Narcolepsy Forum Posting

Posted by M. Tair on February 03, 2000 at 00:19:54:

I would like to offer some insight on this topic from a religious stand point, specifically an Islamic one. Although I do not speak for all Mulsims nor am I a scholar or doctor, I thought I'd offer some thoughts for all to ponder. This is somewhat related to a message posted earlier called "Narcolepsy, More Than a Medical Condition" and the messages surrounding it.

First I want to say that I don't suffer from Narcolepsy, I have Sleep Paralysis episodes. I believe, and you can find many 'authorities' who agree, that they are not inseparable conditions. Many people who have Narcolepsy do have sleep paralysis but not all people who have sleep paralysis walk the earth tired and fall asleep at awkward moments.

I first experienced sleep paralysis as a teenager and I was scared like most the first time. Many report strange occurances during these episodes. During many of my first experiences I heard loud static sounds in my head, usually they progressed from soft to loud to soft and so on. Later I would find out that my father had the same problem and also experieced sounds that progressively got louder, but he didn't describe them as static. I eventually got used to it, occasionally trying and succeeding to break out but most of the time just waiting patiently for it to end.

However, when I converted to Islam later in life, sleep paralysis took on a whole new meaning. I was told when I first joined, the particular sect I'm end, that things like true dreams etc. are real and this would become more apparent as one spiritually progressed, particularly within this group. I have since become convinced, but I won't try to sell you on it. You can't know until you experience it for yourself. And this is the same thinking for people who have had episodes of sleep paralysis and "heard things" (to put it bluntly.) When it happens to a person only that person can understand truly, and then maybe people who have had similar experiences.

Since I became a Muslim my sleep paralysis episodes have at times consisted of more than just static, they consist of verbal talking. Verbal talk thats not just yammerin but is directed to me. I'm not going to get specific but I will relay bits to emphasize the following points I would like people familiar with the topic to consider:

If you really believe in a God, whatever your understanding is, you should not find it hard to consider that God can "speak" to whomever 'He' choses. In Islam (my sect) we believe that revelation does not stop and has not stopped. If God spoke in the past, why would 'He' not 'speak' now. It is believed in Islam that the angel Gabriel is the one who relays divine messages - meaning that prophets like Moses(as), Jesus(as), Buddah(as), Muhammad(sa) and all the other prophets all 'heard voices' from the same voice who relays divine messages from God. But you don't have to be a prophet. But what you here or experience is related to your current state of, shall we say, spiritual development - which is different for everyone.

When I first heard these voices, I had the sense that they were 'good' things, partially because of what was relayed and also because I like to think positive. But at the same time I'm very cautious. So I prayed to God many times to help me know what is from 'Him,' what is just a product from my mind, and what could be from who people call satan. Right from the start I knew that my normal sleep adventures were not like the sleep paralysis ones, most who know will probably agree - they have a different feeling. Still I feared that somehow I might be getting 'tricked' or something by a satanic element. Eventually I would come to know the difference. I later had a number of episodes where the voice I heard wasn't the calm monotone voice I was familiar with prior. This one, to put it bluntly, sounded like the devil. I also on one ocassion heard screaming in the background. So my conclusion is, one can hear from both sides, and they are easily distinguishable. So for all who hear, if it sounds or says good, its from good. (and the same goes for evil.)

Theres A LOT MORE I would like say but I'm gonna stop in a minute because I know your eyes are getting that straining feeling.

I just want to add that there's the feeling among some that the experiences people blessed with sleep paralysis have may be signs of progressive madness. I say not neccessarily so. First one should ponder over the difference between what happens to us and to people who are manic depressive or are schitzofrentic who also can hear voices. A person who has been diagnosed as insane has shown a loss of free will, something that all humans initially have - the choice to do this or that. If we were to hear in our head, "kill four people" or whatever, how many of us would willy nilly go out and do it. No matter how many times it is said, many people would kill themselves befor they run out and kill another because we know that killing others is wrong. (I'm not including cases where people are killed in self defense, to save innocent people and the like.) But someone who is morally corrupt may not feel the same way, and may not respond the same way. And is it possible for us to concieve that those who have turned away from God or righteousness may be more prone to satanic suggestion.
Take the case of Kip Kinkel, the 15 year old who killed his parents and some of his fellow students in 98. He is reported to hafe said that he heard voices that 'forced him to do it.' But he had long before this crossed the line of wholesome activity according to the accounts. Add this to the extreme low self esteem that had developed over his life and who is to say that this 15 year old had enough will power or any strong desire at all to resist the voices.
Then there's the case of this child on Oprah who is a little younger than Kip Kinkel. This child, whose name I can't remember, has been legally deaf 'dumb,' and blind since a toddler. Yet he tells his parents that here hears the voice of God in his head and has writen wonderful poems, that in a book out now. And let me asure you that the poems he writes about God are not the poems of a 8 or 9 year old. Does he have any reason to lie.

So my point to those wondering if they maybe crazy is: Hearing voices does not neccessarily make you crazy. It would seem that other circumstances and factors present in one's life must also play a crucial role for real madness, in the general sense of the term, to develop.

In closing, I believe that sleep paralysis may be another method for "hearing the divine." And there may be undiscovered purposes of a more physical/biological nature as well. But So little is known about the brain. Time will tell.
I apoligize for the length.

GOD BLESS.

Follow Ups:

• Re: IS THERE A DIVINE PURPOSE TO SLEEP PARALYSIS? Donna 2/06/00 (0)
• Re: IS THERE A DIVINE PURPOSE TO SLEEP PARALYSIS? Deb 2/05/00 (1)
  • Re: Deb M. Tair 2/06/00 (0)

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