Freethought & Rationalism Archive

KnightWhoSaysNi · 08-21-2002, 07:16 PM

Hey everyone,

Is sleep-walking a real thing? Something really, really strange is happening now. My room-mate just got up from a nap and I tried to make conversation with him. He goes to the couch, sits, and watches TV. He responds to me but only in gibberish. And he frequently makes strange comments out of the blue, pointing out the window and saying, "trees are still falling" or "there's too many hills out there, it's just funny.." (when outside there's only the brick wall of another building). And he goes on making some strange conversation with an imaginary person.

This is really, really weird and I'm a little freaked out. He's never behaved this way before in the 2 years I've known him. It isn't like him to put on an act. Anyone here with a background in psychology familiar with this?

[ August 21, 2002: Message edited by: Nightshade ]</p>

One of the last sane · 08-21-2002, 07:35 PM

Well I am not a psychologist, but I had a climbing partner with whom I could carry on quite lucid conversations while he was asleep. He would try to do crosswords in his sleep, ask me to help out with the clues and how to spell words, all sorts of things. He also had some very vivid physical act-outs, so I always got the top bunk, because he was quite good at hurling himself out of bed even while staying inside his sleeping bag. The best one was the night he thought a tree was about to fall on the hut we were in, and went racing out into the snow dressed only in his underwear. I can still picture him standing out there looking around.

Edit: Forgot to add...sometimes he would get up and wander around with his eyes open, but clearly not awake or making sense. He must have had his eyes open when he found the door of the hut and run outside I'd think. He was not familiar enough with the layout of the hut to do it eyes closed.

Vivid act-out dreams are supposed more common in men and there have been some cases of men injuring their wives while fighting with a dreamed enemy. Come to think of it, it was his girlfriend who told me that...

[ August 21, 2002: Message edited by: One of last of the sane ]</p>

dostf · 08-21-2002, 07:38 PM

nightshade:

Yes sleepwalking is genuine with much documentation. A friend of mine suffers from it,-but never has made such "odd" remarks.
I would suggest when the person wakes (if your sure their not kidding around) see if they remember the episode-most sleepwalkers don't i think.
Also look for "circumstances" that may have triggered this event (drugs) etc..
Any history of other "oddities" that you may have overlooked?
Progressive patterns of "odd" behaviour may signal some sort of onset of mental illness.
Hope it all works out O.K

Be seeing you...

Doubting Didymus · 08-21-2002, 07:46 PM

Happens all the time.

I had a friend who would wake up and talk to you, and then go back to sleep.

In the morning he wouldn't remember a thing, and refused to even believe it had happened.

I even once got him to write something to himself. It must have been very strange seeing this note from himself saying 'I am awake and talking to people at 11:35', when he thought he had slept through the whole night.

The Lone Ranger · 08-21-2002, 07:53 PM

My sister Julie had an odd quirk. She used to fall asleep watching television all the time, and no-one could wake her up. But if I touched her and said, "Julie, go to bed," she would get up, walk to her bedroom, and go to bed. In the morning, she never remembered this.

The really weird thing is that this didn't work for anyone else. For some reason, I was the only one she was responsive to while asleep.

Cheers,

Michael

KnightWhoSaysNi · 08-21-2002, 08:39 PM

Good God, he went psycho. I can't believe this.

I asked my landlord if he knew the problem with him, and he didn't. Eventually we called the paramedic and the police and they had to haul him away in cuffs.

I knew the guy for more than 2 years too. He never acted like this before. Well, time to look for another apartment... or room-mate, if they evict him.

echidna · 08-22-2002, 12:29 AM

Magic mushrooms or sudden schizophrenia ?

Have you talked to them subsequently when they�re coherent ?

Oolon Colluphid · 08-22-2002, 12:35 AM

My wife assures me that sleepwalking is real. She has held surreal conversations with me, and on occasions I have tried to wee in the wardrobe, which presumably passes for the loo in whatever unconscious state I've been in. Stress seems to be a contributory trigger.

My father's brother was (is?) an avid sleepwalker too. Anyone know if it runs in families? I suspect it should, but anyone know?

Edited to add: I suspect it is caused by dreaming, but the relevant bits of the brain are not shut down. Sleep-talking and mumbling is really common (apparently); if the control systems for tongue, lips, larynx etc can be turned on during dreaming, I don't see why a 'worse' version would not result in more major motor/locomotion activities getting fired up. So instead of just talking, you can get up and act out bits of dreams.

