Sleep Paralysis, Buried Alive
Sleep paralysis is only now becoming recognized.
When I was about 18 I started to notice something disturbing happening to me. I would wake up, but not. My eyes would open and dart around the room, but my head would lay lifeless and weighed down. I’d try to sit up, move a finger, cry out for help but nothing would happen. I was paralyzed. The first few times is terrifying, and since then they have remained terrifying. In fact according to the DSM-4, symptoms include “dread,” and “a fear of impending death.” Eventually, I slowly start to “break” out of it, but it requires an enormous draining effort to do so. My right foot is always the first to move and often is never paralyzed. Anyone I’ve shared my bed with as an adult knows if my legs start to go apeshit wake me up.