# I'm Afraid to go to Sleep Tonight **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 23, 2011, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-afraid-to-go-to-sleep-tonight/575698 "2011-03-23T06:42:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-afraid-to-go-to-sleep-tonight/575698/21 "2011-03-23T18:31:01Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > I tend to have nested dreams where I’m doing something and I think I’m actually doing it, but I’m just asleep. It’s kind of hard to define. I’ll dream that I’m masturbating in the bed where I’m sleeping, but I will think it’s actually happening and I’m actually doing it. Then I will wake up and realize oh, I wasn’t actually doing it but I’ll start now. Then I wake up and realize I wasn’t doing it, it was just a dream, and I wake up from that and try again… like 5 or 6 different layers of dreaming sometimes. Until finally I wake up and I have no idea if this is really fucking reality or not. Wow. I had that exact experience 3 or 4 nights ago. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-afraid-to-go-to-sleep-tonight/575698/22 "2011-03-23T18:44:53Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > I used to wake up paralyzed every single morning (and frequently in the night) for a few years in my late teens / early 20s. Luckily the murdering psychopath only hovered over me every couple months or so. I eventually learned to concentrate every ounce of my willpower on wiggling the tip of one finger. Once I could get that going, I could move up to a whole finger, then my hand, and then my arm. Then I could throw my arm over and move my whole body, which would wake it up. It was awful. Looking back, I should’ve been beating down walls for a solution, but I just accepted it. I do the same thing. I find something like a finger that isn’t paralyzed and wiggle it. I’ve learned over time there are some back muscles that usually work so I rock myself awake. As far as dreams are concerned, I’ve learned that certain dreams mean something and I know to wake myself up. If it’s a violent dream it means I’m getting a migraine. If it’s a claustrophobic dream it means I’m having trouble breathing. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-afraid-to-go-to-sleep-tonight/575698/23 "2011-03-23T19:16:17Z")
[Cecil’s 1985 article on sleep paralysis](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/596/what-causes-sleep-paralysis). ---
**Author:** ![expectopatronum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/expectopatronum/32/173_2.png) [@expectopatronum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/expectopatronum)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-afraid-to-go-to-sleep-tonight/575698/24 "2011-03-23T20:12:17Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Wow. I had that exact experience 3 or 4 nights ago. i had similar happen recently. i had a really horrifying dream, that i don’t even want to share the details of, and i “woke up” about three times within the dream and it kept happening over and over. finally i woke up for real and had a hell of a time going back to sleep because i was afraid it was going to happen again. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-afraid-to-go-to-sleep-tonight/575698/25 "2011-03-23T21:04:20Z")
> [@TravisFromOR](#): > > …I’d awaken to a very tall man with wild hair, wearing a windbreaker standing over my bed… Hmm. So, not [this guy](http://s-ak.buzzfed.com/static/imagebuzz/terminal01/2009/10/14/10/have-you-seen-this-man-in-your-dreams-17877-1255531498-7.jpg), huh? ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-afraid-to-go-to-sleep-tonight/575698/26 "2011-03-23T21:29:45Z")
For several years after my mother died, I would have bad dreams about her. She wasn’t a pleasant person. Finally, I heard of ‘directed dreaming’, which works well with recurring nightmares. If you practice enough, prior to going to sleep every night, you can actually _guide_ the course of your dreams. The next time my mother showed up in a dream, being hyper-critical and bitchy, I used the technique; _in the dream_ I said to her “Mom, you’re dead; you have to go back now. This is _my_ dream, and I get to say who’s allowed in it”. That was pretty much the last bad dream I had about my mother. So, you can practice with this. . .guy, or apparition, or whatever. You can practice saying to him “I don’t want you here, and I’m not going to allow you to be here, so you have to leave now”. You wouldn’t believe how empowering this is! ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-afraid-to-go-to-sleep-tonight/575698/27 "2011-03-23T22:23:09Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > For several years after my mother died, I would have bad dreams about her. She wasn’t a pleasant person. > Finally, I heard of ‘directed dreaming’, which works well with recurring nightmares. If you practice enough, prior to going to sleep every night, you can actually _guide_ the course of your dreams. The next time my mother showed up in a dream, being hyper-critical and bitchy, I used the technique; _in the dream_ I said to her “Mom, you’re dead; you have to go back now. This is _my_ dream, and I get to say who’s allowed in it”. That was pretty much the last bad dream I had about my mother. > > So, you can practice with this. . .guy, or apparition, or whatever. You can practice saying to him “I don’t want you here, and I’m not going to allow you to be here, so you have to leave now”. > > You wouldn’t believe how empowering this is! Roadblocks: -I never knew I was dreaming when this happened -I was paralyzed, which included my voice It really is one of the most terrifying experiences a person can have without being in any real danger, I think. ---
