


To increase the overall quality of your sleep, try these healthy sleeping tips: There are several things you can do to help reduce the chance you’ll experience sleep paralysis. That’s because people find it frightening not to be able to move or speak, especially when it’s accompanied by the distinct feeling that someone or something is preventing you from breaking free. These varied cultural representations all have the same element: fear. In the 1781 painting “The Nightmare,” Swiss-English artist Henry Fuseli depicted a young woman sprawled on her bed with a gremlin crouching on her abdomen. In Japan, sleep paralysis is explained as a spirit seeking vengeance by suffocating you in your sleep.Īnd in Brazil, the culprit is a roof-dwelling crone named Pisadeira who attacks those who sleep on their backs while their stomachs are full. In Newfoundland, Canada, people traditionally call it “old hag” syndrome because it feels as though a witch-like creature is perched on the chest.Īccording to a similar Nigerian tradition, a demon-woman pounces during your dreams and renders you motionless. People in cultures all over the world have used their own folklore to explain the phenomenon. Sleep paralysis is an almost universal experience.

Why do some people call it ‘old hag’ syndrome?
