I woke up, but could not move at all. I had trouble breathing, and everything felt heavy. I scanned the room with my eyes, the only body part I had control over. A strange orange glow from a nearby lamp, permeated throughout the room. I heard a peculiar humming sound. I tried to scream for help, but my jaw merely trembled.

I was helpless and overwhelmed by a sense of extreme panic and dread. I thought I was dying, it was the most horrible feeling I had in a long time.

I didn’t know what to do but to shut my eyes. So I did, and tightly. I snapped out of it, and was relieved to have full control over my body again. Looking around, everything was just as I had left it: lights and computer were on, textbooks, notes and homework were strewn to my side. I sat up in bed, thinking. I didn’t know what just happened to me, but I knew enough to know that this was not good.

I was hesitant about sleeping and fearful that it would happen again. Days passed and the phenomena subsided. I passed it off as a one-time thing, and it soon became absent from my thoughts.

A few months later, it came back and happened frequently. After a bit of research, I realized that I had sleep paralysis, which means the body is unable to perform voluntary movements either at sleep onset or while awaking.

I can often feel the sleep paralysis coming on as I fall asleep. With my eyes closed, minutes pass. It’s difficult to describe, but everything becomes, feels, and sounds fuzzy. I hear a buzzing sound, resonating in my head. My whole body feels tingly, prickly, and despite being completely aware that I’m not moving I sense myself falling deeper and deeper into my mattress. As the sinking, buzzing, and pins and needles sensation continues, I focus my attention on trying to move a single part of my body. I snap out of it, switch positions, and try to fall asleep again without experiencing it.