No Need for Mockery: Tucker - The Man and His Dream

Tucker Carlson’s Halloween revelation that he came to God following a nocturnal demon attack has provoked some worryingly ill-informed responses. In Carlson’s defense (something I never thought I’d have to say), his experience is not as some would have you believe a sign of mental illness, the result of drugs, nor cover for a kinky extra-marital affair, but most likely a terrifying, but mostly harmless, medical condition that needs to be better recognized and discussed. To achieve this, we turn to a dear friend of Cambridge Skeptics and an expert on the condition Dr Brian Sharpless, who confirms there is “no need for mockery.”

“I wonder,” mulls Sharpless, in response to Carlson’s claims of awakening confused and unable to breathe, “if this might be sleep paralysis.” This phenomenon, where a sleeper regains consciousness but is unable to move due to still being under the paralysis that stops us from acting out our dreams, is often accompanied by a feeling of terror and difficulty breathing. Other common accompanying factors include a sensed presence and hallucinations that Sharpless confirms, “feel just as real as anything in waking life and often have a supernatural cast to them.”

“All cultures talk about that,” confirms close Carlson confidant Alex Jones, and he’s correct (another thing I never thought I’d have to say). Indeed, Sharpless and Doghramji (2015) document over a hundred different names and explanations for this experience from a vast array of geographical regions and historical eras. “They’re universal,” continues Jones, “because they happen.” Which, of course, they do, but more likely as a relatively benign medical disorder based in biology rather than as the supernatural conflict on the spiritual plane that Jones and Carlson would seemingly have us take them for.

As to the scratches, there are a number of possible explanations to work through before settling upon demonic attack. Scratches obtained during waking hours or sleepwalking may go unnoticed until later examination. Skin conditions, insect bites and allergic reactions can cause people to scratch themselves in their sleep and dermatographia can make them look worse than they are. Otherwise, they could come from other people or pets, say if you shared your bed with your wife and four dogs. It is this latter hypothesis that Sharpless seems to prefer when he suggests “puppy scratches?”

Now I bring all of this up not to defend Carlson but because I am concerned about the mockery and stigmatizing language his revelation seems to have provoked online. The condition is, according to Sharpless and Doghramji (2015), “surprisingly common.” And the vast majority of sufferers, unaware of this medical diagnosis, will be left, like Carlson, terrified and confused, and likely to turn to those culturally based supernatural explanations. It’s difficult to see how decrying Carlson as “crazy”, “mad” or “weird” is going to encourage these other sufferers to seek out better sources than Jones for the help and info they need.