Sleep Paralysis, is when a person, usually supine, is falling asleep or wakes up and isn’t able to move or vocalize. It usually lasts a few seconds or several minutes. A malevolent presence, sensed, often accompanies this invoking terror and dread. The manifestation can be standing by or sitting on the bed and, some people feel a heavy pressure on the chest. This can happen day or night. Between 25% and 30% of the population report they have experienced at least a slight form of sleep paralysis one or multiple times. There is evidence to support stress may be a factor.
Medical Theories
This condition occurs in people who don’t and those who do have sleep disorders, also called parasomnias. It’s related to the paralysis that occurs as a natural part of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. Sleep paralysis occurs when the person wakes from an REM state, but the bodily paralysis persists. Researchers found that during sleep paralysis, the brain, when suddenly awakened, displays electrical responses typical of REM sleep.
It has been theorized that two brain systems contribute to sleep paralysis. The most prominent one monitors one’s surroundings for threats and responds to perceived dangers. REM-based activation of this system triggers a sense of a menacing entity nearby. The second brain system includes sensory and motor parts distinguishes one’s body and from those of others. When REM activates this, a person experiences sensations of leaving the body and other feelings of movement.
Some scientists have proposed this condition as an explanation for alien abductions and paranormal encounters as well as Old Hag Syndrome.
Old Hag Syndrome
This is also called Night Hag and Night Terrors. Experients report the same phenomena that those with sleep paralysis do. They also report hearing footsteps before the attack, seeing monstrous shapes, hearing rasping breathing and/or smelling repulsive odors.
David Hufford began his research in the Old Hag Syndrome when he was a member of the faculty in the Folklore Department of Memorial University of Newfoundland. He’s a Professor of Medical Humanities and has joint appointments in Behavioral Science and Family Medicine, at the Penn State College of Medicine.
Hufford found a theoretical cause of Old Hag, “calling” the Hag. One of the best examples is the experience of two elderly women. One woke up every night for a month, experiencing cold sweats, panic and frenzy diagnosed as epileptic seizures. Her treatment for the condition did nothing. Her doctor discovered the victim believed that another lady who had the reputation of being a witch was hagging her. His advice was for her to urinate in a bottle, cap it and put it under her bed, which she did. Several days later, the hagger went to see the doctor to ask him to have her victim undo the bottle. He told her to remove the curse. She did. Both women were cured. Why did the hagger visit the doctor? She couldn’t urinate.
Old Hag/Sleep Paralysis: Paranormal, Psychiatric or Medical?
Most of the symptoms of both are identical. Each has theoretical causes. Questions arise: is the cause physical, psychiatric or paranormal? Could it vary from person to person? Could the cause be more than one factor? The theories have evidence to support them.
Sources:
By Lust Possessed, Eric Lombard, (Signet, 1980)
The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits, Rosemary Ellen Guiley, (Facts on File, Inc., 1992).
The Terror that Comes in the Night, David Hufford, (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1989)
Related article:
Hag Syndrome, the Horror that Strikes During Sleep
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