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The condition - Catalepsy is a rare condition that causes sufferers to become totally immobilized appearing to be unconscious.

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Paralysis - A person going through an attack looks like a wax figure.

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Duration - A catalepsy attack can last a few minutes or extend for days.

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The victim - The victim however does not completely loose consciousness.

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Perception - It's as if the victim could perceive everything around them, without being able to react.

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Legends -

Catalepsy gave origin to very dark stories, which got extensive media coverage.

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Creepy - There are reports of people who, during an outbreak, were mistaken for being dead and were consequently buried alive.

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Central America case - According to the news platform Grandes Medios, one of the cases happened in the Dominican Republic in 2011.

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The ballerina case - the symptoms - According to the website, a young ballerina named Niurka Reyes was found unconscious in her bedroom.

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The ballerina case - burial - The 23-year-old woman was pronounced dead, victim of a heart attack, and buried.

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The ballerina case - feeling - According to the article, days later, a friend had had a feeling that Niurka was alive. The dancer's mother managed to get an authorization to exhume her daughter's body.

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The ballerina case - hope - Only to find out that the dancer was dead, but not from an heart attack. She died of suffocation inside the coffin, suggesting that the young woman might have been buried alive.

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Catalepsy: the American case - The Grandes Medios portal also highlights a second case that allegedly happened in Pikeville, United States.

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The American case - outbreak - A strange disease plagued the region in 1891.

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The American case - symptoms - The victims fell into a deep coma that was later associated with a disease transmitted by the tsetse fly.

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The American case - report - According to the website, Octavia Smith Hatcher was the first victim of the strange outbreak. Some time later, she was pronounced dead and buried.

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The American case - turnaround - When the husband asked for the exhumation of the body he discovered an unsettling scene.

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The American case - buried alive? - Octavia's hands were badly bruised. She supposedly woken up from the catalepsy attack and scratched the coffin in an attempt to escape.

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Catalepsia: the Buenos Aires case - Another case highlighted by Grandes Medios, occurred in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

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The Buenos Aires case - In 1902, a 19-year-old girl was found theoretically dead in her bedroom and consequently buried.

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The Buenos Aires case - supernatural? - Reports of the time mention that sounds were heard coming from Rufina Cambaceres' tomb the night after her burial.

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The Buenos Aires case - miracle? - According to the article, the young woman allegedly awakened from the outbreak and managed to escape from the grave.

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The Buenos Aires case - tragedy - But completely frightened, Rufina died of a heart attack a few minutes later, while still in the cemetery.

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Myth or truth? - Some people dismiss these stories as nothing but legends. And how about you, do you believe these people were actually buried alive?

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Catalepsy -

Between myths and truths, one thing is certain: catalepsy is a real medical condition. Experts are dedicated to unveil the causes of this bizarre disease.

See also: Creepy stories from people who work alone 

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