This is an awesome post. I really have been educated on Hallucinations and the issue of sleep paralysis
In Nigeria though, most people who experience sleep paralysis tend to believe that other humans transform themselves into spirit beings to rest on their bodies and cause spiritual harm to them.
I do have a question too. Some of those who experience this at night end up waking up in the morning with some scratches on their body and they believe it must have been from the being that rested on them. what could be the possible explanation for that?
Scratches can be caused by many factors and often if it occurs at the same time with sleep paralysis, people who have been more convinced that the creature that has been sitting on them was, in fact, a demon with a long set of claws, hence the scratches. If you are asking me, is it possible that the scratches are caused by sleep paralysis, the answer is no. People are paralysed during REM and it is possible that those scratches occur before that. I'm sure we can find some logical explanations regarding unexplained injuries before jumping into a demonic one. Just imagine, if people woke up with scratches minus the sleep paralysis, no one will give a shit about it but if you experience sleep paralysis, suddenly, those scratches became evidence that could prove you are indeed being sat on by an unidentified monster.