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I think some people's description of sleep paralysis is very strange. Maybe there is a dark entity for some, but never for me. I've experienced sleep paralysis since I was 4-5 years old, all the way up until a few years ago. I think the last time I experienced it was in 2010. Anyhow...

Let me describe my particular experience to you. Every time, it feels more or less the same.

I'm lying in bed, and all of a sudden I feel heavy, dense. If I remember correctly (and know my memories of these events are rather phantasmagorical in nature and not the most trustworthy), this sensation has also occurred upon waking.

When sleep paralysis first gripped me at a young age I felt tinges of panic, because my conscious mind is still present, but my body is not. There is a particular and intense dissonance between the conscious mind and the unconscious body, and all control over the body is gone. You can see how this is very disturbing.

However, I started to experience sleep paralysis on a very frequent basis. I don't know why. Maybe it's the ghost of my father. Maybe it's just my brain chemistry - who knows? And very quickly, I basically got over the fear of it. I embraced it as something normal, not precisely within my control (because it was definitely not within my conscious control as far as moving my body is concerned), but not unmanageable either.

I never saw dark spectres or haunting images. The phenomena I experienced were purely physical.

After a certain time (maybe a few months or years - I cannot be certain), I learned how to either "combat" or "alleviate" the phenomenon of sleep paralysis. The first method involved mustering as much willpower as possible to "shake" my body - usually around the shoulders or the torso as a whole. This method I found very psychologically taxing - upon fully waking, I would always feel like I was involved in an epic struggle. The second method involved simply letting go of any feelings of discomfort or fear and instead of fighting against the lack of control, I would just relax and fall back asleep. I ended up pursuing option two most of the time, except in rare occasions.

The times sleep paralysis felt most terrifying is the moment between consciousness and unconsciousness. I think this is actually reminiscent of dying, and my body's natural reaction when I am actually consciously aware of my falling into unconsciousness (and the subsequent loss of control over my physical body) to "jerk myself to consciousness violently" is actually a natural reaction against the body/mind's false interpretation of death.

Just a theory, but it's better than nothing.

As you know, most of the time we fall asleep without actually realizing it. So when we do realize we're going into darkness, it can be rather frightening.

When I experience such a feeling again, I'll try to not fight it and just let go.