Is it normal to have a fear of developing old hag syndrome?

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14 Comments

For as long as I can remember I have had strange dreams that effect me physically. Like dreams where the ground turns to water and i fall in causing me to actually hold my breath and wake up gasping for air. I also frequently experience sleep paralysis which is when I wake up but am still asleep and cannot move, only my eyes are open causing vivid horrifying hallucinations caused by seeing my room and also seeing things i`m dreaming about in my room which are all negative due to the feeling of doom and terror that this causes. I recently learned about old hag syndrome which is like a combination of these two awful symptoms. This is when you wake up paralyzed with a hideous old hag sitting on your chest and strangling you (which actually causes you to stop breathing) sometimes accompanied by maniacal laughter. does this seem like a rational fear to anyone else?

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61% Normal
Based on 44 votes (27 yes)
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Comments ( 14 )
  • MichelleZB
    12 years ago

    Sleep paralysis with some hallucination is normal. I'm sorry it's happening to you.

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  • Yekina
    12 years ago

    hey.. So my ex has experienced exactly the same thing when he was visiting me in SA and when he went back home to England.. and he asked a priest a few questions about it, or he was going to and when he phoned the priest withought even telling him about the dreams and waking up paralyzed the priest told him he had sleep paralysis and they call her the old hag and that she is an incubus demon.. really strange that the priest knew this. And then there is his ex girlfriend who apparently was into wichcraft she admitted it to him, I didnt know neither did his sister or an Indian friend of mine whos never met him, even he knew there was something weird going on with his ex girlfriend.. and both me and his siter told him the same day that she still has a hold on him ( uhm.. a spiritual link created through sex ) neither of us knew that we were about to tell him the exact same thing over a text. And moments later he got an email from the ex girl.. explaining exactly that! coincedence? what does this have to do with the old hag? we are supernatural beings with immortal souls.. there must be some kind of supernatural forces at play.

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  • squirrelgirl
    12 years ago

    I have heard of those things happening to people before. In fact, my mom experiences sleep paralysis sometimes. So your fears are not unfounded.

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  • Shackleford96
    12 years ago

    It almost seems as though you are joking, but If you are not then i feel bad for you because that sounds horrible and i have heard of sleep paralysis before as well.

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  • [Old Memory]
    12 years ago

    Indicative of the sexism and ageism that is pervasive in our society. Why does this monster spirit have to be female and old?

    Do you feel the way you hate
    Do you hate the way you feel
    Always closer to the flame
    Ever closer to the blade

    I am poison crazy lush
    Built these hands to lift me up
    We are servants of our formulaic ways

    I'm screaming daisies
    From 14 miles away
    I've got my own time
    Got it all today

    Make up your mind
    Need some help
    To find this mind,mind,mind

    Limbo this and limbo that
    You were this and you were that
    Ever know that what you fear is what you find

    This indian summer
    I signed my life away
    There's a greedy fly in here
    And I fly away

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    • mikehambci
      12 years ago

      umm i dont know why it is said to come in female form or why its old but i dont think its a matter of bigotry

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      • [Old Memory]
        12 years ago

        Well, Mike, you might want to reflect on that the next time an old hag is sitting on your chest and choking the shit out of you... Why are you an old woman, demon? Why not a chimpanzee or a Leprechaun? What is this physical form of yours trying to tell me?

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        • mikehambci
          12 years ago

          well fortunately i have not actually had the hag sitting on my chest during my episodes. So i cant ask her if she isn't here but if your implying that i have some deep rooted hatred of women and/or the elderly (and it sounds like you are) that couldn't be further from the truth. i love my sisters, nieces and grandmother more than anyone else and Ive only broken up with one of my girlfriends on bad terms. i also love the way older people act and their high standards of morality as well as incredibly low rates of divorce. so i don't see what could cause me to have that kind of insecurity.

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        • mikehambci
          12 years ago

          P.S. The term "Old Hag Syndrome" is a psychological term which mental health professionals use to classify this particular manifestation of sleep paralysis. Although, the phenomenon has been documented since before the common era in tales of visitation by "The Night Hag" which is one of the many forms of Incubi/succubi which are demons from ancient Jewish folklore who prey on people in their sleep. These apparitions have been reported all over the world in every culture by both men and women and have come in both male and female form. Therefore i do not think it is indicative of sexism or ageism. In fact i bet if you looked you could find at least one elderly feminist who has experienced this at least once in their lifetime.

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  • Chillpill
    12 years ago

    these kind of dreams can be frightening. I've also experienced sleep paralysis and "the witch riding my back", but remember that there are no supernatural forces at play.

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  • [Old Memory]
    12 years ago

    truly horrible (and scary) keep a hammer by the bed and if you have that nightmare again, jump up and hit the door frame hard with the hammer
    "SHOW YOURSELF SHE DEVIL! COME TO ME! " yell and bang bang bang
    then go back to bed happy , you are the winner and you rule. goodluck

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  • AngAnders112
    12 years ago

    old hag? I always thought it was an incubus demon that sits in your chest. I never heard of the old hag theory before.

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  • Cobrakitnu
    12 years ago

    And of course, I go and research it (along with viewing the pictures) at 1:30 in the morning. Shit.

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  • Cobrakitnu
    12 years ago

    Both of those things happen to me, and now you have me worried.

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