Home Menu

Menu


Reply
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old Mar 10, 2014, 12:32 AM
bridgie's Avatar
bridgie bridgie is offline
Grand Member
 
Member Since: Jul 2009
Location: Iowa
Posts: 822
last night i had a dream i was being molested by a man that turned into a dark shadowed demon entity and back into a man i have talked to my roommate that said she has had a night visitor before. it kinda freaked me out i have seen shadow ppl in my room before and now i wonder if they are trying to get to me while im sleeping was it a dream or was what i feeling really happening to me
__________________
How I long to be up rather than down, the eternal sorrow that I only escape for short periods. This must be how Persephone felt.

"Sleep. Those little slices of Death. How I loathe them." Edgar Allan Poe

Loving yourself must come first from there comes love for everything else.
Thanks for this!
BubonicPlague

advertisement
  #2  
Old Mar 10, 2014, 11:56 AM
Thunder Bow's Avatar
Thunder Bow Thunder Bow is offline
Elder
 
Member Since: Sep 2012
Location: Arizona
Posts: 5,630
This could be any thing from the Paranormal, to repressed childhood memories, or a mix of both.
Thanks for this!
bridgie
  #3  
Old Mar 11, 2014, 06:57 AM
Anonymous33537
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
There are a lot of stories and views about shadow people, and I myself have been "visited" by them in the past. My own view is that they are merely the byproduct of a mind made foggy due to the sleep cycle being disrupted.

When I'm experiencing sleep deprivation I'll often start seeing shadows off in my peripheral vision, or I'll sometimes interpret objects incorrectly, or see face-like patterns in textures (like the folds of clothing). It only happens when my brain is tired though.

There's also something called sleep paralysis. When you sleep, your body enters into a form of paralysis to prevent you from acting out your dreams and unintentionally hurting yourself. However, it doesn't always turn itself off as soon as you wake up. When you experience sleep paralysis, you'll often also experience hypnagogic imagery.

Hypnagogic imagery is like when you're laying in bed and feel like you're falling, so you suddenly jerk awake and kick your legs out. However, when you experience the hypnagogic imagery combined with sleep paralysis, it's usually a very scary experience. You'll see shadow people, or be pulled up into the air (akin to alien abduction), or fall through your mattress and feel like you're about to die. All this is though is your brain being confused as to why you can't move. Since sleep paralysis is supposed to turn off when you wake up, when it doesn't the brain wakes into a situation where your body doesn't respond. This triggers survival mode, and you start hallucinating an explanation for why you can't move.

One of my own experiences with it was that I woke up to a shadow person holding me down against the mattress. I could see it's silhouette next to the bed, and I was positive it was going to kill me right then and there. As soon as the sleep paralysis ended (just a couple seconds) the shadow person was gone and I could move.

It could be that you experienced something similar. Dreaming that you were sexually assaulted by a shadow figure is a common enough occurrence that centuries ago it inspired the legends of supernatural entities like the "Incubus" entity. Thunder Bow could be very correct in that it could be a repressed childhood memory, but it could have also just been a creation of the brain. There are certainly enough TV shows and movies that depict people being attacked that your mind would not lack for the visual reference, even if you yourself had never experienced such a thing.
  #4  
Old Mar 11, 2014, 09:36 AM
Verity81's Avatar
Verity81 Verity81 is offline
Poohbah
 
Member Since: Jan 2014
Location: uk
Posts: 1,459
Look up hypnogogic hallucinations. They are present in stage one of sleep so just as you are falling asleep and just as you are waking up and they're perfectly normal.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
__________________
Verity

Reply
Views: 477

attentionThis is an old thread. You probably should not post your reply to it, as the original poster is unlikely to see it.




All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:38 AM.
Powered by vBulletin® — Copyright © 2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.




 

My Support Forums

My Support Forums is the online community that was originally begun as the Psych Central Forums in 2001. It now runs as an independent self-help support group community for mental health, personality, and psychological issues and is overseen by a group of dedicated, caring volunteers from around the world.

 

Helplines and Lifelines

The material on this site is for informational purposes only, and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment provided by a qualified health care provider.

Always consult your doctor or mental health professional before trying anything you read here.