Dreams, nightmares, sleep paralysis, etc.

Forest Nymph

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I had really intense nightmares and sleep paralysis last night.

Since the summer I've been going on a self-guided "haunted tour" of my region which likely affects my mind, but for a few weeks around Halloween I was also watching horror movies (most of which I love because I honestly work out problems or work out anger/fear through them, they don't "stay with me" often in adulthood), and weird documentaries. One documentary of particular note was a newscast from 2014 where three women were in a drunk driving accident after a night out partying, and yes they were guilty, their driver was drunk and even said "we're drunk driving woooooh" (something I wouldn't have done myself even at 18 or 19 but w/e) AND the spectacular reason they made the news was because the survivor recorded the entire thing on her phone. She thought they were having a fun night out so was filming inside the car and so incidentally filmed the crash and moments afterward. I didn't think it bothered me that much, I watched it twice because there was no graphic violence (it was late at night and mostly dark) and all you hear is this woman saying they're drunk driving and that if they die, they know where they're going that night...then they die. It's one of the ******* creepiest things I've ever seen because of that final statement she makes before they skid off the road and start screaming. I wonder if the driver would have been tried for murder if she hadn't died because of it.

ANYWAY...so last night I have this crazy dream where desks are moving in my room like in a horror movie about poltergeists. Except they look like school desks from the college, not like anything actually in my room. The second time it happened in my dream, I was so frightened I tried to yell for my mother (yes my mommy, not one of my roommates or whatever) and the desk, with a mind of its own blocked my bedroom door. I also felt the powerlessness and involuntary mutism of sleep paralysis, so I think I was experiencing sleep paralysis because I was "in my room" in the dream and couldn't move and could barely speak. And people often experience sleep paralysis as "evil" - I always have.

The funny thing is that I thought my mom was in my vegan roommates room. I also think that the school desks blocking my bedroom door could symbolize my dark collegiate experiences this semester standing in the way of my personal life and/or from me "getting on with my life" like school has taken on a mind or importance of its own without me, that is no longer helpful to my greater life. Thus the possessed school chairs are school getting in the way of my real life. Another weird detail of the dream is that the ceiling starting falling in on my head, and when I got up (in the dream) and looked in the mirror, there were chunks of mud in my hair, that reminded me of the Earth around my home when I was a child. Like the ground had fallen on me, or I had emerged from a grave. I also thought I felt mild aftershocks of an earthquake last night before I fell to sleep, so that may have just been an earthquake dream, not sure.

Then I was with my mom in a dead lady's house and the furniture was untouched like a house abandoned for decades, or a room left as a shrine to a dead person, and I was creepy-interested (like I would be when I'm awake) and the mirrors had odd decor. I asked my mother if it was from the 50s or 60s, and she said "from the 1950s."

I also had flashes of the faces of these women from the recorded 2014 car accident, and felt like someone was grabbing my leg. I woke up and was kicking my leg and literally no one was there, not a single soul, I hadn't even kicked my covers off.

These were the scariest dreams I've had in a while even if they don't sound that scary on paper. They really felt haunted. Even the 50s thing is weird, I've become more and more convinced there was a house before my townhouse on the land I'm living, or that "old wood" was used in the construction of my home (common here because of the lumber industry), etc. I've picked up different time periods in different places I've been in this town. In my college dorm when I first moved here it was the 80s, I picked up weird vibes around some of the older housing and realized A LOT of people have committed suicide on my college campus (probably due to the rainy, dark weather and isolation), and once during the summer I was complete sober, and had the flash of a very petite adult woman - maybe 4'11, 90 lbs - in a conservative, dark plaid Victorian dress with a hoop skirt, with dark hair, a candle and her face smashed in and bloody. I've also once had an image of indigenous tribal people running through the woods near my house with knives, AAAAANNND that's what my dreams freak me out so much.

I feel like I'm living in a very haunted place. I find it interesting, but I also need to protect myself, I don't like the idea that evil could "get me." I know how silly and childish that sounds, I don't care, it's how I feel.
 
Yikes! That sounds awful! I have had nightmares that had me waking up in a panic. I only experienced sleep paralysis on 2-3 occasions and not for several years, thankfully. I do remember it being absolutely terrifying.

