SLEEP PARALYSIS - FEAR

SLEEP PARALYSIS

 

Introduction

"You wake up in the middle of the night and find that you couldn't move or cry out for help... barely able to breathe.... you feel a heavy weight on your chest... you see a shadowy intruder by the bed... you sense that it is evil...and you are powerless to do anything about it...."

Have you just experienced a supernatural force, an alien abduction or have you experienced sleep paralysis?

People from all over the world have experienced this unnerving phenomenon. The victims wake to find they can't move, even though they can see, hear, and smell. There is usually the feeling of great weight on the chest that causes breathing difficulties and the sense that there is some sinister presence in the room with them. Often there is the sound of approaching footsteps, apparitions of strange shadows, or even glowing eyes.

With such bizarre and frightening experiences, it is no wonder that many people fear that they have been attacked in their beds by some malevolent spirit or perhaps had an alien visitation.

The phenomenon occurs to both males and females of various ages and seems to affect between 15 to 40% of the population at least once in a lifetime. It affects people, sleeping during the day or night, and is a worldwide phenomenon that has been documented since ancient times.

 

Sleep Paralysis and Folklore

According to Wikipedia, the original paralysis was codified by Dr. Samuel Johnson in his "A Dictionary of the English Language" as a "nightmare", that evolved into the modern definition. Sleep paralysis was widely considered to be the work of demons or an incubus, which were thought to sit on the chest of sleepers. In Old English, the name of these beings was "mare" therefore becomes "mare" is part of "in a nightmare".

In Newfoundland, South Carolina, Georgia uses the term "Hag" who leaves her physical body at night and sits on the chest of her victim. Her victim usually wakes with a feeling of terror, has difficulty breathing because of a heavy invisible weight on the chest, and is unable to move, e.g., experiences of sleep paralysis. The experience is called "Hagridden". The "Old Hag" was a nightmare spirit in Britain and also in Anglophone North America.

In Fiji sleep paralysis is interpreted as "Kana tevora", being eaten or possessed by a demon. In many cases, the "demon" can be the spirit of a deceased relative who has come back for unfinished business or needs to communicate important news to the living. Often people sleeping near the afflicted person say "Kania Kania" (eat-eat) in an attempt to prolong the possession for a chance to converse with the dead relative or spirit and to seek answers for why they have come back. The victim waking from the experience is often asked to curse or chase away the dead relative, which can involve speaking to the spirit and telling it to go away.

In Nigeria, sleep paralysis is far more common amongst African decent than the white population and often is referred to within African communities as the "Devil on your back".

In Chinese, culture sleep paralysis is known as "pinyin: gui ya shen" or " pinyin gui ya chuang"  which translates into "ghost pressing on the body" or "ghost in bed".

In Japanese culture, sleep paralysis is referred to "shibura", meaning to bind or tie, to fasten.

In Korean culture, sleep paralysis is called "gawee nulim", meaning "being pressed down by scissor". It is often associated with ghosts or spirits that lay on top of or press down on the victim.

In Cambodian, Laotian and Thia cultures sleep paralysis is called "phii am" and khmout "sukkhot". It is described as a person who is sleeping and dreams that one or more ghostly apparitions are nearby or even holding the victim down. The victim usually thinks that they are awake but unable to move or make any sound.

In Vietnamese culture, sleep paralysis is known as "ma de", which means being held down by a ghost or "Boing de" being held down by a shadow.

In Iceland, folk culture sleep paralysis is commonly called having a "Mara". A goblin or succubus (normally a female) is believed to cause nightmares. The origin of the word "nightmare" is derived from her name.

Other European cultures have variants of the same folklore calling her different names.

During the Salem which trials in America, people reported nightmare attacks by various alleged witches, including Bridget Bishop. This may have been the result of sleep paralysis.

In Mexico, it is believed by many that sleep paralysis is caused by the spirit of a dead person. This particular ghost lies down upon the body of the sleeping victim, rendering them unable to move. It is referred to as "Subirse el Muerto" meaning "dead person on you".

