Sleep paralysis. Great fun.
Repost from Phobias QOTW:

I've had sleep paralysis too, quite a few times
It really is the scariest thing ever. I hear people moving around in the house, but I can't move my head to see who it is. Then I see people standing over me and looking down. Eep!

The main common factor of all my experiences has been that I was sleeping on the sofa during the day. There may be some message here...

On a related note, I was once woken up during an operation because I was having a bad reaction to the anaesthetic, but I was still under the effect of the paralysing drug. That was pretty scary too, but I felt a lot more scared during the sleep paralysis, mainly because I was a bit more lucid and aware of what was going on.

* * * * * *

What I've found helps me, is once I've figured out that I'm awake and paralysed, I try to focus on a bit of my body (like my hand or a foot for example) and concentrate on what I can feel it touching. When I realise that my foot is touching the arm of the sofa, or whatever, it seems to stop the panic.

Then I just try to go back to sleep and hope I will be okay when I wake up the next time.
( b3th Not shit. Not mod., Mon 27 Jul 2009, 21:37, Reply)