We all know and love her. We grew up watching her in one of our favorite Disney Channel Original movie series, Halloweentown. Yet, I have no logical explanation as to why among all creatures an episode of sleep paralysis made me hallucinate that Aggie Cromwell from Halloweentown was trying to hurt me.
Watching the films as a child I was never fearful of Aggie’s character or the premise of the film, and I think highly of the late Debbie Reynolds as an actress.
However, I have often dealt with episodes of sleep paralysis and its consequences.
Sleep paralysis is a type of parasomnia that is, at this point in time and research, inexplicable and mysterious. It is best learned and understood through experience, but as I have suffered from a couple of episodes, I can be sure no one would be glad to have experienced one.
It happens either when you are falling asleep or are waking up, but throughout the experience you feel awake. That is explained by the disruption of the REM, Rapid Eye Movement cycle of dreams. Feeling part of waking consciousness while experiencing an episode is horrifying, because it is not just a frightening dream, the feeling is like a nightmare you would go through while awake.
Often times one is confused by whether or not an episode occurred. It is clearly defined by hallucinations directed by the amygdala section of your brain that signals what we know as the “fight or flight” response. Because our muscles are relaxed during REM, the paralysis disables reactions caused by the nightmares.
We’re all pretty much familiar with the terrible characteristics of the occasional nightmare. But if you’ve ever felt the following:
- Extensive sense of an evil presence accompanied by various sounds
- Inability to move arms, legs, body, or head
- Inability to speak
- Difficulty breathing, feelings of suffocation, a sort of pressure and tension along your body
- A hallucination that instills fear and anxiety
You may have experienced an episode of sleep paralysis.
One of the most defining features of an episode is a hallucination. A realistic perception of your environment along with a sensation of an ominous presence makes your emotions feel beyond that of terror when you are completely immobile.
The paralysis aspect of the dread makes the situation even further unclear. So you visualize something scary and the awareness of the entity co-occurs, but your body feels completely incapable of anything. You feel tied down, and the hard pressure on your chest makes breathing difficult. Screaming as a response to the hallucinations, although completely normal, is entirely impossible.
Yes, my horrific creature hallucinated was Aggie Cromwell, the sweet grandmother from Halloweentown. The episode did not last long when I figured by brain was trying to trick me into thinking the good witch was holding me down and trying to, in essence, kill me. Aggie Cromwell as a bad witch had to be a hallucination.
Facts on sleep paralysis:
- It is most likely to occur at the point of adolescence
- An episode can last from a few seconds or minutes
- It can be triggered by stress, jet lag, sleep deprivation, panic disorder, and substance abuse
- Compulsive features include the inability to move or speak, along with hallucinations
- And the most important to note: Although it can be deeply terrifying and haunting, it is not physically harmful and there are ways it can be prevented.
Even though episodes can only last a couple seconds to a few minutes, the feelings are undesirable and highly anxiety-inducing.