Sleep Attacks: Neural Dysfunction, Entities, or Something of Both?

The "hag attack" is a fairly common, uncomfortable and frightening occurrence wherein the sufferer cannot move and feels as if something is holding him/her prisoner.

While something of this phenomenon can be explained away by waking up during the portion of sleep when the body is paralyzed, I think it is short-sighted to completely dismiss the idea of attacking entities.

I have suffered from waking during the paralyzed portion of sleep since I was in my teens. This is, in retrospect, also when my bipolar disorder onset, so I am not sure if there is any correlation there.

Much of the time, the sensations that I suffer can be explained away by the physical phenomenon of waking while still paralyzed. However, I have also had experiences which lead me to believe that at least some of the time, there is an attacking entity. There have been times when an entity has temporarily entered my body, and I will speak bizarre words in a distorted voice much deeper than my own.

I know that what I am describing cannot be validated by current scientific methods. But I feel that a true scientist takes all possibilities into account, rather than pooh-poohing away any idea not in keeping with present conventional wisdom.

Exploding Head Syndrome

Image found here

In my case, I usually hear buzzing, whistling, or a "pop." It feels like a "bubble" expanding in my head, and then it "bursts." Sometimes it is accompanied by a flash sensation. Unfortunately, I usually experience tinnitus following an incidence of exploding head syndrome.

I also experience sleep paralysis, and apparently the two are interconnected.

I can deal with the exploding head far better than the sleep paralysis.

This is the wikipedia entry.