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Wide Awake

 

I don't know if you can amount these experiences to ghosts or entities, but I want to share and find out if anyone has had similar experiences or if anyone may know what is happening.

It began when I was little. I remember loving ghost stories and being spooked (I still do). However, like any kid, I was spooked pretty easily when I was alone. I couldn't walk down the hallway without a light being on. When I would go to bed after my parents, I would turn the lights on in my room first, then backtrack and turn off the lights until I would eventually have to turn it off in my room and leap into my bed with the covers tucked tightly around my neck (I was afraid of vampires and putting the blanket over my head made me feel claustrophobic).

My experiences started sometime around middle school. I would wake up at night for no reason and all I remember is feeling completely petrified with fear. I would have to turn a light until I calmed down enough to go back to sleep. Nothing in particular woke me, no bump in the night, strange noises, I would just feel compelled to wake up.

There was one night in high school I remember very vividly. My room was not very big, I slept in a daybed that lay lengthwise against the wall opposite of the bedroom door. To the right of the bed was a window at ground level and the left was a closet. My desk was to the right of my bed and across the room, next to the door was a large chest of drawers with a very large mirror sitting on top (it was sort of a makeshift vanity). It was a school night and I remember waking up the same way as I described before, but this time I could not move. I could hear and I could feel the air around me, but I could not open my eyes or make any sounds. I was awake, but it was like I was trapped in my own body. I felt like there was something else in the room with me. Not a person, and not really a presence, it was the absence of everything in my room and it was almost like it was watching me.

After what seemed like an eternity I was finally able to force my eyes open and it was like I was trying to shake myself awake from the inside myself. When I opened my eyes and dared to move, I saw what looked like an old man sitting in my desk chair. It was hunched over and had both hands on a cane. It was covered in black and wore a black hat. It wasn't turned towards me, it just sat next to the bed in the chair, but I was petrified, I couldn't move, and it felt like the air was sucked out of the room. Finally I forced myself to move and turned on my lamp, but like any experience or story, there was nothing there.

This was only the beginning. All throughout high school, off and on, I would experience the same feeling. I would wake up in the middle of the night, I could not move, speak, or open my eyes and I felt like a shadow was lurking close. Making myself "wake up" was like trying to pull myself out of this emptiness, out of a hole. When I am in this state I feel this urgency to make myself wake up, like something bad will happen if I don't open my eyes. It always freaks me out, but once I am fully awake and able to move I am fine and able to go back to sleep. This only happens once in a while. It used to only happen when I was sleeping at my parents, but I have experienced this same feeling while studying abroad and when I was at college. Every once in a while (not as often now) I have the same experience.

I have only shared this experience with a couple of people, but I am honestly not sure if it has to do with my body when I sleep or something else. I am curious what other insight people might have or if they think I am completely out of my head.

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Comments about this paranormal experience

The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, mantisshrimp, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

Aggers (2 stories) (30 posts)
 
10 years ago (2014-10-31)
In sleep paralysis you don't have to feel a pressure or see someone sitting on you, everyone will experience it differently.

Now, if you would wake up in the middle of the night, fully mobile and actually see the man that would be a different story.
Fantasyfan96 (1 posts)
 
10 years ago (2014-10-31)
I am new to this site and this is the first story I read after registering and I can't be help but gape, this is just what happens to me too, ever since I was little! I wake up for no reason to other than feeling compelled, but it doesn't happens often, last time was a couple of days ago, woke up 3:00 am and just having the feeling of someone was in my room (which is practically the size of my closet).
sushantkar (16 stories) (533 posts)
 
10 years ago (2014-10-30)
Hello mantisshrimp! In Sleep paralysis, the person in this state feels awake but actually he is asleep. He also gets the feeling of an existence of someone in the room.
You said that you felt the same when you were in your boyfriend's house; I think that you might suffering from an isolated sleep paralysis.
So, I would also reciprocate the same as said by the other posters here.
Although, the above points are only my perception.

Regards
mantisshrimp (1 stories) (2 posts)
 
10 years ago (2014-10-30)
Those I have talked to who have experienced sleep paralysis have described it like the feeling that someone is holding them down. They feel a pressure on their chest and panic because they are unable to move. I've never felt any pressure and I have experienced other things along with this. One was the person sitting in the chair, I was wide awake and was not in the half state you described, but I was so scared to move for a long time. Basically when I was fully awake, the man/thing was sitting in the chair and did not disappear until I turned on my light. Another instance was when I was at my boyfriends house, I woke up the same way (shaking myself awake) and when I finally was fully mobile, I looked up and saw a white face hovering over the doorway of the closet.

I am a very rational person and thought it may be summed up to sleep paralysis, but paired with other experiences, the only way I can describe it is my subconscious waking up my conscious before something (possibly bad) happens.
mares13 (1 posts)
 
10 years ago (2014-10-30)
So my parents used to tell me ghost stories which apparently they always thought were true stories (we're Hispanic and very superstitious) and as I grew up I started to think maybe they're right. I used to have that same annoying feeling a lot. Happened every night for months. They used to tell me, and let's face it they still do, that the feeling came from an unfriendly spirit who was directing their energy onto our bodies making us feel paralyzed. These "spirits" would send their souls to lie on top of ours making it impossible to move, speak, or even open our eyes making us believe we were dreaming. In some instances I would "wake up" and walk around the room and soon enough I would find myself sleeping on my bed. I would try to wake myself up but I couldn't. It's, apparently, on their time. They want you to see something. The spirit isn't always unfriendly. A friend of mine had experience the exact same thing. It was a woman trying to tell her where her body was buried. She notified authorities and she was right. All spirits want peace. Friendly or unfriendly. Whether they want you to leave them alone or they need your help.
elnoraemily (guest)
 
10 years ago (2014-10-30)
I agree with Aggers on this.

It's horrifying, but it's natural. I just experienced it again a few days ago and I could not fall back to sleep, even though I knew what had happened.

Essentially, you are stuck in between a dream and a conscious state. You know you are awake, but your mind and body are not quite on the same page. Your mind can continue dreaming- which is why you cannot move. Your body produces a hormone that freezes you to protect itself while you sleep. You can then see things that should be in your dreams or experience sensations that should not be there.

I would suggest getting a referral to go see a sleep specialist. They may be able to narrow down a cause. It could be as simple as stress to something like a hormone imbalance.
Aggers (2 stories) (30 posts)
+1
10 years ago (2014-10-30)
Hi!
What you're experiencing, I believe is sleep paralysis.
Sometimes, the mind projects the things you'd see in a dream in to reality because it still thinks you're asleep as your body is paralysed.
Nothing to be afraid of even though it's really petrifying.

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