Does my mother experience Sleep Paralysis?

#1

My mother has told me that she occasionally has started to feel weird sensations when she wakes up during the night, and she describes it as a kind of “creeping” feeling that starts from her toes and then wanders up to her neck, and she has also mentioned a feeling that there is someone else in the room beside her, and even felt someone gently touch her arms without actually seeing anyone;
I also believe she has said something about feeling paralyzed, so that would be the most obvious clue, but I’m not sure if she actually said that, although I have a vague memory of it.
Do you know what this is?

Curiously enough, she started to mention these feelings shortly after me and a cousin who is interested in lucid dreaming started telling her about our dream experiences, so there might be a connection there as well.

#2

It sounds like hypnagogic/hypnopompic hallucinations to me. Those are common during SP, but also in half sleep while falling asleep and waking up. The sleep pattern changes for many people now that it is getting darker, I have at least noticed one longer awakening each night. It is SP only if she is really paralysed, but the hallucinations can also be a good place to start if she wants to try WILD.

Could it be that she has simply become more aware of this after learning about lucid dreaming?

#3

Thank you.
Yes it’s possible that she think more about this since she has heard of lucid dreaming from me and my cousin;
I’m not sure if she is actually that interested in the subject though, but she has told me that she has had lucid dreams where she has said to herself “I have had this dream before!”.

I suppose the relative change in sunlight hours from Summer to Winter can have an effect on sleeping habits as well;
in my country the time between sunrise and sunset is quite enormous, and changes from ~18 hours during Summer and drops down to just ~6 hours during Winter, so that probably messes up sleep cycles as well.

#4

Oh I just realized that you did point out this exact thing in your post, sorry about that. :peek:

#5

Yes, it is familiar to me because I live in northern Norway. :cool: Here, north of the arctic circle, the difference is even more extreme.

Another thing about the creeping feeling: I have heard it described as a part of the WILD process. I sometimes get it, if I am really sleepy. It is a good sign that simply means “falling asleep” to me.