"13 Facts About Sleep Paralysis That Will Keep You Up At Night"

"In sleep paralysis, the body remains paralyzed in REM atonia while the brain awakens and the eyes start to open, explains Breus. Sufferers become alert in a transient conscious state, but they are unable to move voluntary muscles or speak. Although involuntary muscle movement, like breathing, is not affected, there is often a sensation of chest pressure, which is why many people wake up from sleep paralysis gasping to take a deep breath. Episodes can last anywhere from 20 seconds to a few minutes."
http://www.buzzfeed.com/carolinekee/sleep-paralysis-is-scary-af?bffb&utm_term=4ldqpgp#4ldqpgp

I get these, usually when I'm in a state of nervous anticipation about something in my life, like waiting to hear about something important or heading into a new school or job or whatever. Not necessarily a time of fear, just the anticipation and huge unknowns.

I can't move but I'm super alert and I feel this intense terror and have auditory hallucinations - like, someone I know saying my name. But never someone I'm afraid of, usually it's someone who is in the house or dorm or whatever and could logically be trying to talk to me. Or sometimes a creak will wake me up, or there will be a shadow cast from something outside a window. And whatever stimulus it is, all of this random and nameless terror will focus on it and I will feel this deep need to escape but be totally unable to move.

I didn't know what it was until I took AP Psych, and since then I've been able to develop some coping mechanisms, and now I can escape that state of immobile terror (once I realize what is happening, I am able to focus on controlling my face muscles, and if I can do that then I break out of it). It's so important to know how you work, and there is a huge power in being able to name an experience.