Sleep Paralysis

Okay...lets take a sharp turn left here - hangggg on tight.

I was was at work yesterday...supposed to be working but instead I was talking to my co-workers about sleep paralysis. This is something I do NOT suffer from. I am just an insomniac. But, like at least 4 of my co-workers suffer from this crazy phenomenon. And, that just like blew my mind. I am like obsessed with this topic so I thought why not bring it in to the Hank's Lore world.

Google defines sleep paralysis as "Sleep paralysis is a feeling of being conscious but unable to move. It occurs when a person passes between stages of wakefulness and sleep. During these transitions, you may be unable to move or speak for a few seconds up to a few minutes. Some people may also feel pressure or a sense of choking"

A few different podcast's that I listen to have explained that various subcategories of the population experience very similar things which also kind of blew my mind. Some people are said to see a mist, a man in a hat, a woman known as 'the hag', or even creepy creatures. Almost all people cannot move, and have experiences of not being able to breathe.

Some of the stories I have read on this particular topic say when these individuals have an episode of sleep paralysis they will feel awake but will be unable to move. But, they will see someone they are familiar with (their spouse, sibling or even parent) who will look evil and will be trying to harm them. While in this state the person will try to move and fight the evil but they will be unable to. When the episode is over they will fully become awake and realize whatever they experienced did not actually happened.

So, like I said at the beginning of this I was saying that I was talking to some co-workers about this topic and 4 of them said they experienced this in their life.

Some of what they said was (not using names so they don't seem looney tunes - although they are friends with my soooooooo)

"I was awake but couldn't move, but could see big ass spiders crawling all over my wall. Scared the shit out of me"

I am not going to lie I would burn my house down. I am not going to risk it. There is no chance in hell that I will allow giant ass spiders in my house. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

"I just don't sleep - because I experience it."

That right there is a legit fear - can not sleeping make it worse? And having anxiety over what will be seen in your sleep - and not be able to move from - nope count me out.

"I see a old woman"

I can only guess that this is a reference to the Hag. Which is a common sight among those who have sleep paralysis. Which is a crazy phenomenon to me. How do so many people see similar things? Its similar to a shared delusion.

"I'll wake up and see a dark mist out of the corner of my eye come over me. At first I thought it was demonic but then I realized my mind was messing with me."

That one also gets me - and this particular co-worker said his wife experiences the same things that he does. He also says when he takes melatonin to help him sleep his sleep paralysis becomes worse.

I will say that I am not envious of any of these people who experience this terrible phenomenon. Is the person haunted? Is it just the mind playing tricks on them? What causes this? I am sure there are many explanations and "good" reasons for this...but lets look at from a spooky standpoint - what could cause it from a non-scientific standpoint - is a ghosty trying to get ya? Do these people have their own person demon but like literally?

I really hope you liked this one...its a little different than the normal Hank Lore's that I put out. But, I enjoyed this topic. Let me know if you experience sleep paralysis and what happens to you in the comments.

Creep it Real.

XOXO

HANK