You are not alone in this feeling. Actually, this is quite common as I have found out.
As a very small child I grew up with sever asthma that kept me in and out of the doctor's and hospital. It was an irritating way to grow up for sure; with constant trips to the nurse's office for my 10 life giving inhalers. But honestly, the most nerve-racking of all were the sleepless nights I spent afraid to sleep after an asthma attack, or trip to the hospital.
The first time I actually experienced this phenomenon, I was maybe nine years old. I awoke unable to breath in at all. It felt like there were hands at my throat and something physically on my chest. I was a reasonable child (even at nine), who enjoyed horror films and understood separation between "make believe" and reality, so I thought I must be dreaming and simply opening my eyes should wake me up and "break the spell," or dream in this case.
Much to my horror when I opened my eyes, I saw right in my face the most frightening, real, and demonic creature literally in some mode of attack on me. My immediate reaction was to scream, but I could not, as the creature was choking me. I closed my eyes, desperately praying for a breath in, and a grasp on reality. Than a thought came to me. This thing may actually be real. It seemed unreasonable to think so, but seeing as I could not breath or call for help, I decided to go with that thought. I remembered a stories in the Bible where people literally just commanded demons away in the "Name of Jesus." And it worked. And heck, if it worked on that freak show in "Exorcism" it should work for this scary demon hanging in my room, right? So in the biggest whisper I could manage, between the demon's tight grasp on my throat, I commanded it "away in the name of Jesus Christ!" And literally...the thing like got pissed and dissipated. It was crazy.
I wish I could tell you that was my only experience with this "Night Mare," but I cannot. I am often haunted by it, even to this day. And there's more. I know at least five other non-commitable people who have had a similar experience on an ongoing basis; one being my husband.
Out of the six of us, four of us are musicians and three of us have asthma. I personally think this means that this particular demon knows how to play on people's individual fears.
Recently, while searching for imagery for our upcoming album, my husband stumbled on some folklore, art and even actual accounts throughout history of this demon. It was called the Mare, or old hag, who would come in the night and sit on your chest. The accounts are different, but I'm adding some below, as well as classic art that depict these legends/ accounts.
In Germany..."The alp is a demonic being which presses upon sleeping people so that they cannot utter a sound. These attacks are called Alpdrücke (nightmares).
A girl told how the alp came to her through a keyhole. She was not able to call for help. Later, she therefore asked her sister to call out her name in the night, and then the alp would go back out through the keyhole.
In Zwickau they claim that the alp will go away if one invites him for coffee the following morning.
It is also believed that the alp crushes animals to death. For example, if young geese, are placed in a pig pen and then die it is said that the alp crushed them to death. If rabbits die, and it appears that they have been crushed, a broom is placed in their pen, which protects them against the alp." see more here
Absolute Astronomy gives the following definition and exploration:
A nightmare is a dream
Dreams are sequence s, sounds and feelings experienced while sleeping, strongly associated with rapid eye movement sleep. The contents and biological purposes of dreams are not fully understood, though they have been a topic of speculation and interest throughout recorded history....
which causes a strong unpleasant emotional response from the sleeper, typically fear or horror, being in situations of extreme danger, or the sensations of pain, bad events, falling, drowning or death. Such dreams can be related to physical
Physical can mean any of the following things below:* Any entity which are composed of matter and/or energy, as well as the physical property of those entities; and not merely items of thought or belief....
causes such as a high fever, turned faced down on a pillow during sleep (most often in the case of drowning nightmares), or psychological ones such as psychological trauma
Psychological trauma is a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a traumatic event. When that trauma leads to posttraumatic stress disorder, damage may involve physical changes inside the brain and to brain chemistry, which affect the person's ability to cope with Stress ....
or stress
Stress is a biological term which refers to the consequences of the failure of a human or animal body to respond appropriately to emotional or body threats to the organism, whether actual or imagined....
in the sleeper's life, or can have no apparent cause. If a person has experienced a psychologically traumatic situation in life—for example, a person who may have been captured and tortured—the experience may come back to haunt them in their nightmares. Sleepers may waken in a state of distress and be unable to get back to sleep for some time. Eating before bed, which triggers an increase in the body's metabolism and brain activity, is another potential stimulus for nightmares.
Occasional nightmares are commonplace, but recurrent nightmares can interfere with sleep
Sleep is the natural state of bodily rest observed in humans and other animals. It is common to all mammals and birds, and is also seen in many reptiles, amphibians and fish....
and may cause people to seek medical help. A recently proposed treatment consists of imagery rehearsal. This approach appears to reduce the effects of nightmares and other symptoms in acute stress disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder
Posttraumatic stress disorder is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to one or more traumatic events that threatened or caused grave physical harm....
.
Practitioners of lucid dreaming
A lucid dream is a dream in which the person is aware that they are dreaming while the dream is in progress, also known as a conscious dream....
claim that it can help conquer nightmares of this type, rather than of the traditional type (see below).
Historic use of term
Nightmare was the original term for the state later known as (cf. Mary Shelley
In religion, folklore, and mythology a demon is a supernatural being that is generally described as a malevolent spirit. In Christian terms demons are generally understood as fallen angels, formerly of God....
s and more specifically incubi
The term Old High German refers to the earliest stage of the German language and it conventionally covers the period from around 500 to 1050. Coherent written texts do not appear until the second half of the 8th century, and some treat the period before 750 as 'prehistoric' and date the start of Old High German proper to 750 for this reason...
, -in modern german it would become "Nachtmar"-, and Old Norse mara
In Scandinavian folklore, a mara or a mare is a supernatural creature which is believed to torment people in their sleep by sitting on their chest and "riding" them, thus causing nightmares....
), hence comes the mare part in nightmare. Etymologically cognate with Anglo-Saxon /mara/ ('incubus') may be Hellenic /Maron/ (in the Odusseid
The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Hellenic civilization epic poetrys attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work traditionally ascribed to Homer....
) and Samsk?ta /Mara
In Buddhism, Mara is the demon who tempted Gautama Buddha by trying to seduce him with the vision of beauty women who, in various legends, are often said to be his daughters....
/ (supernatural antagonist of the Buddha).
Folk belief in Newfoundland, South Carolina and Georgia describe the negative figure of the Hag
HAG is a Swiss maker of model trains in H0 scale. These are high quality trains made of Die-cast toy with reliable mechanisms. This is the primary manufacturer of Swiss model trains, but they are more expensive than most brands of H0 trains, presumably due to the manufacturing process....
who leaves her physical body at night, and sits on the chest of her victim. The victim usually wakes with a feeling of terror, has difficulty breathing because of a perceived heavy invisible weight on his or her chest, and is unable to move i.e., experiences sleep paralysis
Sleep paralysis is a condition that may occur in normal subjects or be associated with narcolepsy, cataplexy, and hypnagogic hallucinations. The pathophysiology of this condition is closely related to the normal REM atonia that occur during REM sleep....
. This nightmare experience is described as being "hag-ridden" in the Gullah
The Gullah are African Americans who live in the South Carolina Low Country region of South Carolina and Golden Isles of Georgia, which includes both the coastal plain and the Sea Islands....
lore. The "Old Hag" was a nightmare spirit in British and also Anglophone North American folklore.
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Nightmare
So...Nightmares or reality? Or in between? Or is it subjective? You decide for yourself.
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