Alien Abduction or Sleep Paralysis?

Alien abduction has become a household name since the Betty and Barney Hill abduction case was published. There have been thousands of abduction accounts reported, and hundreds of books, movies and documentaries produced. People from many different countries have reported and shared their often-terrifying stories of alien abduction.

Most abduction reports usually start when the victim falls asleep... waking to find themselves unable to move...feeling a presence in the room... seeing one or more strange beings standing over them...waking up feeling very strange with vague memories of what happened.

Many of these people will then attempt to remember these blurry memories by hypnosis. During hypnosis, the abductee undergoes a regression session, where they are taken back to the time of paralysis or abduction. Most will have memories of being taken out of their bedroom and into a craft of some type. Some will remember experiments done, while others would be subject to cross-breeding. Mostly grey aliens with large eyes and skinny bodies perform the experiments. Then they find themselves back in bed. a number of these individuals will have this terrifying experience happen a number of times.

Are these people really being abducted by aliens and experimented on or is there another explanation? According to many within the UFO community, the abduction phenomenon is really happening, and it is happening all over the world. Many of the abductions reported are very similar and affect the mental health and well-being of the people involved. According to many within the UFO field, some of the abductions start when the person is a child and continues throughout their lives. In recent years, the idea of an alien abduction being a terrifying type of sleep paralysis is now being investigated by numerous Ufologists but most of them have a different slant on the medical condition to the scientific community. There are a number of different points of view, some agree with the scientific point of view, others believe aliens have the ability to create sleep paralysis to subdue the victim to make it easier to abduct them, and others believe that the government created the myth of sleep paralysis to cover up alien abductions.

But in recent times, a new theory was introduced by the scientific community that the alien abduction experience was a type of sleep paralysis.  Some psychologists believe that the abduction experience is a modern version of the unpleasant experience reported in the past as the 'old hag or the "incubus (read sleep paralysis & folklore).  Most within the Psychology community believe that hypnosis is a misleading method for retreating lost memories and can render the subject susceptible to creating memories that never really happened. They say these false memories can be created by asking leading questions like "Is there anyone in the room?" or "describe the spaceship?".

A study conducted by a psychologist at Harvard University found that the abductees showed little evidence of psychopathology in abductees. The research did indicate most of the individuals did not meet the criteria for serious psychiatric impairment but did score high on schizotypy. Many were prone to magical and imaginary thinking. The study concluded that many of the abductees were prone to creating false memories under lab conditions and were confused about the source of the memories. The study also made some other discoveries - high heart rate, and brain waves revealed that many in the study showed similar symptoms of post-traumatic stress as seen in combat veterans. The researchers concluded that the abductees reacted to the emotional significance of their memories, whether true or not, it causes a very real effect on their well-being.

There are other diagnostic explanations for this phenomenon by the psychiatric community. The most common ones are post-traumatic syndrome, bipolar personality disorder, and temporal lobe seizures. It is also thought that individuals who have suffered traumatic situations during their life may recreate the experience as an abduction situation.

But for the most part, it is believed that most abduction cases are highly imaginative people who have experienced sleep paralysis and later through hypnotism have created false memories of the experience that affected their health and well-being.

While there is no solid proof of alien abduction, it would be silly to dismiss all alien abduction cases; especially the ones involving people in a non-sleep state e.g., driving a car, taking a walk, doing gardening, etc.  These people would not be affected by sleep paralysis or any other sleep disorder.

Keith Basterfield, a longtime researcher into UFO phenomenon based in South Australia, wrote an article titled "Waking Paralyzed: Abduction or Sleep Paralysis" (published in Australian Ufologists Magazine vol. 6 No.1 Pgs 12-20). It is a very informative article that looks at the subject in a logical and sensible manner. In the last section of his article titled "Further Research", he tells the readers that there is a need for further research on this subject and gives a number of examples, which I am going to list to finish this section.

