My first paralysis started when I was 13. I didn’t know what it was, and it was very scary to find that I had zero control of my body whatsoever. I would hyperventilate a lot before. But then, it happened more and more frequently. I looked up why I kept feeling this way and found out about sleep paralysis. I told my mother that it was happening but she just brushed it off. She felt that it was my imagination. Then eventually it wouldn’t come around as frequently. Now I am almost 16, and I am having longer episodes back to back. I may try to take a nap, but all of a sudden I can’t move any part of my body before I fully fall asleep. I move my finger a little and rapidly blink my eyes to break it. Then I might try to get into the nap again and the cycle repeats. I deal with episodes alone, since when I called out to my mother she didn’t really tend to my issues how I needed her to. It’s relieving to know other people go through this as well. I’ve found that the best thing to do when having an episode is focus on taking deep breaths, not panicking, and subtly attempting to move a finger in order to regain control of the rest of your nerves. I am grateful for this website!