Sleep Paralysis

OMG!! I'm so glad you've written about this!!!! I had a sleep paralysis attack last night. I was having something similar to waking up in the middle of the night for a long time, but last night I was hopeless - I woke up numb and paralysed and could not move and I even felt a 'presence' in my room - it was as if I was still dreaming but wide awake - it was not a nice feeling at all, and I spent all day worrying about it. I had a talk with a friend and he told me that its normal and that anyone who claims to have been abducted by aliens, frankly, has gone through the same phenonmenon. Please, tell me more about it, because, I'm horrified and shocked at having experienced this. I'm googling around a bit for more info.

How often does it happen? It usually happens to perfectly healthy adults at least once during their lives. It can happen multiple times without there being any serious medical problems to worry about. I've had 2 sleep paralysis episodes myself, at 19. If it happen VERY OFTEN, as if a week doesn't go by where it doesn't happen... then you should probably talk to your doctor about it. They'll know better than we will. If it has only happened a few times recently, then I would wait to see if the pattern continues. Like I said, it happens to a large number of perfectly healthy people. It's not necessarily a horribly bad thing that it's happening to you too.