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Old hag syndrome

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dyingsun

dyingsun

Paranormal Adept
Has anyone else ever experienced this ? I just recently recalled an episode, maybe 6-7 years ago, where I seemingly woke up, couldn't move a limb at all ,and saw a 'dwarf' like figure, completely hooded, at the foot of my bed.'It' never turned to me, nor did it pay me any attention it seemed, but it still scared the crap out of me back then.
I guess after a few moments I fell back into sleep, but I vividly remember this.There seem to be a lot of explanations for 'old hag syndrome' (fear etc. coming with it), but has anyone else experienced anything like this ? (to clarify, I think many if not all 'in bed and paralyzed' encounters are related to said syndrome)
 
Sounds like sleep paralysis, its very common and i've experienced it many times. Its pretty much impossible to distinguish from actually being awake which is what makes it so scary, but it mainly happens in younger children and teenagers.
Some interesting SP episodes I've had involved a screaming ghost and my bedroom door flying open with three greays standing there.

Interestingly, on the screaming Ghost one, my leg was still hurting for about half an hour after the incident, and my ears were still ringing which made it a lot more freaky.

IMO its responsible for a 99% of the cases where people think they have been abducted by aliens, but is not a truly paranormal experience since you're brain is just in a state somewhere between being asleep and awake so it tricks itself.
 
The OLD HAG syndrome and sleep paralasis seem to overlap.

Another factor that seems to fit in, this syndrome is called "night terror"

And - below is a link to a really strange audio interview on Night Terror, with a paranormal undercurrent.

binnall of america : audio
 
dyingsun said:
Has anyone else ever experienced this ? I just recently recalled an episode, maybe 6-7 years ago, where I seemingly woke up, couldn't move a limb at all ,and saw a 'dwarf' like figure, completely hooded, at the foot of my bed.'It' never turned to me, nor did it pay me any attention it seemed, but it still scared the crap out of me back then.
I guess after a few moments I fell back into sleep, but I vividly remember this.There seem to be a lot of explanations for 'old hag syndrome' (fear etc. coming with it), but has anyone else experienced anything like this ? (to clarify, I think many if not all 'in bed and paralyzed' encounters are related to said syndrome)
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This reminds me of something I experienced when I had not slept for around 23 hours, I was on holiday and there had been a mix up with our time to be collected and driven to the airport-we had to vacate our room in time for the next guests to arrive so we were literally forced to stay awake whilst waiting for the coach.

Once on the coach and on our way to the airpor,t tiredness overwhelmed me but also the bad driving and noise kept jolting me awake-driving though the Greek town, narrrow roads, uneven surfaces etc, quite unpleasant when all you want to do is sleep::), and closing my eyes also makes me travel sick so I fought to stay awake.
As I gazed out of the window of the coach, watching holidaymakers enjoy the bars and nightlife, I saw, amongst people in shorts, t-shirts, these tiny people, I mean REALLY small!-also each one had hooded garments on-the strangest thing was that not one person seemed to move around them, not even notice them and bearing in mind how different these 'people' were dressed it just caught my attention.
I have always put it down to hallucinating because of the tiredness, only thing I can say is that once we'd driven through that part of town I didn't see them anymore-I think I had seen around 7 or 9 of them in total.

Also made me question if, when in between sleep and being fully awake-do we in a sense tune in to a different 'frequency'? bit far fetched? maybe..so interesting though! and so many people see figures when just woken or just going to sleep it seems..
 
I've had the experience of waking up, so I thought, unable to move. There was an apparition of an old man who looked very similar to 'Doc' from 'Back To The Future' at the foot of the bed. Then this dwarfish, black, "tar-baby" looking thing jumped on my sleeping girlfriend next to me. I was trying to scream and throw a punch at it but couldn't do anything. Then I snapped out of it and it was just another morning...but, damn...that was a heavy whatever it was.
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Mine was an old man, a long white bearded arab man :redface:

I woke up and couldn't move, this man was sitting on my chest staring me in the eyes. I could really feel the pressure of him sitting on me. He started to choke me with both hands around my neck and i couldn't breath, i thought i was going to die.

The next moment he was gone and i jumped off the bed. Scared the shit out of me :eek:
 
Once you learn to recognize it for what it is, it can be kinda fun...like watching a scary movie. It's been too long since I had a good paralyzing nightmare.
 
