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Author Topic: Night terrors  (Read 10048 times)

Meistermoxx

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Night terrors
« on: July 25, 2012, 10:32:20 am »

Hey, community.

About a year/half a year ago, i had a night terror where i was in my bed, i could look around but i was completely paralyzed, and i couldn't speak.

Then this >2 meters tall, dark, being appears, with glowing red eyes and a cloak like a nazgul or something.
It stands next to my bed, about half a meter from me, staring intensely at me.
I get an incredibly intense feeling of this being's intent on killing me or something...

It was all very real and very terrifying, almost more real than being "properly" awake during the day.
Then i prayed to God,that he would save me, and that made "it" disappear.

Now, i could go on, but i want to hear about you people experience's with this, and how you dealt with it.

This phenomenon might very well have sparked the myth about the grim reaper.



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Svarte Troner

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Re: Night terrors
« Reply #1 on: July 25, 2012, 11:00:45 am »

Sleep paralysis does this to you. I think that's where people get the idea that they've been abducted by aliens/reptilians/2 meter tall dark nazgul beings.

edit: Wikipedia says that sleep paralysis is usually accompanied by terrifying hallucinations and an acute sense of danger.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis

I personally have never experienced this, but it must be awful.
« Last Edit: July 25, 2012, 11:06:21 am by Svarte Troner »
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Il Palazzo

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Re: Night terrors
« Reply #2 on: July 25, 2012, 11:14:06 am »

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G-Flex

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Re: Night terrors
« Reply #3 on: July 25, 2012, 11:19:08 am »

Yeah, that's more sleep paralysis than a night terror. I've had those plenty of times, and they're scary as hell because you're still in that dream state where you might be hallucinating and your weird thoughts/emotions feel incredibly believable. My interpretation of it is that you're basically partly still in REM sleep and partly awake at the same time, leading to those effects (during REM sleep dreams and paralysis are totally normal).

I don't know that there's much you can do about it, but it might at least help to understand the phenomenon so you understand what's going on a bit more when it happens. When it's happened to me, I've tried to force myself awake, but that tends to be pretty difficult.
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Ultimuh

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Re: Night terrors
« Reply #4 on: July 25, 2012, 11:28:50 am »

I think I have experienced this before..
There were three of them, and they were stealing all my precious videogames! D:

Fortunaly, I came to my senses and everything was fine.
« Last Edit: July 25, 2012, 11:47:08 am by Ultimuh »
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jetex1911

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Re: Night terrors
« Reply #5 on: July 25, 2012, 11:46:39 am »

One time I had sleep paralysis, all I had was a sense that I was going to die soon, no hallucinations.  My brother didn't even notice my predicament! D:<
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Svarte Troner

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Re: Night terrors
« Reply #6 on: July 25, 2012, 12:08:58 pm »

There was one time I may have had sleep paralysis, but there were no Nazguls or anything, instead I was lying there with my eyes closed, feeling like the room around me was getting bigger. I had my eyes closed mind you, but I could feel as if the room was getting bigger. Then I felt like my covers or something was pinning me against the bed, I couldn't move and I felt really strange. I think maybe I woke up crying or something... That was a long time ago though.
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i2amroy

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Re: Night terrors
« Reply #7 on: July 25, 2012, 12:36:59 pm »

While I have personally never experienced night terrors myself, I have had friends who have experienced it before, as well as having read several other people's accounts. This was one of the ways of helping yourself that I have heard.

Because night terrors tap into your REM sleep similar to the way that a dream does, it's actually somewhat possible to control them in a similar method to lucid dreaming, though since your awake it is simultaneously easier and harder to do. Basically the advice that I've gathered is that thinking happy or hopeful thoughts (such as your calling out to god would have instilled) is the best defense against them and can help to stop them in their tracks. Though the "think happy thoughts" defense doesn't hold up very well in many real world situations, the battlefield of dreams and night terrors is one that it excels in. Also another thing is to learn to recognize and focus on the real parts of your terrors, (such as the room you are in) while trying to focus as little as possible on the unreal parts, (such as dark beings that suddenly appear).

Lastly something that my friend said was helpful for him was taking 10-15 minutes before going to bed and just relaxing, meditating, or focusing on the good parts of their life. In general he found that the less stressed out/bad thought thinking that he was before bed, the less likely he was to suffer from night terrors or bad dreams in general.
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Meistermoxx

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Re: Night terrors
« Reply #8 on: July 25, 2012, 12:40:05 pm »

Lastly something that my friend said was helpful for him was taking 10-15 minutes before going to bed and just relaxing, meditating, or focusing on the good parts of their life. In general he found that the less stressed out/bad thought thinking that he was before bed, the less likely he was to suffer from night terrors or bad dreams in general.
This, i guess :D.
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LordBucket

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Re: Night terrors
« Reply #9 on: July 26, 2012, 02:52:27 am »

i want to hear about you people experience's with this, and how you dealt with it.

