considered if I should just get out of bed and call my parents, but another part kept saying, "It's nothing. It will stop. Just go to sleep."
But it continued to happen, and this time, the fourth or fifth episode, I tried to call out, or perhaps I was trying to say a prayer, something to acknowledge this as within the realm of the paranormal and not just some trick of my nerves or mind. My eyes could not open, and after my greatest efforts I made some noises, "Maar-gaaah-nerrh", not at all what I intended to say. The sensation dissipated and I trembled in my bed, wondering what on earth this could be. Part of me refused to believe that it was anything to be worried about, and another wanted to run into my parents' room. I was still floating in the grogginess of pre-sleep, and as I lay there debating what to do, my arguments growing weaker and less coherent, I drifted into slumber.
The strange sensation never happened again.
Was it some kind of ultra-real dream? A hypnagogic hallucination seems like a plausible explanation, and as I now read the article on Wikipedia, there is a section on sleep paralysis, that sounds a lot like what I experienced. It calms me somewhat to think it was probably just that and nothing paranormal in nature, but it's the first time something like this has happened to me, and part of me feels rather unsettled by the whole experience.