STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

CarrieS · Marc Jacobs

Sleep Paralysis?

sage · Dooney & Bourke

What are the symptoms?? Can you just not move and/or wake up?? Sometimes I feel almost comatose in sleep. Tell me more.

CarrieS · Marc Jacobs

It happens when you're just going into REM sleep, or just coming out of it. But it's when you're somewhat conscious of your surroundings, but you are unable to move your limbs, hence the paralysis part of it. It's been described by people as having the feeling that someone is sitting on them and preventing them from moving. It only lasts for about 2 minutes and you either go back into REM or you wake up totally.

For me, I'll be in this semi comatose state and I'm unable to move my head at all and I have to force it to move, which loosens up the rest of my body also. It's pretty freaky and brings on slight panic.

ico · Dooney & Bourke

yeah, it has happened to me, but I didn't think it had a name and that other people had experienced that too. It feels like you are completely powerless! I always freak out, only to think in the morining that I was probably sleeping.

Maven · BCBG

It has happened to me several times. Once I was dreaming I had awakened and went downstairs to sleep on the sofa in the family room. Someone was trying to open the sliding glass door. I had to get up and chase them away but I couldn't move. Panic! Then I woke up and I was upstairs in my own bed.

I have wondered if this may explain some people's experience with being possessed by evil spirits. In my growing up years I heard many stories about people who had been possessed. I remember one where a boy said that a demon or spirit was sitting on his chest so he couldn't get up. This story popped into my head when I read this post.

rosey · Dooney & Bourke

One of my old roommates was from Newfoundland and studied folklore traditions in Ireland and Newfoundland and talked about this all the time. Apparently, in folk traditions only in NF and Ireland, this is referred to as "The Hag" and often the paralysis is accompanied by a scary old woman sitting on the chest and stealing your breath. She said one of her profs from college wrote a book (or series of articles, can't remember?) all about this. Also, when she was studying this in a class, a prof cautioned the class to not read their assigned articles about "The Hag" before bed because there's a direct correlation between reading about it before bed and getting it. I've never had it happen (knock on wood), but when she first told me about it, I was up all night! I just think it's really interesting how this happens to so many people and a whole distinct folklore tradition has been built upon it in these two places!

ejc423 · Coach

Yikes! I have never even heard of this, but I betcha now that I know about it, the Hag will come get me too!

bean · Kenneth Cole

wow... This is so interesting! CarrieS, I tried to find the thread over at MUA, but I couldn't.

I never knew there was a name for this... I started experiencing something that sounds like this starting a few years ago. I don't know if I feel totally paralyzed, but it is very hard for me to move, except my head. but mostly it's almost impossible for me to talk. like if my husband says something to me and I try to respond, I'll be barely murmuring like someone who's just woken up from a coma!

bex · Chanel

fantastic guys! i am in a hotel room tonight and even though i travel and stay on my own all the time- i am always a little skittish about it... and then i read this about an hour before i am going to go to sleep!!!! eek!!!!

Drew · Gucci

bex wrote:

fantastic guys! i am in a hotel room tonight and even though i travel and stay on my own all the time- i am always a little skittish about it... and then i read this about an hour before i am going to go to sleep!!!! eek!!!!

How'd you sleep last night, bex? hee hee

bex · Chanel

Drew wrote:

How'd you sleep last night, bex? hee hee

horrible... but i didn't attribute it to reading this... i just had one of the hotels where you can literally hear all the bumps and creaks... so annoying. sometimes i get lucky (i always stay within the same hotel chain b/c i carry so many points through them i can get away with anything) and have a really great night... but not last night. sorry- no hag visits!