Which is scarier! Seeing or hearing?

[sky14kemea]

This is a subject I've been thinking of for a while now. Which do you think would be scarier, seeing weird hallucinations, or hearing them?

Backstory! Me and a friend (Who is also my roomate now) both get Sleep Paralysis from time to time. If you don't know what this is, here is a Wiki Link [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis]

Basically, it's where you wake up in the middle of a sleep cycle, so your mind is awake but your body is still fast asleep. This means you are pretty much paralysed, except maybe a few finger movements if you're lucky. When this happens, people generally experience a small to large hallucination, which can range from seeing strange shapes to "demons" or just whatever scares the pants off of you. (One of mine happened to be two dead bodies, but I won't go into detail here.)

Anyway, while I tend to hallucinate and see strange things, which is scary in itself, my roomate tends to mostly hear pretty scary stuff. It ranges from yelling and screaming to people breaking things and storming through the house. It can be just as scary as the hallucinations if you think about it.

But! The question I'm asking here is, which do you think would be scarier for you? Seeing scary things while being unable to move, or hearing scary things while being unable to move.

[small][small]Also feel free to ask any questions about Sleep Paralysis, I'll try to answer the best I can. ^^[/small][/small]

EDIT: Just to clarify, when I see scary things in my hallucinations, I do usually hear a few things too, just not as much as my roomate would.

 

[ramboondiea]

id say hearing things is scarier, the imagination can make up a lot more from noise then what i can see, this is probably linked to the dark being scary, which hinders sight, and the fact my eyes are not the best as it is.

and i have a question if you dont mind me asking, but does this sleep paralysis affect you every night?

 

[katsumoto03]

They both scare me for different reasons. Hearing leads to my fear of unknown danger, where I can't act accordingly because I have no idea what's coming.

Seeing is scary because, well, there's a huge fucking monster in my room.

 

[Drakmeire]

I thinking seeing is more scary since hearing frightens you but most of the time the fear will go away unless you happen to see that the thing making the noise was scary.
I only started getting sleep paralysis after I read about it in an article that explained that all alien abduction stories are most likely from sleep paralysis hallucinations. since I know when it's happening to me I can control what I see (often I will imagine models holding me down). If you learn to control your dreams it makes it easier.

 

[Buizel91]

Hearing...if you don't know what's making the sound with your eyes, you'll be kinda freaked out...

Having said that, what you see could be 10x worse from what your hearing...

 

[sky14kemea]

and i have a question if you dont mind me asking, but does this sleep paralysis affect you every night?

Not really no. It usually happens more if you're stressed or your sleeping pattern changes suddenly (Like pulling an all nighter for something). =P

Actually for me it usually happens more when I sleep on my back.. I don't know if that's superstition or just a really weird coincidence though.

 

[TeeBs]

Well, when I picture women nude, and when I see them nude, I usually prefer my fake fantasy. So I think hearing would be worst.

 

[sky14kemea]

I thinking seeing is more scary since hearing frightens you but most of the time the fear will go away unless you happen to see that the thing making the noise was scary.
I only started getting sleep paralysis after I read about it in an article that explained that all alien abduction stories are most likely from sleep paralysis hallucinations. since I know when it's happening to me I can control what I see (often I will imagine models holding me down). If you learn to control your dreams it makes it easier.

Models? xD I'm jealous now! Nicest hallucination I ever had was when I couldn't see a thing but felt there was a dog lying on my stomach. It was still kinda scary though.. I thought he was going to bite me. D:

 

[Arkhangelsk]

With seeing, I know the danger I'm dealing with. With hearing, I know that there is danger, but not what it is. I'd say hearing is more scary.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

This is a subject I've been thinking of for a while now. Which do you think would be scarier, seeing weird hallucinations, or hearing them?

Backstory! Me and a friend (Who is also my roomate now) both get Sleep Paralysis from time to time. If you don't know what this is, here is a Wiki Link [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis]

Basically, it's where you wake up in the middle of a sleep cycle, so your mind is awake but your body is still fast asleep. This means you are pretty much paralysed, except maybe a few finger movements if you're lucky. When this happens, people generally experience a small to large hallucination, which can range from seeing strange shapes to "demons" or just whatever scares the pants off of you. (One of mine happened to be two dead bodies, but I won't go into detail here.)

Anyway, while I tend to hallucinate and see strange things, which is scary in itself, my roomate tends to mostly hear pretty scary stuff. It ranges from yelling and screaming to people breaking things and storming through the house. It can be just as scary as the hallucinations if you think about it.

But! The question I'm asking here is, which do you think would be scarier for you? Seeing scary things while being unable to move, or hearing scary things while being unable to move.

[small][small]Also feel free to ask any questions about Sleep Paralysis, I'll try to answer the best I can. ^^[/small][/small]

i used to have that something fierce, basically up till around age 10 i had it happen once a week, and my parents NEVER believed me! since then i just dream a SHIT ton (as in 3-4 dreams a night) and dont have that happen anymore.

but when i did have it happen, seeing shit was always worse for me, hearing shit i could just ignore mostly since i knew i didn't see it, and i depend on my eyes more, and i remember a few times i got paranoid as fuck as i couldn't control my breathing, i felt like i was going to die from suffocating but my body was breathing for me. (so if that was an option, i'd put that)

 

[TriggerUnhappy]

I'd say hearing, what with the fear of the unknown and all that.

