“sleep paralysis”? I don’t think so!
In 1996 I was involved in a snow disaster in Eastern Tibet and was one of the few foreigners given permission to dispense aid (clothes food and medicine) on the ground. It was a very remote area and as far as we knew we were the first Christians to visit the area. On our first night there, I awoke in terror because; I had been rendered mute and paralyzed, there was a weight on my chest and I was being choked. I was eventually able to pray and bind the enemy and the attack eventually subsided
Crossing the Dzachu*
* Known as the Yalong downstream and the Mekong further downstream
The following day everyone was ill, we almost lost a truck on a suspension bridge and the engine of our 4WD died at night in the middle of nowhere. Given all that had happened I knew we were under attack and we used the authority and weapons of warfare to deal with the enemy (and we had no more problems with sleep, health or vehicles). Today there is an open door!
Going through the ice and breaking down
When I asked the local indigenous Tibetan’s about my nocturnal attack they told me it was caused by a demon or the result of a shamanic curse. The Tibetans call this phenomenon a “crushing spirit” (grib-gnon-gyi-gdon), the Chinese call it a “choking spirit” (gui ya shen), the Nepalese call it “demonic pressure” (aithan paryo), and the Mongolians “black pressure” (kara darahu).
I was gob-smacked to read in a psychology textbook that my experience was described as “sleep paralysis” and was apparently caused by a “neurological short-circuit between the brain and the body”!. The book ignored or disregarded any form of demonic attack. I have not been able to find a Christian psychology textbook that explains my experience from a Biblical perspective.
(Later I heard of another Christian pioneer in NW Nepal who had a similar attack)