UFO researchers should conduct inquiries into a sleep pattern, sleep disorders, and reported imagery of abductees at the time of the abduction, as they conduct their investigations with a view to testing the sleep paralysis hypothesis.

Case studies of individual abductees need to be undertaken looking at their lifelong medical history, and specifically their sleeping habit history.

There is a need for someone to compare the incidence of sleep paralysis and disorders between abductees and non-abductee populations to see if differences are noticeable.

A study needs to be undertaken on the role of sleep paralysis in the abduction scenario. Waking paralyzed is one thing; being abducted in a car, taken to a UFO, and finding oneself paralyzed on a table is another experience.

 

Medical Definition of Sleep Paralysis

[ SOURCE from the Medical Dictionary of MedicineNet.com]

Sleep paralysis is a frightening form of "paralysis" that occurs when a person suddenly finds himself or herself unable to move for a few minutes, most often upon falling asleep or waking up. Sleep paralysis is due to an ill-timed disconnection between the brain and the body.

The symptoms of sleep paralysis include sensations of noises, smells, levitation, paralysis, terror, and images of frightening intruders. Once considered very rare, about half of all people are now believed to experience sleep paralysis sometime during their life.

Sleep paralysis strikes as a person is moving into or out of REM (Rapid eye movement) sleep., the deepest part of sleep. During REM sleep the body is largely disconnected from the brain leaving the body paralyzed. Sleep paralysis is the result of premature (or persistent) mind-body disconnection as one is about to enter into (or exit from) REM sleep.

Sleep paralysis occurs often after jet-lag or periods of sleeplessness that interrupt the normal REM patterns. It affects both sexes equally and occurs at all ages but is most common in teenagers. Sleep paralysis can be familial and may be genetic (inherited) in some cases.

An attack of sleep paralysis is usually harmless and self-limited. It tends to be over in a couple of minutes as soon as the brain and body re-establish connections and the person is able to move again. However, the memory of the terrifying sensations felt during sleep paralysis can be long endured. Some scholars believe that sleep paralysis many accounts for many of the claims of attacks by witches and the more recent reports of abductions by space aliens.

Sleep paralysis goes under a number of names, including "old Hag in Newfoundland (an old witch thought to sit on the chest of the paralyzed sleeper). In the West Indies, it is thought to be a ghost baby that jumps on the chest of the sleeper and attacks the throat. Kanashibian in Japan and Gui ya or ghost pressure in China (a ghost that sits on and assaults the sleeper).

Medically, sleep paralysis is sometimes known as "waking Paralysis, predomital (before sleep) paralysis, postdormital (after sleep) paralysis, and REM sleep atonia.

Types

Hypnagogic or predormital sleep paralysis:

It occurs while a person is falling asleep. As you fall asleep, the body slowly relaxes. Normally a person becomes aware of the change but if the person remains aware while falling asleep, motion and speech is ceased.

Hypnopompic or postdormital sleep paralysis:

It occurs when the person is waking up. During sleep, the body alternates between REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. On cycle of REM and NREM sleep, lasts about 90 minutes. NREM sleep occurs first and takes up to 75% of the overall sleep time. During NREM sleep, the body relaxes and restores itself. At the end of NREM, sleep shifts to REM. Eyes moves quickly and dreams occur, but the rest of the body remains relaxed. Muscles are "turned off" during REM sleep. If a person becomes aware before REM cycle has finished, people may notice they can move or talk.

Causes

• Lack of sleep.
• Irregular sleeping schedule.
• Sleeping in supine position (with face upwards)
• Sudden stress.
• Narcolepsy.
• Medication and alcohol.

References

* Wikipedia...Sleep Paralysis.
* Keith Basterfield... (The Australian Ufologist Magazine Vol 6 No.1 Pgs12-20)
* Sleep Paralysis... Medical Dictionary (medicineNet.com)
* Alien abduction or sleep paralysis (ezineartcles.com/? Alien-abduction-Or-Sleep Paralysis)