The Twenty-four Hour Mind: The Role of Sleep and Dreaming in Our Emotional Lives by Rosalind D. Cartwright

Author:Rosalind D. Cartwright
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2010-06-23T14:00:00+00:00

The Explorers

Like other NREM parasomnia patients, those I refer to as “explorers” get up out of their first SWS and take off. Some drive, some climb, some run. Usually nothing much happens unless they crash their cars, as happened to a certain congressman at 2 A.M.—an event that made national news. The police records indicate that when they arrived at the scene, the man was in a confused mental state, telling them he was on his way to cast his vote. He had taken Ambien, which, as I have noted, does help sleep continuity, but also has the effect of lightening SWS. (Ambien is now labeled with a warning that it might precipitate sleepwalking, driving, and eating.)

A more typical sleep explorer was a woman who also got into her car and crashed into a fire hydrant near her home. She left the car, walked home, and went back to sleep. When the police came the next morning to inquire why she had not reported her accident, she could not answer them because she had no memory of what had occurred. She could not report where she was going or why. The police were not charmed. She was ticketed for a DUI (driving under the influence). She paid a fine but protested that this accident was not alcohol-related. She wanted her record cleared. This cost her a good deal in legal fees but eventually she won her case. Happily, no one was hurt.

Another sleep explorer was not so fortunate. He was grieving the death of his son and not sleeping well at night. On one occasion, he took both an Ambien and a tumbler of alcohol in order to get a good night’s sleep. What he was aware of next was awakening and wondering why the police were pulling him out of his bed. A moment later he realized that he was actually being pulled out of his car, still parked in his driveway. He was sound asleep, the Ambien and alcohol having caused him to arouse, without awareness of what he was doing, and get into his car. He could not say where he planned to go. He was charged with a DUI even though he never got the car started. This time, the charges stuck.

A 15-year-old girl got up from sleep and climbed to the end of a construction crane, 130 feet above ground level, where she curled up and fell asleep. Someone spotted her and took a photograph, which appeared in the London Daily Mail. Her mother had alerted the emergency services that her daughter was missing and that she was a sleepwalker. She was quickly found, but officials were afraid to approach her for fear of startling her in her precarious position. Knowing that the girl’s cell phone was in her backpack, her mother gave the rescuers the number. They called, she woke, and they brought her down safely.

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