sleep paralysis
Conscious but frozen
Sleep paralysis is a temporary inability to move or speak while falling asleep or waking up.
The experience typically lasts seconds to a few minutes and often includes a sense of pressure on the chest and vivid hallucinations—shadowy figures, intruders, or supernatural presences.
Though terrifying, it's harmless and fairly common: I woke up in sleep paralysis and couldn't scream.
Neurological excessive drowsiness condition
- hallucinationsPerceptions without external cause
- cataplexyEmotion-induced muscle paralysis
- neurologicalOf the nervous system
- insomniaPersistent inability to rest
hypersomnia · circadian rhythm · atonia · parasomnia · EEG · brain activity
Dark indistinct human shape
- intruderUnauthorized person present
- presenceState of being somewhere
- demonMalevolent supernatural being
- old hagUgly elderly woman
incubus · succubus · apparition · specter · djinn · mare · phantom · visual hallucination
Extreme, overwhelming fear
- dreadIntense anticipatory fear
- panicUncontrollable sudden fear
- helplessnessLacking ability to cope
- suffocationFatal lack of air
chest pressure · frozen · immobilized · trapped · breathlessness · powerlessness · vulnerability · disorientation
Dream-crushing evil spirit
- mareFemale adult equine
- nightmareFrightening dream causing wakefulness
- possessionState of owning
- supernaturalBeyond natural explanation
haunting · visitation · evil spirit · witchcraft · curse
Point of beginning
- twilight statePartial consciousness between alertness
- half-awakePartially roused from sleep
- semiconsciousPartially aware, partially not
- liminalityTransitional ambiguity between phases
drowsiness · grogginess · dozing · lucid · somnolent · stupor · transitional · dissociation
narcolepsy
Neurological excessive drowsiness condition
- hallucinationsPerceptions without external cause
- cataplexyEmotion-induced muscle paralysis
- neurologicalOf the nervous system
insomnia · hypersomnia · circadian rhythm · atonia · parasomnia · EEG · brain activity
shadow figure
Dark indistinct human shape
- intruderUnauthorized person present
- presenceState of being somewhere
- demonMalevolent supernatural being
old hag · incubus · succubus · apparition · specter · djinn · mare · phantom · visual hallucination · auditory hallucination
terror
Extreme, overwhelming fear
- dreadIntense anticipatory fear
- panicUncontrollable sudden fear
- helplessnessLacking ability to cope
suffocation · chest pressure · frozen · immobilized · trapped · breathlessness · powerlessness · vulnerability · disorientation · confusion
night hag
Dream-crushing evil spirit
- mareFemale adult equine
- nightmareFrightening dream causing wakefulness
- possessionState of owning
supernatural · haunting · visitation · evil spirit · witchcraft · curse
threshold
Point of beginning
- twilight statePartial consciousness between alertness
- half-awakePartially roused from sleep
- semiconsciousPartially aware, partially not
liminality · drowsiness · grogginess · dozing · lucid · somnolent · stupor · transitional · dissociation
- sleepnap, doze, slumber, naps, snooze
- dreamsnightmare, dreaming, daydream, nightmares, dreams
- sleep problemsinsomnia, night terrors, hypersomnia, nightmares, restless legs
- altered statestrance, altered states, hallucination, altered perception, consciousness expansion
- consciousness statesunconscious, conscious, awake, alert, wakefulness
- neurological symptomsnumbness, tremor, aphasia, ataxia, weakness
sleep paralysissleepwalking
Ambulatory behavior during slumber
somnambulism · sleep talking · automatism · sleep eating · restless legs syndrome
sleep paralysisfree movement
Unrestricted ability to travel
bodily autonomy · motor control · wakefulness · lucid dreaming
sleep, sleepy, sleeping, slept, sleeper, sleeps, sleepiness, sleepless, paralyzed