 

[sky14kemea]

i used to have that something fierce, basically up till around age 10 i had it happen once a week, and my parents NEVER believed me! since then i just dream a SHIT ton (as in 3-4 dreams a night) and dont have that happen anymore.

but when i did have it happen, seeing shit was always worse for me, hearing shit i could just ignore mostly since i knew i didn't see it, and i depend on my eyes more, and i remember a few times i got paranoid as fuck as i couldn't control my breathing, i felt like i was going to die from suffocating but my body was breathing for me. (so if that was an option, i'd put that)

Yeah, I dream a lot nowadays. Usually they're very good dreams though (Well if you count fighting zombie hordes with guns a good dream, which I do! )

I've had trouble breathing a few times too. >_< Usually I can just tell myself I'll go back to sleep and it'll be fine, but sometimes you just freak the hell out!

I'm glad it doesn't happen for you anymore though =]. Having it happen just once is kinda bad, but when it's often it's really frustrating.

 

[Clockwork Scarecrow.]

Not meaning to insult but the hallucination aspect of sleep paralysis sounds; "totally fucking awesome".

As for which I think is scarier. I suppose hearing because as was previously mentioned your imagination can be much more insidious than what might actually be there, like when you're walking along a country road late at night and the bushes seem like they could be hiding some malevolent force.

 

[JRCB]

I have it happen to me quite frequently. I experience both auditory and visual hallucinations. One time, I saw and heard my mother slam my door open and yell at me, only to wake up and find out that it didn't happen. When it happened at my friend's place, I heard him talking to me, but he was asleep the entire night.

I'll take the sight being scarier, because then you're powerless against what you "see" coming for you (in the instance of sleep paralysis). In real life, sound is scarier, because then your imagination takes over. Trust me, it's not fun having an overactive imagination.

How did you react the first time it happened? Personally, I freaked the hell out. I still do when it happens.

 

[Monkfish Acc.]

Picking between the two, hearing is worse. Because you can't tell what's fake and what's real.

Visual hallucinations have the benefit of being clearly not real to anyone in full possession of their mental faculties. You clearly know that big monster thing isn't real. Sure, maybe it LOOKS spooky, but you know there is nothing really to be afraid of.

Auditory hallucinations are a different story. It's more difficult to tell if that screaming or whatever is real or not. Even more so since it'll tend to sound like someone you know.
Plus, hearing skittering around you is a lot more unnerving than Sadako popping up and giving you a hug. But maybe that's just me.

However, speaking as someone who regularily has both after maybe five days no sleep, I have to say one without the other is a fucking walk in the park compared to both at the same time. Especially when you are too sleep deprived to think straight.

 

[Pyromaniak3]

Hearing most deffinatly. It builds... suspence I guess, not accualy knowing what it is, plus unless you are 100% sure your mind is making this up there is always the possibility that it is real. With seeing it you can be pretty sure that oh I guess the demon is a figment of my imagination (damn good figment too).

 

[sky14kemea]

I have it happen to me quite frequently. I experience both auditory and visual hallucinations. One time, I saw and heard my mother slam my door open and yell at me, only to wake up and find out that it didn't happen. When it happened at my friend's place, I heard him talking to me, but he was asleep the entire night.

I'll take the sight being scarier, because then you're powerless against what you "see" coming for you.

How did you react the first time it happened? Personally, I freaked the hell out. I still do when it happens.

Don't get me wrong, the visual ones do usually have some sounds too, just not as much. =P

Hmm, the very first time for me was actually just an audio one, since I was in a bunkbed with curtains drawn. I actually didn't notice anything wrong because it was mostly just people whispering my name.

The first visual one I had freaked me the hell out, I kept trying to call for help but couldn't make any sounds. >.< Then I tried to roll off the bed. Eventually I just tried to go back to sleep then woke up 5 minutes later in a cold sweat. :l

At least now I can recognise when it's happening, so I know to just try and get back to sleep as fast as possible.

 

[JRCB]

I have it happen to me quite frequently. I experience both auditory and visual hallucinations. One time, I saw and heard my mother slam my door open and yell at me, only to wake up and find out that it didn't happen. When it happened at my friend's place, I heard him talking to me, but he was asleep the entire night.

I'll take the sight being scarier, because then you're powerless against what you "see" coming for you.

How did you react the first time it happened? Personally, I freaked the hell out. I still do when it happens.

Don't get me wrong, the visual ones do usually have some sounds too, just not as much. =P

Hmm, the very first time for me was actually just an audio one, since I was in a bunkbed with curtains drawn. I actually didn't notice anything wrong because it was mostly just people whispering my name.

The first visual one I had freaked me the hell out, I kept trying to call for help but couldn't make any sounds. >.< Then I tried to roll off the bed. Eventually I just tried to go back to sleep then woke up 5 minutes later in a cold sweat. :l

At least now I can recognise when it's happening, so I know to just try and get back to sleep as fast as possible.

When it happens to me, I just try to jerk my neck in one direction, which usually gets me out of it somehow.

Just as a question, do you experience a feeling of... I don't know how to describe it. I guess "fuzzy" is how I'd put it for me, where my entire body feels weird when it's happening.

 

[sky14kemea]

Visual hallucinations have the benefit of being clearly not real to anyone in full possession of their mental faculties. You clearly know that big monster thing isn't real. Sure, maybe it LOOKS spooky, but you know there is nothing really to be afraid of.

Auditory hallucinations are a different story. It's more difficult to tell if that screaming or whatever is real or not. Even more so since it'll tend to sound like someone you know.
Plus, hearing skittering around you is a lot more unnerving than Sadako popping up and giving you a hug. But maybe that's just me.

However, speaking as someone who regularily has both after maybe five days no sleep, I have to say one without the other is a fucking walk in the park compared to both at the same time. Especially when you are too sleep deprived to think straight.

Yeah again, I should probably edit this in the OP, but when you see things you usually get some sounds as well. =P

Of course things look fake and you know they aren't real, but that rarely stops me being afraid of them. xD Just saying.