Back in my A Level days, doing law, I remember the defence of 'automatism'. The textbook example was of a Vietnam veteran who stabbed someone whilst sleepwalking. (The defence was that whilst he'd clearly committed the actus reus, he could not form the mens rea, and so it was manslaughter not murder.)

Oolon

[ August 22, 2002: Message edited by: Oolon Colluphid ]</p>

gabalski · 08-22-2002, 07:43 AM

Sleep-walking is very real. My brothers, sisters, wife and children all have stories to share about having to deal with my cases. I used to sleep-walk fairly often as a youngster and still do on occasion.

It often consists of very mundane stuff like sitting at the end of my daughter's bed talking to her or going in to my sisters bedroom to use the bathroom (there was no bathroom in her bedroom, luckily she woke up in time to stop me). But every once in a while, it can be very strange and scary for everyone. One night when I was in fifth grade, I got out of bed thinking my head was on backwards. I went running around the house screaming and asking for help. But everytime someone tried to talk rationally with me I would start to throw puches. I wasn't a very big kid, so one of my older brothers was able to control me and carry me in front of a mirror to look for myself. I calmed down after that and went back to bed.

I don't know if this is what your roommate was going through, but I thought I would add my experiences. I hope everything works out for the both of you.

Mike

[ August 22, 2002: Message edited by: gabalski ]</p>

scombrid · 08-22-2002, 08:22 AM

I still sleep walk. Now that I live alone I only know about it when I wake up in strange places. I woke up recently with half of my torso hanging out of a window. My roomates, when I lived in a suit style dorm, had a lot of fun at my expense. Girlfriends don't like sharing a bed with me because I'm so animated in sleep. I punched one girlfriend when I was dreaming that I was in a fight. I am very rarely roused from sleep walking. I've put my fist through sheet rock and broken a headboard without remembering a thing. Although, when I punched a wall with a hand that was already broken the pain woke me. Some events are triggered by dreams. I dreamed that a cownose ray had stuck its venomous barb in my hand (apparently my sleeping brain was trying to interpret the pain in my broken hand) and I tried to punch the ray. I woke up as my broken fist slammed into the wall for the third or fourth time (number based on dents in the drywall).

08-21-2002, 07:16 PM	#1
KnightWhoSaysNi Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Edmonton, Canada Posts: 2,767	This is weird.... Hey everyone, Is sleep-walking a real thing? Something really, really strange is happening now. My room-mate just got up from a nap and I tried to make conversation with him. He goes to the couch, sits, and watches TV. He responds to me but only in gibberish. And he frequently makes strange comments out of the blue, pointing out the window and saying, "trees are still falling" or "there's too many hills out there, it's just funny.." (when outside there's only the brick wall of another building). And he goes on making some strange conversation with an imaginary person. This is really, really weird and I'm a little freaked out. He's never behaved this way before in the 2 years I've known him. It isn't like him to put on an act. Anyone here with a background in psychology familiar with this? [ August 21, 2002: Message edited by: Nightshade ]</p>

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08-21-2002, 07:35 PM	#2
One of the last sane Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: hereabouts Posts: 734	Well I am not a psychologist, but I had a climbing partner with whom I could carry on quite lucid conversations while he was asleep. He would try to do crosswords in his sleep, ask me to help out with the clues and how to spell words, all sorts of things. He also had some very vivid physical act-outs, so I always got the top bunk, because he was quite good at hurling himself out of bed even while staying inside his sleeping bag. The best one was the night he thought a tree was about to fall on the hut we were in, and went racing out into the snow dressed only in his underwear. I can still picture him standing out there looking around. Edit: Forgot to add...sometimes he would get up and wander around with his eyes open, but clearly not awake or making sense. He must have had his eyes open when he found the door of the hut and run outside I'd think. He was not familiar enough with the layout of the hut to do it eyes closed. Vivid act-out dreams are supposed more common in men and there have been some cases of men injuring their wives while fighting with a dreamed enemy. Come to think of it, it was his girlfriend who told me that... [ August 21, 2002: Message edited by: One of last of the sane ]</p>

08-21-2002, 07:38 PM	#3
dostf Regular Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: toronto canada Posts: 498	nightshade: Yes sleepwalking is genuine with much documentation. A friend of mine suffers from it,-but never has made such "odd" remarks. I would suggest when the person wakes (if your sure their not kidding around) see if they remember the episode-most sleepwalkers don't i think. Also look for "circumstances" that may have triggered this event (drugs) etc.. Any history of other "oddities" that you may have overlooked? Progressive patterns of "odd" behaviour may signal some sort of onset of mental illness. Hope it all works out O.K Be seeing you...

