Demonic SP

[Pakman43]

Hey, does anyone on here NOT have SP hallucinations of demons? All of mine are uncontrollably terrifying. I usually see demons from horror movies such as the grudge or the thing from insidious. If I SP with my eyes open they stay open and i see them in my real room. I can hear them breath heavily next to me but they never move. Does anyone know how to make happy hallucinations?

[muskee]

holy f****ck , if that ever happened to me i'll change technique right away :yaoming:

[dutchraptor]

Well usually the SP I have is closely linked to what I expect to have. If I want to get through it happily I just think of the play I want to go and how I will feel there. Try not to focus on the SP and they will dissappear.

[GangsterPanda]

Hey Man, I'm going to tell you the easiest thing to conquer your problems, A sleep mask. As your from canda here's a link to one on amazon Canada, Black Sleep Mask sleeping Eye Shades Eye Blinders--Encourages A Restful Sleep and Leaves You and Your Eyes Feeling Refreshed and Stress-Free: Amazon.ca: Home & Garden And if you still get your hallucinations, it means your dreaming and you can take advantage on that to lucid dream. And if you don't want/ can't wear a sleep mask I suggest contacting a doctor, they will assist you with your SP problems. EDIT: (what dutchRaptor said also works)

[sloth]

well usually the sp i have is closely linked to what i expect to have. If i want to get through it happily i just think of the play i want to go and how i will feel there. Try not to focus on the sp and they will dissappear. what he said.

[Pakman43]

thanks for the tips guys. And on the 'don think about it' note, no matter how hard i will it to be happy and simply ignore the visions they dont go away lately. And even if my eyes are closed, I can still sense the presence of the nightmare. I know that somethings watching me and I can hear it talk or breath over me.

[hassman789]

I do believe people see demons and such in SP is because a) thats usually how people describe it, so you expect it. b) being paralyzed is scary and your mind instantly goes to the worst possible thing. However, I find SP particularly interesting because just imagine if SP was actually a state of mind that allowed you to see the world in it's "raw" form. Sorry for the random blabbing.I don't have any information on how to stop it, but I'd say the two above recommendations would help the most.

[Pakman43]

I do believe people see demons and such in SP is because a) thats usually how people describe it, so you expect it. b) being paralyzed is scary and your mind instantly goes to the worst possible thing. However, I find SP particularly interesting because just imagine if SP was actually a state of mind that allowed you to see the world in it's "raw" form. Sorry for the random blabbing.I don't have any information on how to stop it, but I'd say the two above recommendations would help the most. I completely agree. I know that i get scared and see what i expect to. Thats why i didnt get scared until I heard about how scary it can be. The first time i did it I didnt know what it was. I just felt my body go numb and then i left it on the coach and walke around my house. But now that i know the terror it's capable of I cant help but get scared and lose control.

[GangsterPanda]

@Hassman789 Really? SP is a sleeping disorder (if you experience it regularly without trying) and about 50% of the population experience it once in there lifetime. I know for sure that you don't see the world in raw form because really all that is happening is the paralysation of muscles, to prevent you acting out your dreams. Visual hallucinations are actually rare but they are caused due to the body being in pre-sleep stage. And that's what I hate because if this is the case, which it has proven to be, any form of extraordinary things that can happen or you can do in dreams, well it's all in our heads.

[nina]

Does anyone know how to make happy hallucinations? Yes. I've had many years worth of sleep paralysis experiences...some of them absolutely terrifying...but I now know how to handle them when it happens. It's completely natural for people to have frightening hallucinations during SP, a lot of it has to do with what brain centers are active/inactive at the time and innate fear responses to "predator/prey" type scenarios. Current cognitive psychology research suggests that SP with HH triggers a threat-awareness scan in the brain known as the vigilance system. This process is largely unconscious and normally is responsible for identifying possible threats (“What’s that noise?”) and making quick decisions about our physical safety (“Oh, it’s just the cat.”). But in SP/HH, our eyes are open and we are projecting our dreams into physical space. The combination of sensing and imagining makes the system go a little haywire, causing the vigilance system to stay activated because it cannot clarify exactly what the threat is. “Threat!” the system calls, again and again. This, in turn, makes our fear intensify because a part of the brain responsible for intense emotions, the amygdala, is already heightened in this dream state. So we project images of our worst fears into the room, intensifying our fear even further as the Stranger takes form. It is an escalating fear-vision feedback system that precipitates the apparition beside our bed with its darkened face and evil-feeling presence. We co-create the nightmare without even knowing it. So...back to the question...how to stop the scary SP hallucinations. It's as simple as this: take a scary situation, and make it funny. You don't realize it while you are in SP because you feel so powerless and vulnerable, but you actually DO have control over the hallucinations and you can change them and make them whatever you want. It's just that most people never realize they have control or think to try and change the situation, so they remain afraid. This part takes some creativity. Think of things that you find funny or entertaining and imagine how you could turn a scary situation into something funny. I don't think about this stuff before the SP experience and I tend to just, fly by the seat of my pants when it's happening...but thinking/practicing it beforehand might be helpful as well. If I find myself in SP and see/hear/feel something that could potentially frighten the crap out of me, I say to myself..."make it funny" or "make it safe"...something like that, and my conscious and subconscious mind usually work together to resolve the frightening situation. Here's a few examples... - woke up into sleep paralysis...heard loud humming noises and frightening alien conversation...I knew this was going to turn into one of those "alien abduction" SP incidents...so I told myself that the loud noises had a beat...and I thought that it wasn't aliens but just music...then it transformed into techno music. Last thing I remember I was through the SP and in a lucid dream, dancing around my bedroom to electronic music - I find myself in SP laying in my bed and suddenly feel a large, clawed hand grab my ankle...I knew this was going to turn into one of those incubus/demonic rape dreams...so I told myself that it wasn't a demon, but that one guy that I had a huge crush on. The "being" transformed into the guy I liked and you can probably guess how that ended. (if you struggle to make something funny, try making it sexy) - I hear my closet door creak open...I know this is going to turn into one of those, monster in the closet/intruder type SP experiences...so instead of letting myself become afraid I shout something like, "ok dumb ass closet monster, I know you're in there, you're not very subtle, just freaking come out already and I'll pretend to be scared." The door opens and it's this really funny looking creature and he says in a very silly voice "awh u's caught me...dern ur right, I's sorry."...and he disappeared. I'm sure I could remember more but that's all I have time for right now. Hope that helps! Good luck.

