Why Paris Hilton Says She's Scared To Go To Bed At Night

If you were a certain age in the early 2000s, you likely had some opinion of Paris Hilton, whether it was from watching The Simple Life or seeing her in paparazzi pics, clad in a Juicy Couture track suit. Now, in a new documentary about her life called This Is Paris, the entrepreneur and superstar is opening up like never before. She even discusses some past trauma in her life and reveals why she's still scared to go to bed at night. 

The documentary isn't exactly lighthearted, although there are moments of that, too. She explains in the film that she has been in five abusive relationships, and she also claims that she endured physical and verbal abuse at a boarding school her parents sent her to when she was 17 years old. According to InStyle, when Paris' family moved to New York City, she began partying and even running away. Her parents, Kathy and Richard Hilton, responded by sending her to "emotional growth" schools. The last one she attended has reportedly had a lasting, emotional effect on Paris — one that still messes with her sleep. 

In the This Is Paris documentary, Paris Hilton talks about suffering from insomnia. "I'm scared to go to bed at night," she says. "I always have this reoccurring nightmare, no matter what I do." In her dream, she's in bed at night when two enter her room to take her away. She tearfully explains that she tries to run. That nightmare may stem from a real-life experience Hilton endured as a teenager. 

According to Vulture, Hilton spent 11 months at the "Provo Canyon School, a Utah-based boarding school for troubled teens and psychiatric treatment center." The staff reportedly came to collect her in the middle of the night. "I thought I was being kidnapped," Hilton says in the film (per InStyle). "I started screaming for my mom and dad, and no one came." 

While at the school, Paris alleges that she was drugged, beaten, strangled, and left naked in solitary confinement for 20 hours. She told InStyle the experience "was so traumatic and so terrible that I just didn't even want to believe it was real, so I tried to act like it didn't happen." 

Hilton is now using her experience to try to help others. According to InStyle, "She's involved with the Breaking Code Silence movement to spread awareness and provoke change in the troubled teen industry, and says she's dedicating her life to ending the cycle of abuse in these schools." What's more, speaking her truth has reportedly "put an end to the nightmares."

If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline 24/7 at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.