http://sleepparalysis.dnswh.com/what_is_sleep_paralysis.htm
The term "Old Hag" was and is still used to describe a demon, ghost, etc. that sits upon their victim's chest, causing paralysis and sometimes making it hard to breathe, the explanations for why an old hag would choose to do this is are as varied as the cultures on earth who experience it. Though nowadays most people who report experiencing SP claim to have never actually SEEN an old hag sitting on their chest, it's not hard to imagine why or how the legend began, and the term stuck. In the past 10 years, and especially the last 2, more and more people are learning that Old Hag actually has a name, Sleep Paralysis, and that is is being seriously studied by researchers around the world. And conversely, researchers are beginning to learn that this is not an isolated event, occurring to just a small percent of the population. Many people have experienced Sleep Paralysis but were just too afraid to mention it their doctor's, psychological or medical, and even leery about discussing it with friends or relatives. Now that the subject is becoming more understood, people are a lot more apt to come forward and talk about their experiences with Sleep Paralysis, and the more people that do so, the sooner scientists and researchers can find out about just what it is that's going on during an episode of Sleep Paralysis. And who knows, maybe the parapsychologists will need to be called in as well, because we all know, 'stranger things have happened."
Sleep paralysis is a phenomenon that is known, to some extent, by all cultures throughout the world. Some people say attacking aliens are the cause of sleep paralysis,
while others credit the "Devil" himself and/or his minions, and if not that, then the classic "old hag" who sits on an unsuspecting sleeping person's chest, and upon their waking realize they are powerless to move. For what ends a hag would do this are as varied as the cultures on the planet.
The old hag does not always appear as a grotesque elderly matron. For more on the legends and lore of similar 'old hag' experiences, see the bottom part of this page.
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 that 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 the "twilight" stage. Your conscious mind has begun to drift into sleep but is not yet there, therefore 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 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 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 person experiencing the SP, who from here on in I will refer to as the 'subject', for the sole purpose of easily identifying the one experiencing the SP. 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 very evil, terrible "thing" is just right outside my field of vision, and if I weren't paralyzed and was able to turn my ahead 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 subject 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
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" the presence 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. These hallucinations are given these names because they occur at the onset of sleep, and the period just before waking, the period I call the 'twilight' stages of sleep. They can be auditory, visual, tactile and proprioceptive. A proprioceptor is a sensory receptor found mainly in the joints, muscles, tendons and inner ear that detects motion and can also can detect the position of a limb by responding to internal stimuli. This means when a person feels smashed into the bed or a creature is sitting on their chest that it really can be a VERY convincing hallucination. So I'd say that is possibly one of the single greatest arguments for a pro-"it's all in your mind" stance on SP. Because of proprioceptors we can feel as though we're falling through the bed, even though we actually are lying quite stationary, it can be among the most convincing of all hallucinations.
From my 'research into other people's research' I have found a few people ('people' meaning doctor's studying sleep research and/or their students contributing to the research) that agree that there are or can be several outside contributing factors to SP. Stress, emotional or physical, and one you have no power over, adolescence. The first time I heard this I automatically thought about the correlation between poltergeists and adolescent children, pre-pubescent or pubescent. Of course my train of thought ended there because I have no specialized skills in psychology, parapsychology or kids.
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! And remember, this is not written in stone. This is scientific theory, not scientific fact. Who's to say these experiences aren't real? Or for that matter, more real than anything we've ever experienced? Maybe they can be so terrifying because it's a reality experienced on a totally different level. So who's to say these aren't angels here to show us another place? Maybe our fear is the totally normal and understandable fear of not wanting to leave our physical bodies. Maybe it's NO ONE showing us anything, maybe we are doing the looking and the searching all on our own. And then again, maybe it's just all in our heads.
Or conversely, something altogether more sinister. Maybe it is something so innately evil, even if we want to 'go with the flow' and see where the experience takes us, the deepest part of our minds will not let us, perhaps because we somehow already know of this nemesis. Who knows, maybe it's just gas. And maybe it's not, hmmm.
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 off" 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 manufactured 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 significant 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, regain consciousness but continue to 'dream'. Researchers believe the paralysis is due to the failure of the brains neurons to "remind" the body it is now awake so it is unable to move (called muscle atonia). And remember, not only is the person 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. This theory seems wrong to me, or at least it doesn't seem to apply to my SP. Dreams are very distinct, they have an obvious 'surrealness' about them, whereas my SP is a totally different thing. It's hard to explain, but if you've experienced SP,