I used to love scary, horror movies. I could watch them endlessly. As I’ve aged, I can’t watch them anymore. I Especially can’t watch anything with haunting, possession, or the devil. I live on strictly Hallmark type viewings (other than Walking Dead, Stranger Things) lol.

My daughter’s first house that she owned had a bad vibe to me. I would sleep there often when my grandchildren were born and I always woke up in the middle of the night with a strange dark foreboding which always ended up with me having a panic attack. I hadn’t had anxiety issues before that. I was happy when she sold the house. I should say she never felt anything sinister living there.

She then rented for three years. She always felt that the rental was haunted. It’s funny, because while I felt something, it wasn’t threatening at all. I would go into the attic sometimes and I felt like I was communicating with whatever it was. I should say, I don’t really believe in such things as spirits or ghosts. Maybe because the thought of it scares me. Yet there are times when I just “feel” something.

They now have a new home and I’m happy to say it’s very comfortable there. I don’t feel anything when I visit. And that’s perfectly fine with me. :)
 
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I used to love scary, horror movies. I could watch them endlessly. As I’ve aged, I can’t watch them anymore. I Especially can’t watch anything with haunting, possession, or the devil. I live on strictly Hallmark type viewings (other than Walking Dead, Stranger Things) lol.

My daughter’s first house that she owned had a bad vibe to me. I would sleep there often when my grandchildren were born and I always woke up in the middle of the night with a strange dark foreboding which always ended up with me having a panic attack. I hadn’t had anxiety issues before that. I was happy when she sold the house. I should say she never felt anything sinister living there.

She then rented for three years. She always felt that the rental was haunted. It’s funny, because while I felt something, it wasn’t threatening at all. I would go into the attic sometimes and I felt like I was communicating with whatever it was. I should say, I don’t really believe in such things as spirits or ghosts. Maybe because the thought of it scares me. Yet there are times when I just “feel” something.
. :)

That's interesting. I have also noticed that some homes give out bad vibes and others don't. Do you have any idea why you had the sensation of something evil in that home ?:(

I also don't watch horror films or ones about devils etc. The last scary movie that I watched was The Mothman Prophecies and just the thought of that film still scares me, especially if I have to drive somewhere in the middle of the night.

I have no idea of what sleep paralysis is - off to Google. Anyway, it does seem scary. :(
 
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Yikes! That sounds awful! I have had nightmares that had me waking up in a panic. I only experienced sleep paralysis on 2-3 occasions and not for several years, thankfully. I do remember it being absolutely terrifying.

I used to love scary, horror movies. I could watch them endlessly. As I’ve aged, I can’t watch them anymore. I Especially can’t watch anything with haunting, possession, or the devil. I live on strictly Hallmark type viewings (other than Walking Dead, Stranger Things) lol.

My daughter’s first house that she owned had a bad vibe to me. I would sleep there often when my grandchildren were born and I always woke up in the middle of the night with a strange dark foreboding which always ended up with me having a panic attack. I hadn’t had anxiety issues before that. I was happy when she sold the house. I should say she never felt anything sinister living there.

She then rented for three years. She always felt that the rental was haunted. It’s funny, because while I felt something, it wasn’t threatening at all. I would go into the attic sometimes and I felt like I was communicating with whatever it was. I should say, I don’t really believe in such things as spirits or ghosts. Maybe because the thought of it scares me. Yet there are times when I just “feel” something.

They now have a new home and I’m happy to say it’s very comfortable there. I don’t feel anything when I visit. And that’s perfectly fine with me. :)

I definitely have had experiences where I felt that there was a "friendly" or "neutral" presence in a building or house.

I think I'm going to lay off any horror movies, and ESPECIALLY the "real life" or "true crime" for a while.

Last night I slept just fine.
 
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I've only experienced sleep paralysis once...I woke up in my dark bedroom and I could sense a figure hovering over me just out of sight. I could feel it getting closer and I tried to turn my head to see it, tried to get up, tried to scream but I was just stuck in place. I just knew it was creeping over my headboard and about to grab me.
 
I've only experienced sleep paralysis once...I woke up in my dark bedroom and I could sense a figure hovering over me just out of sight. I could feel it getting closer and I tried to turn my head to see it, tried to get up, tried to scream but I was just stuck in place. I just knew it was creeping over my headboard and about to grab me.

