Hag Attack

sneha1965 · #1 11-07-2011, 06:07 PM

So the first night my younger sister returned from CA last month she woke up to a black shadow on top of her. She struggled to get it off as it held her down. She says that it like a heavy weight pressing her down into the bed. She prayed for it to leave her and it left. I've only told a few people about this because it sounds completely crazy but I know my sister is not crazy. I've heard that it could be something referred to as a Hag Attack. Has anyone had one of these? Know anything about them?

i_got_a_mohawk · #2 11-07-2011, 06:12 PM

Never heard that term, but it does sound like a form of sleep paralysis.

I've experienced it once, was fully concious yet couldn't move. I didn't see anything, but did hear a sniffing sound.

Does it happen often, or is this the first time it has happened?

If it hasn't happened before, chances are it was a one off (can happen). If it starts to happen more often, see a doctor about it, though Im not sure what it could be symptomatic of.

It's generally a mental blip where you don't wake up as you normally would, you become fully concious but without having "woken up" to move around.

i_got_a_mohawk · #3 11-07-2011, 06:13 PM

Some generic history on it here:

Sleep paralysis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

sneha1965 · #4 11-07-2011, 06:16 PM

She's never had it before. My older sister passed away last at the end of Sept. and she was home for the first night. She was emotionally and physically spent. She has not had one since but she was very afraid of what was going on.

Bloodhammer · #5 11-07-2011, 06:17 PM

It's happened to me before, usually when I was laying on my back. It starts as a falling sensation and then becomes like shackles. I've never seen anything to accompany the paralysis, upon waking up to it, but the shadow she saw was most likely a dream remnant.

It's scary, but goes away quickly.

Edit: I linked to the same article Mohawk did.

Munjibunga · #6 11-07-2011, 06:22 PM

Yep. Hag attack. Happens all the time.

GypsyMan · #7 11-07-2011, 06:23 PM

Night Hag, look it up, Cool.

sneha1965 · #8 11-07-2011, 06:24 PM

Has anyone had trouble breathing as well when this happened?

T-Bird · #9 11-07-2011, 06:26 PM

Hi.

Another vote for sleep paralysis.

When I was younger and still studying hard, I got mostly only the hypnic jerks, but nothing more severe than that. That occured from once a day to once a week. Now it's once a month or less (40 now). Never bothered me much.

My mind and body did fall asleep on different times though, but not more than a few seconds difference.

Regards
Sam

sneha1965 · #10 11-07-2011, 06:28 PM

Hmmm. Yeah, not sure what it is but she seems to feel like it was some thing/body holding her down. She said she also had trouble breathing while it was happening. I have had the jerking awake when I'm dozing off but this was different.

Bloodhammer · #11 11-07-2011, 06:30 PM

Something like this?

sneha1965 · #12 11-07-2011, 06:36 PM

I think she'd be in the pysch ward if she saw that and possibly ruined the sheets.

i_got_a_mohawk · #13 11-07-2011, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sneha1965

Hmmm. Yeah, not sure what it is but she seems to feel like it was some thing/body holding her down. She said she also had trouble breathing while it was happening. I have had the jerking awake when I'm dozing off but this was different.

Most likely a more severe version of the same thing. I wonder if the trouble breathing was caused by panic. As worrying as these things can be, you need to try to remain calm.

The recent loss & catching up with family could have been a stressor that caused an abnormal sleep. What you can see is very real, to your mind. Nothing plays tricks on someone quite as well as their own head!

T-Bird · #14 11-07-2011, 07:26 PM

Hi.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sneha1965

Hmmm. Yeah, not sure what it is but she seems to feel like it was some thing/body holding her down. She said she also had trouble breathing while it was happening. I have had the jerking awake when I'm dozing off but this was different.

This was her first time, right?

Anything unexpected like that is usually as scary as hell.

Remember Your first heartburn?