Problem is that there are several experiences associated with the description you've provided. The "sleep paralysis" itself is a normal part of the sleep cycle. However, if one becomes aware during this time there tend to be altered states of consciousness involved. Much like dreaming. You probably do it all the time, but don't always remember it.

Quote
>2 meters tall, dark, being
glowing red eyes
cloak
incredibly intense feeling of this being's intent

That particular description does not well match anything in my remembered experience. However, a google search for "sleep paralysis glowing eyes" generates 137,000 results.

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this being's intent on killing me or something.

Generally no. More like "feeding" or "implanting subconscious scripts."

Quote
how you dealt with it

Again, the sleep paralysis itself is not a problem to be dealt with any more than rapid eye movement. It is an entirely normal state. It is also, incidentally, relatively easy to induce out of body experiences from that state. If you're feeling adventurous, next time it happens, perceive your "self" as a separate and distinct entity from your physical body, reach out with your arms to "grab" onto something in the room and pull yourself out of your body.

If having an OOBE is not appealing to you, it is possible to exit the state simply by reasserting focus onto your body. Try to move, in exactly the way you would move as if your focus were in your phsyical body. This will tend to put you back, though it may take some effort.

As for the entity, I have found refusal to cooperate or submit to generally be effective. Don't run, don't be afraid...face it and tell it no. Don't make it a challenge to be met or a game to be played. Mean no and be willing to act on it. Don't be surprised if there is resistence. Or if the experiences become much more unpleasant in the short term while they fight to retain control of you. Alternately, the chant "au-ma-la" can be helpful. And, as you yourself pointed out, prayer for help and/or protection can also be effective.

weenog

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Re: Night terrors
« Reply #10 on: July 26, 2012, 05:58:15 am »

When confronted with a monster, hit on it.  Seriously, make a pass at it.  Either the creature becomes uneasy at your forwardness and backs off, it's receptive and you get monster action, you deflate the situation and shock yourself back to reality with the sheer absurdity of it, or the creature is unimpressed by your advance but you're no more doomed than you were before you tried.
« Last Edit: July 26, 2012, 06:00:22 am by weenog »
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IronyOwl

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Re: Night terrors
« Reply #11 on: July 26, 2012, 06:07:46 am »

So, my takeaway from this thread is that now I want to generate and then seduce nazguls. It's probably a good thing that I haven't got the dedication to pull this off.
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Meistermoxx

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Re: Night terrors
« Reply #12 on: July 26, 2012, 08:16:45 am »

If you're feeling adventurous, next time it happens, perceive your "self" as a separate and distinct entity from your physical body, reach out with your arms to "grab" onto something in the room and pull yourself out of your body.
If having an OOBE is not appealing to you, it is possible to exit the state simply by reasserting focus onto your body. Try to move, in exactly the way you would move as if your focus were in your phsyical body. This will tend to put you back, though it may take some effort.
Having researched this phenomenon a bit, i would prefer to keep my soul inside my body.
Wouldn't want something to see it as an invitation. ;)

As for the entity, I have found refusal to cooperate or submit to generally be effective. Alternately, the chant "au-ma-la" can be helpful. And, as you yourself pointed out, prayer for help and/or protection can also be effective.
Being a christian, i wouldn't want to submit to anything other than Jesus Christ. When i found out more about this, it seemed logical to me that it is not just something your brain makes up, but something far more sinister.
I think ill avoid the whole, chanting hindu/new age, and stick with Christ.

Im really happy for having found this forum, theres room for everyone. :)
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Supercharazad

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Re: Night terrors
« Reply #13 on: July 26, 2012, 08:30:36 am »

Trust me on this:

The paralyzation is chemicles in your brain that are outputted normally during REM (deep) sleep to stop you sleepwalking and generally keep you safe during dreams. It's not the powers of evil holding you down.
The random guy you see is you dreaming while being awake, if that makes sense. You're awake, but your brain is still dreaming and causing hallucinations. It's not a demon trying to eat your soul.

Also, chanting is neither Hindu nor New Age, it's just a basic technique to calm you down and get you to focus on something other than the weird hallucinations.

Also, with that OOBE thing Bucket mentioned? That's not your soul leaving, that's you going into a thing called lucid dreaming, and it means you know you're in a dream so you can control it. That means if you so choose, you can do that and then walk up to the thing and punch it in the face and it won't be able to fight back unless you allow it to.
« Last Edit: July 26, 2012, 08:33:25 am by Supercharazad »
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G-Flex

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Re: Night terrors
« Reply #14 on: July 26, 2012, 09:14:09 am »

Yeah, I have absolutely no idea what's inherently religious, new age, or unchristian about meditative chanting.
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