There seems to be a disconnect beween experiencers and sleep experts, I feel that there is probably truly SOME overlap, and that the experience claimed by some people is indeed SP, but most people seem able to truly differentiate wakefulness and sleep. I've had experiences that I'm certain are nothing more than SP (without visible entities), but I've also had experiences where (when tired, but not sleeping) I've felt the bed "sink" down as if someone sat on the bed. In fact, I experienced this very recently and the sensation was so profound that I thought my young son had come in and crawled into bed with me. When I turned over to talk to him, there was no one in the room. This was a very real sensation/experience and I most certainly wasn't asleep. That being said, I can recall SP episodes with the classic "terror and inability to move or yell out and I could have sworn that there was a demon in the room that I couldn't see, but could feel. Once I fought through the feeling and started moving my fingers, I broke out of the paralysis but the fear lingered. Was it "real"? Certainly the experience was real, was there truly a malevolent being in the room? MAYBE...Who truly knows? I think there is something more to it (on the whole) than simple SP or bad dreams. It's such a "real" thing to the people who have experienced it.
 
bmadccp said:
There seems to be a disconnect beween experiencers and sleep experts, I feel that there is probably truly SOME overlap, and that the experience claimed by some people is indeed SP, but most people seem able to truly differentiate wakefulness and sleep. I've had experiences that I'm certain are nothing more than SP (without visible entities), but I've also had experiences where (when tired, but not sleeping) I've felt the bed "sink" down as if someone sat on the bed. In fact, I experienced this very recently and the sensation was so profound that I thought my young son had come in and crawled into bed with me. When I turned over to talk to him, there was no one in the room. This was a very real sensation/experience and I most certainly wasn't asleep. That being said, I can recall SP episodes with the classic "terror and inability to move or yell out and I could have sworn that there was a demon in the room that I couldn't see, but could feel. Once I fought through the feeling and started moving my fingers, I broke out of the paralysis but the fear lingered. Was it "real"? Certainly the experience was real, was there truly a malevolent being in the room? MAYBE...Who truly knows? I think there is something more to it (on the whole) than simple SP or bad dreams. It's such a "real" thing to the people who have experienced it.
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Well put, bmadccp.
 
I thoroughly recommended Huffords ' The Terror that comes in the night : An experienced -centered study of the supernatural assault tradition' (1989) for a sober and sympathic assessment that does not rely on psychological reductionism, for anyone interested in this subject.

 
The old hag syndrome i dont think can be easily be dismissed as SP. I have had many episodes of hag syndrome and some SP bouts. With the old hag syndrome there is some visual/auditory connotations as compared to SP which i believe does not contain these features. I have read that SP can be sometimes induced by eating a late meal which during its digestion while asleep can lead to nightmares or episodes of SP.
From what i read and experienced myself I know that OHS can usually begin with an awareness of a presence in the room which causes one to awaken or if awake one becomes keenly aware of it. The immobilization of the body has happened to me both while awake and asleep and only the initial experience caused a visual experience of glowing red eyes, every other experience has had a low grumbling voice which was only heard in my right ear while experiencing the body immobilization. the feeling of being drained is usually always accompanied after the episode ends. This in contrast to the SP which for me has lead to some very wicked nightmares and interrupted sleep, but nothing in comparison to the OHS
 
Several years ago., shortly after settling into our present house., my wife and I had a shared SP incident. We were both conscious., though we could not move or speak until it had run it's course. There was the outline of a person standing at the foot of our bed., pitch black., darker than the surrounding darkness of our bedroom. The silhouette was obviously male, Powerfully built, between 5'6" and 5'8"., and it appeared to be wearing a medium brim fedora. If It had just been my wife or myself experiencing this separately., then we could have chalked it up to a bad dream. No., it was quite real.
 
Regarding Old Hag Syndrome, given that people report the bed sinking downwards and a physical pressure on their chests/throats, aren't we likely dealing with more than a psychological phenomenon, as odd as that seems? I assume that people actually see the bed sinking downwards also, if there is sufficient light? What about the multiple person (husband/wife) sightings, like the one recounted above? I recall some female victims reporting what they perceived to be involuntary sexual encounters. Sounds as if this may involve Chris O'Brien's multi-dimensional tricksters?
 
dude-with-no-life said:
Talking about fun....

Why can't you have a sexy babe violate you while your paralysed in your bed. Why the weird characters, just so typical for this life :D
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Why not? I've had multiple sleep paralysis/night terror incidents and they never feature anything good. No Megan Fox, no great sexual fantasies. I'm happy to accept the research findings about what causes SP. On the other hand, I've never read an academic explanation of why they always have to be nightmarish.
 
truthnotterror said:
The old hag syndrome i dont think can be easily be dismissed as SP. I have had many episodes of hag syndrome and some SP bouts. With the old hag syndrome there is some visual/auditory connotations as compared to SP which i believe does not contain these features. I have read that SP can be sometimes induced by eating a late meal which during its digestion while asleep can lead to nightmares or episodes of SP.
From what i read and experienced myself I know that OHS can usually begin with an awareness of a presence in the room which causes one to awaken or if awake one becomes keenly aware of it. The immobilization of the body has happened to me both while awake and asleep and only the initial experience caused a visual experience of glowing red eyes, every other experience has had a low grumbling voice which was only heard in my right ear while experiencing the body immobilization. the feeling of being drained is usually always accompanied after the episode ends. This in contrast to the SP which for me has lead to some very wicked nightmares and interrupted sleep, but nothing in comparison to the OHS
Click to expand...

I have sounds and visuals in my SP. To me it sounds like what you are describing as OHS is just SP, and what you are describing as SP is just bad dreams
 
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