Remember Your first migrane attack, especially if it involved only the partial loss of vision?

Remember Your first immobilizing muscle spasm that you didn't know how to get rid of?

Etc, etc.

Those things get discussed quite a bit, so people are familiar with them. But still scares the proverbial number two out of you the first time.

When the body is immobilized and yet the mind is concious, it's a small wonder if one doesn't feel like something's holding them down.

Any docs or biology teachers around who could explain it to her eye to eye?

Regards
Sam

sneha1965 · #15 11-07-2011, 07:31 PM

I don't think she's up for talking about it. At least not yet.

T-Bird · #16 11-07-2011, 07:59 PM

Hi.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sneha1965

I don't think she's up for talking about it. At least not yet.

I'm no shrink, but I'd say that's very counterproductive.

There's a very, very slim chance she's ill, and most likely it's just a pretty normal condition that's just not widely discussed as it's rather hard to determine, is not life threatening, and quite frankly makes one sound that they're just watched too much horror movies.

Perhaps You can direct her to the sleep paralysis articles, so she can identify her symptoms.

Her mind won't be able to process it alone, that's for sure.

BTW, how old is she?
Makes the world of difference IMHO.

Regards
sam

BurningSkies · #17 11-07-2011, 08:08 PM

I had this happen once. Loads of people told me it was sleep paralysis. Then it happened to me in a situation with another person in the bed (my girlfriend at the time) with me...with both of us were awake at the time of the 'attack'. It also happened to her in my room while sleeping there alone one afternoon. She told it to go away and it did. I had a couple more similar experiences...and probably more importantly, there were numerous other unexplained events in the house as witnessed by quite a few people.

sneha1965 · #18 11-07-2011, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T-Bird

Hi.

I'm no shrink, but I'd say that's very counterproductive.

There's a very, very slim chance she's ill, and most likely it's just a pretty normal condition that's just not widely discussed as it's rather hard to determine, is not life threatening, and quite frankly makes one sound that they're just watched too much horror movies.

Perhaps You can direct her to the sleep paralysis articles, so she can identify her symptoms.

Her mind won't be able to process it alone, that's for sure.

BTW, how old is she?
Makes the world of difference IMHO.

Regards
sam

It would have to be her choice to talk to someone about it. I would personally, or least of all I would want to find out more about them which is part of why I started the thread.

fhm555 · #19 11-07-2011, 08:47 PM

I'm betting a mild breakdown or panic attack brought on by prolonged emotional turmoil over the death of a sib and exhaustion from travel. Smacks of PTSD.

I've know truckers who told me about having very vivid, very real (to them) hallucinations, and strange full body sensations like burning or tingling when they were completely exhausted and still trying to drive.

Try to draw her out about it if she's afraid. Nothing quite like talking about them in the good light of day to assuage night terrors. A good antidote for that kind of fear is usually to make clear to her she's not alone. It's possible she could even be experiencing some guilt associated with her sister's death.

Either way, stuffing any negative emotion only prolongs the misery so unless she gets hostile about it, broach the subject and get her talking. If she refuses, give her a day or so and try again.

Good luck and Godspeed.

ZachM · #20 11-07-2011, 09:07 PM

Yeah, it's sleep paralysis. I had a friend in college that experienced it at regular intervals, and he learned to eventually realize when it was happening, which allowed him to escape it when it occurred. According to him, when you are able to recognize the attack for what it is, you are able to get out of it.

For him, it was generally brought about by times of high stress, which it certainly sounds like your sister was under, given the death of a family member. Also, my friend said it was much more likely to happen if he thought about it too much before going to sleep. I'm not sure if there's real evidence to support that, but I would guess that your mental state going into rest could certainly be a factor in whether this happens.

My friend has had a few different types of sleep paralysis, which range from the chest-pressure thing your sister experienced, to seeing a black figure in the corner of the room or in the doorway, to sensing something in his peripheral vision but not being able to turn and see it.