[Pakman43]

Thanks for the tips! I have had some success with the make it sexy technique in the past. Last night I felt like something scary was behind me so I tried to make it into a hot girl, but ended up making the grudge-like demon lick the back of my neck. It was gross and scary. I tried to focus on making it rain in my bedroom to take my mind off of her, but bodies appeared in my rafters and started dripping warm blood onto me instead of rain. I have had a moment where my body fell asleep and I wandered around nightmare free last night though. The only difference is I was sleeping on the coach upstairs with the rest of my family. I think the source of my nightmares is sleeping alone in my cold basement. It's very ominous.

[hassman789]

@Hassman789 Really? SP is a sleeping disorder (if you experience it regularly without trying) and about 50% of the population experience it once in there lifetime. I know for sure that you don't see the world in raw form because really all that is happening is the paralysation of muscles, to prevent you acting out your dreams. Visual hallucinations are actually rare but they are caused due to the body being in pre-sleep stage. And that's what I hate because if this is the case, which it has proven to be, any form of extraordinary things that can happen or you can do in dreams, well it's all in our heads. Yes, I know what sleep paralysis is, and I do not believe that the hallucinations are real, I was just expressing interest in what it seems like to one that does not know how and why it actually happens.

[nina]

Last night I felt like something scary was behind me so I tried to make it into a hot girl, but ended up making the grudge-like demon lick the back of my neck. It was gross and scary. I tried to focus on making it rain in my bedroom to take my mind off of her, but bodies appeared in my rafters and started dripping warm blood onto me instead of rain. Well at least you're aware that you can try to change the situation, a lot of people just lay there and play victim to their hallucinations. One way I've learned to manage things when my head keeps going back to dark/fearful imagery is get really sarcastic with yourself. Like just get really fed up to the point of seeing the ridiculousness in everything, then it becomes almost impossible to stay scared and perpetuate the fearful imagery. "Ohhh...so now there's blood dripping from the rafters. Greaaat. How original! Is that really the best you can do? What is this...a low budget horror flick?" etc... I don't know if it will work the same way for you as it does for me, perhaps each individual needs to find their own "best" way to deal with things inside their own head? Also, I've had a lot of practice with this, so don't get discouraged if you continue to have those sort of hallucinations. Just don't give up trying to change them. I actually think they're quite fun now. I have come to think of them as a challenge, to see what silly coping mechanism I can come up with in those situations. A lot of it has to do with perspective, so just try to approach everything from a positive angle and there won't be much room for fear to take over (easier said than done, I know).

[GangsterPanda]

Yes, I know what sleep paralysis is, and I do not believe that the hallucinations are real, I was just expressing interest in what it seems like to one that does not know how and why it actually happens. Oh, Sorry about that. I know what you mean one time I was watching this program on discovery called 'weird or what' and there was this segment about a guy with Sleep paralysis disorder. He thought that he got abducted every night because of Sleep paralysis, the strange part though is that half way through SP he would enter a dream and think he is on a space craft. Because he has experienced it so much when the doctors told him it was SP, he refused to believe them and still doesn't to this day. That's worrying.

[nina]

Oh, Sorry about that. I know what you mean one time I was watching this program on discovery called 'weird or what' and there was this segment about a guy with Sleep paralysis disorder. He thought that he got abducted every night because of Sleep paralysis, the strange part though is that half way through SP he would enter a dream and think he is on a space craft. Because he has experienced it so much when the doctors told him it was SP, he refused to believe them and still doesn't to this day. That's worrying. We actually had someone from a TV series at one point recruiting people from DV who had experienced "alien abduction" type sleep paralysis. From what I understand, they were going to run a story directly linking claims of alien abduction with sleep paralysis. Since I've experienced alien abduction type sleep paralysis, I think you'd have to be very uneducated, not a critical thinker, easily fooled, etc. to believe that you were truly abducted and not just experiencing a very strange and unfamiliar dream or dreamlike event. Therefore I don't know that they can easily classify and lump all alien abduction, incubus/succubus, and rapture (being visited by angels in the night) type experiences and claims throughout the years into the neat little label of "hypnagogia during SP"...but I also don't want to believe that someone is misinformed or credulous enough to believe that it was a real experience, let alone tens of thousands of people. Maybe there is more to their stories. Or maybe they really are delusional.