Having read an article about SP apparently it's a state in between being asleep and awakening.
I also thought that I had experienced my late pet dog, jumping over my bed whilst I was asleep. This is what she used to do as she would sleep on my bed.
However, I'm positive that it was due to my memories of her doing so, and being in an 'awakening' state.

Moreover, as it wasn't a frightening experience ( I yearn to see her every day) and a happy one, it really didn't bother me. However, I can understand the above as being quite frightening, especially as it always happens in the middle of the night. The latter can prove to be a stressful time for many of us. :confused:
 
Your story about dreams is awesome, I honestly think so.
Nightmares don't happen to me a lot and I hadn't much of them but I see a lot of different dreams at night in general. And actually figured out recently few things about the nightmares.
First thing is that your "real life" and your experience when you're awake influences you in your sleep. Everything can matter -- what you've heard, what read, what you've seen and what you've thought, even what you've planned. And you may even not realize that your dreams somehow, ANYHOW conjoined to your "woked activity".
Secondly, when I was a child, my mom said that I shouldn't eat a lot in late evening, especially when I'm going to sleep, because I'll see nightmares. I've noticed that recently and accidentally, but when your stomach is absolutely full, your sleep really becomes at least uncomfortable.
And the third thing is the environment... Ok, this point may be more complicated, but what I want to say here is that your environment while you sleep matters too. It goes to the air and it's freshness, to the temperature (cold or warm, or too hot, maybe), to the sounds, vibrations, lights and smells, comfort in general... If your sleeping conditions became worth than usual, then it may be the reason. Check up if you sleep enough caus your tired brain may play bad jokes with you cause of it. Is your bad equipment cosy (starting with bad and ending with the nightgown)? Here I saw some reviews on sleeping stuff that may be useful for you.
And in conclusion, I'd like to say that the bad dreams aren't caused by "evil" like abstract power, bad dreams are caused by the heals, comfort and psychological matters. ...By the way, visiting a good and trustworthy psychologist may help you a lot too. But in this case, I can't give you any direction as I hadn't visited any psychologist last few years...
 
I haven't been a full-time student in decades. and I haven't been in a classroom in almost ten years. but still, when I have a bad dream it almost always involves a test or class or paper.

Last night I had a dream where I went to the wrong classroom and then couldn't find the right one. Somewhere along the line, I ended up searching a massive Bed, Bath, And Beyond looking for it.
 
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I haven't been a full-time student in decades. and I haven't been in a classroom in almost ten years. but still, when I have a bad dream it almost always involves a test or class or paper.

Last night I had a dream where I went to the wrong classroom and then couldn't find the right one. Somewhere along the line, I ended up searching a massive Bed, Bath, And Beyond looking for it.
My nightmares seem to revolve around some major disaster happening to my house - massive landslide, or the roof collapsing during a major storm - stuff of that nature. Something that if it happened, I wouldn't be able to financially recover from. Thing is, I've experienced things like this to a degree, and each time it was terrifying in the moment. .... Next year I'll be selling my house - it's a pretty big deal to me, as it's been in the family for 3 generations - but it's old, and too much for me. It's in major need of many repairs I'll never be able to afford. And I'm basically cash-poor and if something else were to happen, I'd be SOL. In many respects, it will be a huge relief and I'm excited about what do to afterwards, or where to go - I still have no real idea yet.
 
I haven't been a full-time student in decades. and I haven't been in a classroom in almost ten years. but still, when I have a bad dream it almost always involves a test or class or paper.

Last night I had a dream where I went to the wrong classroom and then couldn't find the right one. Somewhere along the line, I ended up searching a massive Bed, Bath, And Beyond looking for it.


I can relate to the test taking or lost in a department store kinds of dreams. Before I went back to college I would constantly dream I was afraid that I would not graduate high school (except in real life I graduated on time and with ok grades, and these dreams persisted until I had an Associate's Degree). I think these are common anxiety dreams, in my case maybe related to where I thought I "should be" in life.

Sleep paralysis is so much worse though. At least in my experience. It literally feels evil, like there's a dark presence in the room OR you simply can't move or speak (like trying to call for mom or for help but your mouth won't move).

Recently I had a nightmare I was in a car. A big van or something. The driver ran over a person and the person cried to stop, and for help. In the dream I ran away and felt guilty I was even in the van though I couldn't help the person and wasn't the driver. When I woke up I had the evil feeling like someone was in the room. It was in the past week. That may have been because of finals, I don't know.