**Author:** ![TravisFromOR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cc9497/32.png) [@TravisFromOR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TravisFromOR)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-afraid-to-go-to-sleep-tonight/575698/28 "2011-03-23T22:29:21Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Roadblocks: > > -I never knew I was dreaming when this happened > > -I was paralyzed, which included my voice > > It really is one of the most terrifying experiences a person can have without being in any real danger, I think. It is. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-afraid-to-go-to-sleep-tonight/575698/29 "2011-03-24T00:37:53Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > **Travis** , do you have any overdue library books? If so, I suggest you take them back pronto. 😛 Maybe he’s the Thistle-Haired Man from “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell” in an updated jacket. Don’t go with him to his castle, no matter what!!! ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-afraid-to-go-to-sleep-tonight/575698/30 "2011-03-24T01:34:42Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Roadblocks: > > -I never knew I was dreaming when this happened > > -I was paralyzed, which included my voice > > It really is one of the most terrifying experiences a person can have without being in any real danger, I think. I will grant that I was posting about nightmares in general, not sleep paralysis, which, to the best of my knowledge, I’ve never experienced. Anyone who _does_ experience this, I can certainly understand the horror, and you have my sympathies! ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-afraid-to-go-to-sleep-tonight/575698/31 "2011-03-24T01:40:07Z")
> [@Darth\_Nader](#): > > On the bright side, it’s good to know that [BOB](http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=s&tbs=isch:1&q=twin+peaks+bob&revid=721612465&sa=X&ei=ovuJTYzLOIautwe28djoDQ&ved=0CDMQ1QIoAA&biw=1366&bih=615) is still getting the job done… Now now, Bob has changed quite a bit… …since he learned about Enzyte. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-afraid-to-go-to-sleep-tonight/575698/32 "2011-03-24T02:37:18Z")
I’m pretty sure he had [plenty](http://www.poetv.com/video.php?vid=36056). ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-afraid-to-go-to-sleep-tonight/575698/33 "2011-03-24T02:45:04Z")
Also, I get the sleep paralysis thing whenever my sleep schedule gets messed up. Falling asleep with the lights on is a big trigger. BOB doesn’t show up, at least. I just get to look at the wall for a few minutes while I try to thrash around and wake my body up. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-afraid-to-go-to-sleep-tonight/575698/34 "2011-03-24T02:50:59Z")
> [@TravisFromOR](#): > > It is. I can remember sleep paralysis back to the age of 2 and it never bothered except when I was wadded up in the sheets and getting smothered. Now THAT bothered me. I knew I could wriggle into non-paralysis but the interim time seemed forever. Doesn’t help being claustrophobic. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-afraid-to-go-to-sleep-tonight/575698/35 "2011-03-24T15:43:14Z")
I’ve had the sleep paralysis on waking a few times, and I’m always terrified that someone will come along and put something over my face, or my sinuses will stop up, and I’ll suffocate. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-afraid-to-go-to-sleep-tonight/575698/36 "2011-03-24T18:11:41Z")
We interrupt your regularly scheduled thread for this hijack: Every time I see this thread in MPSIMS, in my head I start singing: “A-weem-a-way, a-weem-a-way, a-weem-a-way, a-weem-a-way…” Carry on! ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-afraid-to-go-to-sleep-tonight/575698/37 "2011-03-25T00:13:12Z")
> [@TravisFromOR](#): > > When I was a wee child, from the ages of about six to eightish, I’d have these intense, very realistic nightmares. I’d awaken to a very tall man with wild hair, wearing a windbreaker standing over my bed. It’s probably [this guy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lxsMHeOGjE&feature=player_profilepage#t=18s) ([youtube.com](http://youtube.com)) ---
**Author:** ![gladtobeblazed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@gladtobeblazed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gladtobeblazed)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-afraid-to-go-to-sleep-tonight/575698/38 "2011-03-25T02:14:48Z")
I actually like my sleep paralysis hallucinations. I usually see a glowing disco ball type thing floating around, making my head buzz with a low frequency hum. It’s very psychedelic and kind of cool. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-afraid-to-go-to-sleep-tonight/575698/39 "2011-03-25T02:17:32Z")
This to me really explains demons and everything else. I mean, it affects something like 30% of people! I was so relieved to find out what it was. Tips that help - Get the right amount of rest - Plenty of potassium - No naps - Take an ibuprofen; this helps me sometimes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-afraid-to-go-to-sleep-tonight/575698.md?page=1)