oldhag

What is sleep Paralysis?
by [email protected]
Sleep Paralysis, also known as Old Hag, is a phenomenon that is known, to some extent, by all cultures throught the world. Some people are quick to blame aliens, while others credit the "Devil" himself and/or his minions. Only in the last couple decades, and especially the last 10 or so years, have researchers begun to seriously study this bizarre happening. Nothing is as of yet in concrete, but we at least now have a solid place to begin. And I would like to further add, that although we may now have an explanation of the mechanics involved, it does not mean we know WHY or What causes this strange phenomenon to occur, but only explains what is going on physically during an episode of sleep paralysis, or SP.

Sleep paralysis is a condition in which someone about to fall asleep, or just upon waking from sleep, realizes they they are unable to move or speak, but can still breathe and move their eyes. I like to call this "half-asleep/half-awake" stage and the "twilight" stage. Your conscious mind has begun to drift into sleep but is not yet there, therefor you still retain a small amount of your waking conscious. It is a very transitory stage indeed, and one that seems to leave you "open" to certain experiences you would not otherwise be receptive to when fully conscious or fully asleep. It is also accepted by most researchers that although this can happen in any sleeping position, it most commonly occurs in the supine position (laying on your back).

Once the person realizes that they are unable to move, they usually, but not always, leave this "twilight" stage and become fully awake, but still paralyzed. At this point the experience can go either way. The person may only experience a very temporary paralysis, and after several seconds or up to a minute or so would then regain their movement and the event would be over. Researchers believe many people experience this at one point in their lives.

But the other scenario is much more frightening. Upon realizing one is paralyzed, a whole gamut of hallucinations may occur. Many people report hearing, seeing, and/or sensing a person or people in the room with them while they are paralyzed. There is also the common experience of a usually sensed, malevolent presence (or SMP). Note that not all sensed presences are felt as being malevolent, but very frequently they are. These SMP's usually seem to be just out of view of the experiencer. As a frequent sufferer of sleep paralysis, I know that for me its relatively rare to have an episode complete with the SMP, but t does happen, and when it does, it is terrifying. The SMP is so incredibly intimidating and I feel that this is very evil, terrible "thing" is just right outside of my field of vision, and if I weren't paralyzed and was able to turn my head just an inch or so, I would be able to see this horrid thing. At least, that's the feeling I get, and other sufferer's of SP have reported the same.

Sometimes it is reported that the experiencer feels crushed, smothered, or pushed into the bed. There are auditory hallucinations as well. A voice or voices may be heard, as well as footsteps. A loud buzzing noise is sometimes reported. Out-of-Body experiences are also frequently reported with SP, along with the sensation of floating and sometimes of "falling" through the bed. During SP a person may try to cry out or "fight" with the presense they believe is responsible for causing them to be paralyzed. This has never helped me nor anyone else I've ever heard of, but somehow we have the innate feeling that we must "fight" this feeling. Usually movement returns slowly, usually within a minute or so.

These hallucinations are called hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations. They can be auditory, visual, tactile and proprioceptive. It is very hard to believe it is a hallucination, but, after all, that's what a hallucination proper is. This, however, does not make the experience any less terrifying. While it is happening it feels pretty damn real!

Some researchers at Waterloo University have done some of the most intense research on SP. They have studied the REM dream states and compared them to SP with hypnogogic and hypnopompic hallucinations, (or HHE's) and have found some interesting results. While we are dreaming in a normal REM state, our minds send out a message to our body's to cease our normal motor functions, our muscles "turn of" in a sense, so that we do not act out our dreams. This keeps us from possibly doing damage to ourselves or those around us. While in an REM state, we
are experiencing stimuli manufactored from within our own minds, effectively "tuning out" the world around us.

REM SP with HHE's differ from a normal period of REM in two signnifcant ways.

1.) There is little or no blocking of external stimulation, and 2.) the sufferer of SP regains full conscious, whereas they were in the "twilight" stage of sleep, i.e. sleep onset or sleep offset, and instead of falling into a deeper sleep state, they regained consciousness but continue to 'dream'. Researchers believe the paralysis is due to the failure of the brain neurons to "remind" the body it is now awake so it is unable to move (called muscle atonia). And remember, not only is the experiencer unable to move, but they are also "dreaming while awake", a condition that is very confusing and frightening. The hallucinations they encounter seem every bit as real as you sitting in front of the computer right now.

During these episodes of hallucinogenic SP, the mind is not only accepting outside stimulation, but is also 'warping' it in much the same way as our dream states warp information. Its a melding of the two worlds, only the experiencer is not asleep. It is not hard to see why demons, devils, and other beasties of the night have been blamed for these nocturnal 'attacks'. Virtually all cultures with a written or oral history has some kind of form of SP they have reported, and with that a usually very colorul explanation as to why these things happen. SP is more commonly known as Old Hag, and the origin for this title may have roots as far back as the Sumerians. Ardat lili or Lilitu, an evil hag-demon, was said to have the power of flight, which she preferred to do at night when she would attack men in their sleep. But this myth is hardly unique, as many she-devils and hag-demons have, over time, made their presense known in mythology. They take credit for the nocturnal assaults for one reason or another.

Surprisingly, though, is the concistency of such reports made by societies and cultures with no previous knowledge of each other or their lore. The main details remain constant. A man or woman is attacked during the night, usually lying on their back, when an evil entity sits upon their body, causes paralysis, and even sometimes chokes or smothers it's victim. Though their motivation may differ, (posession, revenge, or just wanting to upset the living) the attack remains strikingly similar. And these stories are not limited to western cultures, in fact, quite the contrary.

In Thailand people refer to being Phi um (ghost covered) and phi kau (ghost possessed), and these experiences include a feeling of pressure, paralysis, and something black covering the body. In Japan, kanashibara ("to tie with an iron rope") is a common known and accepted experience. In the Far North one speaks of agumangia (Inupik) or ukomiarik (Yupik) in which "a soul" tries to take possession of the paralyzed victim. In Laos, da chor is described as follows: "You want to listen, you can't hear; you want to speak, you are dumb; you want ot call out, you cannot; you feel you are dying, dying; you want to run away. You piss with fear in your sleep"

Truly, the area of research dealing with SP is in it's infancy. Researchers are always on the lookout for sufferers of this bizarre yet not too uncommon condition. If you feel you suffer from SP, there are a number of websites on the internet that have surveys you can take. By just answering a few questions you could possibly help researchers
attain a deeper understanding of this bizarre phenomena. And you never know, maybe there IS some truth in the old legends!