08-21-2002, 07:46 PM	#4
Doubting Didymus Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: East Coast. Australia. Posts: 5,455	Happens all the time. I had a friend who would wake up and talk to you, and then go back to sleep. In the morning he wouldn't remember a thing, and refused to even believe it had happened. I even once got him to write something to himself. It must have been very strange seeing this note from himself saying 'I am awake and talking to people at 11:35', when he thought he had slept through the whole night.

08-21-2002, 07:53 PM	#5
The Lone Ranger Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Eastern U.S. Posts: 1,230	My sister Julie had an odd quirk. She used to fall asleep watching television all the time, and no-one could wake her up. But if I touched her and said, "Julie, go to bed," she would get up, walk to her bedroom, and go to bed. In the morning, she never remembered this. The really weird thing is that this didn't work for anyone else. For some reason, I was the only one she was responsive to while asleep. Cheers, Michael

08-21-2002, 08:39 PM	#6
KnightWhoSaysNi Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Edmonton, Canada Posts: 2,767	Good God, he went psycho. I can't believe this. I asked my landlord if he knew the problem with him, and he didn't. Eventually we called the paramedic and the police and they had to haul him away in cuffs. I knew the guy for more than 2 years too. He never acted like this before. Well, time to look for another apartment... or room-mate, if they evict him.

08-22-2002, 12:29 AM	#7
echidna Veteran Member Join Date: May 2001 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 2,832	Magic mushrooms or sudden schizophrenia ? Have you talked to them subsequently when they�re coherent ?

08-22-2002, 12:35 AM	#8
Oolon Colluphid Contributor Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Alibi: ego ipse hinc extermino Posts: 12,591	My wife assures me that sleepwalking is real. She has held surreal conversations with me, and on occasions I have tried to wee in the wardrobe, which presumably passes for the loo in whatever unconscious state I've been in. Stress seems to be a contributory trigger. My father's brother was (is?) an avid sleepwalker too. Anyone know if it runs in families? I suspect it should, but anyone know? Edited to add: I suspect it is caused by dreaming, but the relevant bits of the brain are not shut down. Sleep-talking and mumbling is really common (apparently); if the control systems for tongue, lips, larynx etc can be turned on during dreaming, I don't see why a 'worse' version would not result in more major motor/locomotion activities getting fired up. So instead of just talking, you can get up and act out bits of dreams. Back in my A Level days, doing law, I remember the defence of 'automatism'. The textbook example was of a Vietnam veteran who stabbed someone whilst sleepwalking. (The defence was that whilst he'd clearly committed the actus reus, he could not form the mens rea, and so it was manslaughter not murder.) Oolon [ August 22, 2002: Message edited by: Oolon Colluphid ]</p>

08-22-2002, 07:43 AM	#9
gabalski Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Baltimore, Ohio Posts: 38	Sleep-walking is very real. My brothers, sisters, wife and children all have stories to share about having to deal with my cases. I used to sleep-walk fairly often as a youngster and still do on occasion. It often consists of very mundane stuff like sitting at the end of my daughter's bed talking to her or going in to my sisters bedroom to use the bathroom (there was no bathroom in her bedroom, luckily she woke up in time to stop me). But every once in a while, it can be very strange and scary for everyone. One night when I was in fifth grade, I got out of bed thinking my head was on backwards. I went running around the house screaming and asking for help. But everytime someone tried to talk rationally with me I would start to throw puches. I wasn't a very big kid, so one of my older brothers was able to control me and carry me in front of a mirror to look for myself. I calmed down after that and went back to bed. I don't know if this is what your roommate was going through, but I thought I would add my experiences. I hope everything works out for the both of you. Mike [ August 22, 2002: Message edited by: gabalski ]</p>

08-22-2002, 08:22 AM	#10
scombrid Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Central Florida Posts: 2,759	I still sleep walk. Now that I live alone I only know about it when I wake up in strange places. I woke up recently with half of my torso hanging out of a window. My roomates, when I lived in a suit style dorm, had a lot of fun at my expense. Girlfriends don't like sharing a bed with me because I'm so animated in sleep. I punched one girlfriend when I was dreaming that I was in a fight. I am very rarely roused from sleep walking. I've put my fist through sheet rock and broken a headboard without remembering a thing. Although, when I punched a wall with a hand that was already broken the pain woke me. Some events are triggered by dreams. I dreamed that a cownose ray had stuck its venomous barb in my hand (apparently my sleeping brain was trying to interpret the pain in my broken hand) and I tried to punch the ray. I woke up as my broken fist slammed into the wall for the third or fourth time (number based on dents in the drywall).

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