How to Trigger Sleep Paralysis

In a certain online forum thread, discussion about sleep paralysis was heating up. The thread starter has never experienced sleep paralysis and wants to know the conditions that cause it.

I’ve never experienced sleep paralysis even once, what conditions trigger it? I’d kind of like to experience it at least once. Is it actually rare NOT to get sleep paralysis?

• [2]I think I had it once but I don’t know what caused it. When they say your body is asleep but your brain is awake, that doesn’t make any sense to me.
• [3]I’ve had it before, but my guess is that it’s related to sleep apnea.
• [4]It happened to me when I was between wakefulness and sleep.
• [5]It happens when I’m extremely tired.
• [7]I had it just once. I think it happened when I wasn’t in deep sleep.
• [10]I feel like it happens more easily when I’m tired but need to wake up early.
• [11]I get it often. When fear kicks in, my body becomes immobile.
• [13]I heard something about your head being awake while your body remains in sleep mode.

As more and more sleep paralysis experiences are shared, the thread starter asks another question.

Is it a structural issue with the body?

• [15]Sleep on your back.
• [17]When I was in middle school, it happened frequently, but if I went “ORYAAA!” I could usually move.
• [18]I experienced it when I was extremely tired and when I had a fever over 39°C (102°F).
• [20]A ninja in my neighborhood said “KAAAA” to me and then it happened.
• [21]I get it. Body won’t move, but if I go “UOOOOO” it starts moving.
• [22]When I was in elementary school, I played baseball (not very well), and because of not-so-good seniors, I was made to move excessively. When I got home, I collapsed into bed. In the middle of the night, I could only move my eyes but not my body… There was this “JAMI JAMI” noise constantly, I was sweating, and it was scary. When I woke up after passing out, I was surprised at how light my body felt and how my dynamic vision had improved tremendously.
• [23]If you stay up late, get really tired, and sleep on your back, it happens with high probability.
• [24]This is exactly what happens to me. Stress might have been a factor too. You really can’t move at all. It might have been a dream.
• [26]It’s a brain bug in determining whether you’re awake or asleep.

As various experiences are shared, the thread starter wonders why they’ve never experienced sleep paralysis despite often being tired.

I’ve been extremely tired plenty of times, but I’ve never had sleep paralysis even once.

• [29]When you’re tired, your sleep gets deeper. Maybe you need to be tired but also unable to sleep due to stress or something for the conditions to align?
• [30]Once you get used to it, it becomes annoying so you just go back to sleep.
• [31]If you sleep with your arms slightly spread and palms facing up, it’s more likely to happen.
• [32]It happens to me very rarely, but it’s scary. You’re dreaming but your sensations feel real, so it feels like there are people around you, but you can’t move your body. Scary.
• [34]I had it once when I was super tired and in the bath. I was sitting and suddenly realized my head was clearly conscious but my body wouldn’t move! I thought, “This is sleep paralysis!”
• [37]As I was about to roll over while dozing off, I couldn’t move and thought I heard a “PIKIIN!” sound coming from my body.
• [38]I also thought these phenomena were fake, misconceptions, or misunderstandings, but I experienced it when a family member got sick and my stress was at its peak. I was completely conscious but couldn’t move my body, and thought quite calmly, “So this is sleep paralysis.” It went away after about 2 minutes.
  
• [39]It happens more easily when you’re mentally exhausted. The first time it happened to me, I tried to call out but couldn’t make a sound.
• [40]That’s exactly right. After starting treatment, it completely stopped happening.

As the discussion progresses, the connection between stress and sleep paralysis emerges.

I see, so stress is related. That means I must be managing to relieve my stress one way or another.

• [43]I had it when I was working night shifts. I was definitely accumulating fatigue.
• [44]When it’s about to happen, my body feels tingly and I know I’ll get sleep paralysis if I fall asleep. Usually in my dream, something approaches me, my chest tightens, and I struggle desperately until I wake up. I sometimes wonder if I would die if I didn’t resist. Come to think of it, maybe I have sleep apnea.
• [45]Now that you mention it, I stopped having episodes after I started using a respirator.
• [47]Same here.
• [48]Sleep paralysis happens when your body is under stress while sleeping.
• [49]I’ve had it over 100 times, but sleep paralysis is definitely a dream. And I think fatigue and such are factors, though it probably varies by person.
• [50]I often get it when sleeping under a heavy blanket.
• [51]In the past, I often felt heaviness around my stomach area, but not anymore.
• [52]It happens due to stress or fatigue. Basically, it doesn’t happen to healthy people.
• [53]So there are two patterns: sleep apnea and stress.
• [54]Maybe both are fundamental causal factors. Both sleep apnea and stress might make sleep shallower, separate from the body.
• [55]I had it once and it felt like my brain was tingling.
• [58]If sleep paralysis breaks and you go right back to sleep because you’re still sleepy, you’ll 100% get sleep paralysis again. So I have to stay awake for a while.
• [59]I’ve only experienced sleep paralysis once. It was scary with hallucinations of the futon moving on its own and mysterious voices, but honestly, it was also kind of fun.
  

The topic shifts to how to move the body during sleep paralysis and the sensations experienced. This phenomenon known as “kanashibari” in Japan is called “sleep paralysis” internationally.

• [64]For the jaw, it’s like opening your mouth and moving it left and right jerkily. For the pinky, it’s like bending it normally.
• [65]It can happen when you’re groggy from oversleeping and taking multiple naps.
• [67]I totally get that. There are times when I can sense sleep paralysis is coming. Often, if I ignore it and sleep, I’ll have a scary or startling dream, and sleep paralysis occurs right at the scariest or most startling part.
• [68]When I leave sleep paralysis alone, there’s a sensation like having an alarm clock inside my head, a noisy feeling that becomes scary, so I end up breaking out of it. Does anyone else understand? I want to try getting past that scary feeling once.
• [71]You mean that extremely loud sound in your head? If it’s an explosion sound and a “BOOOON” sound, I’ve heard it.
• [72]Being in a light dream state during sleep paralysis is the most confusing. When it’s morning, I recognize it’s time to wake up and try to get up with a “GABAA!” but I haven’t actually gotten up. My eyes open a little but they’re incredibly heavy and twitching.
• [73]Yes, exactly! The sounds vary, don’t they? In the past, I’ve heard footsteps, a “ZAWA ZAWA ZAWA ZAWA” sound, or even that “BOOON” sound.

The experiences of strange sounds and hallucinations during sleep paralysis continue. The use of onomatopoeia (sound-mimicking words) in these vivid descriptions highlights the eerie nature of this phenomenon.

• [76]A “JAKA JAKA JAKA JAKA” sound like something approaching.
• [77]Oh! I know what you mean!
• [80]It’s either intense ringing in the ears or a “BOOON” type sound. The sensation is like being one step away from getting choked out with a submission hold. It feels like I might die if it continues. And then after the sleep paralysis breaks, I immediately fall back asleep. That’s why at first I thought I just dreamed about having sleep paralysis.
• [81]During sleep paralysis, I see hallucinations. I saw a ghost hallucination and had a strange conviction that “This is a ghost that crushes testicles!”