Diverging and Converging Explanatory Models of Sleep Paralysis: Phenomenological, Cultural and Medical Perspectives ______
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DIVERGING AND CONVERGING EXPLANATORY MODELS OF SLEEP PARALYSIS: PHENOMENOLOGICAL, CULTURAL AND MEDICAL PERSPECTIVES ____________________________________ A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of California State University, Fullerton ____________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Anthropology ____________________________________ By Bethany D. Ashford Thesis Committee Approval: Barbra E. Erickson, Department of Anthropology, Coordinator Sarah G. Grant, Department of Anthropology Linda Sun Crowder, Department of Anthropology Summer, 2017 ABSTRACT Sleep paralysis is a brief episode that occurs upon falling asleep or awakening, in which a person experiences full body paralysis and a sensation of pressure on the chest or throat, but is conscious and can see and hear. These experiential features are often accompanied by vivid hallucinations that an intruder is present, who may or may not physically attack the individual. These episodes typically result in intense fear and confusion. In this thesis, I use literature review to examine sleep paralysis from several perspectives in order to advance the holistic understanding of the human experience with the sleep paralysis phenomenon. Arthur Kleinman’s concept of explanatory models, which informs on the way individuals and cultures understand, cope with, and treat health related conditions and experiences, serves as a theoretical basis for cross-cultural analysis of sleep paralysis. The application of the concept of cultural salience reveals evidence that the level to which a culture endorses supernatural explanations of sleep paralysis has a positive correlation to the individual’s level of fear and belief in supernatural causation of the experience. This thesis presents ethnographic, psychological and neurological data showing that while the phenomenological features of the sleep paralysis experience are seemingly universal, the manifest thematic content of the accompanying hallucinations are experienced through diverse cultural lenses. This is supported by consistencies in historical and linguistic literature. Future ethnography and interdisciplinary research of sleep paralysis will benefit both academic and therapeutic pursuits. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... ii LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................. vi Chapter 1. PERSPECTIVES ON SLEEP PARALYSIS: OVERVIEW ................................ 1 The Sleep Paralysis Experience ............................................................................ 1 Objectives of this Thesis ....................................................................................... 2 Methods ................................................................................................................ 3 Theoretical Framework ......................................................................................... 3 Overview of Various Perspectives on Sleep Paralysis ......................................... 5 Chapter Contents................................................................................................... 7 2. THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF SLEEP PARALYSIS ........................................ 9 Gross Motor Paralysis ........................................................................................... 11 Chest Pressure ....................................................................................................... 11 Sense of Being Awake .......................................................................................... 12 Hypnagogic and Hypnopompic Hallucinations .................................................... 12 Intruder and Incubus Hallucinations .............................................................. 14 Vestibular-Motor Hallucinations ................................................................... 15 Intense Emotion .................................................................................................... 16 3. CROSS-CULTURAL EXAMINATION OF EXPLANATORY MODELS OF SLEEP PARALYSIS ............................................................................................ 18 Pioneering the Ethnography of Sleep Paralysis: Robert C. Ness and the Old Hag ..................................................................................................................... 19 Interpretations of Sleep Paralysis in Native Cultures of the Americas ................. 21 Cultural Explanations of Sleep Paralysis in Modern Latin America….. .............. 22 Sleep Paralysis Narratives in the Middle East and Morocco ................................ 25 Variation in Explanatory Models of Sleep Paralysis in African Cultures ............ 27 Sleep Paralysis Narratives in European and Western Russian Cultures ............... 28 Explanatory Models of Sleep Paralysis among Intact and Displaced Asian Cultural Groups.................................................................................................. 30 iii Sleep Paralysis Explanations in Modern North American Cultural Groups ........ 37 Alien Abduction and Astral Travel ....................................................................... 39 4. SLEEP PARALYSIS IN LITERATUREAND ART THROUGH THE AGES .. 45 Sleep Paralysis in Ancient Texts .......................................................................... 45 Incubus, Witchcraft and Nocturnal Assault: Sleep Paralysis in Medieval and Early Modern Literature and Art ....................................................................... 47 Sleep Paralysis in Modern Media......................................... ................................ 51 5. SLEEP PARALYSIS IN THE ETYMOLOGICAL ROOTS OF NIGHTMARE 52 The Role of Language Change in the Etymological Roots of Sleep Paralysis and ‘Nightmare’ ................................................................................................. 53 Table 1. The Etymology of Nightmare ................................................................. 55 Sleep Paralysis Phenomenological Features in the Morphology of ‘Nightmare’ . 59 6. MEDICAL EXPLANATIONS OF SLEEP PARALYSIS ................................... 66 Historical Medical Explanations of Sleep Paralysis ............................................. 66 Modern Neurological, Psychological and Physiological Explanations of Sleep Paralysis ............................................................................................................. 71 Prevalence of Sleep Paralysis ........................................................................ 72 Timing and Triggers of Sleep Paralysis ......................................................... 75 Relationship between REM Sleep and Sleep Paralysis ................................. 77 Neurological Explanations for the Phenomenology of Sleep Paralysis ........ 78 Correlation between Sleep Paralysis and Other Sleep Disorders .................. 88 Comorbidity of Sleep Paralysis with Psychological and Mood Disorders .... 92 Modern Treatments for Sleep Paralysis ......................................................... 95 7. DISCUSSION ....................................................................................................... 97 Key Contributors to the Anthropology of Sleep Paralysis ................................... 97 Future Anthropological Sleep Paralysis Research Opportunities ......................... 98 Anthropological Patterns, Themes and Directions in Sleep Paralysis Research .. 102 8. CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................... 108 REFERENCES CITED .................................................................................................. 110 iv LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. The Etymology of Nightmare .............................................................................. 55 v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis would not have been possible without the wisdom and support from my advisor, Dr. Barbra Erickson. Her guidance has been instrumental throughout my academic career at California State University, Fullerton, and her example is an inspiration to me as I embark on a new path in the academic world. I am grateful for my entire thesis committee, who, in addition to Dr. Erickson, include Dr. Sarah Grant and Dr. Linda Crowder. Their commitment to this process and trusted advice are an invaluable support to me in this endeavor. I am extremely grateful to my husband Aaron, whose constant love, support and encouragement throughout this process has been a true blessing, and an essential component of my success, and I am ever thankful for the encouragement from my loving family. This thesis is dedicated to the memory of my mother, Carolyn, who was the hardest working, most talented and most optimistic person I know. She always encouraged me to strive higher, and showed me, by example, that with dreams, faith and diligence, I can achieve any goals I set for myself. vi 1 CHAPTER 1 PERSPECTIVES ON SLEEP PARALYSIS: OVERVIEW The Sleep Paralysis Experience Imagine you awake suddenly, uncertain of what woke you. Your bedroom is dark, and it seems as though it has been only minutes since you slid into bed. You had been reading; your tablet must have turned off and fallen to the side. It had been a stressful