For most of us, sleep is a time given by nature to rest the mind and body, after which we feel refreshed and energized. However, there are people with severe sleep disorders, for whom each meeting with Morpheus can end in a completely unpredictable way: the creation of a work of art, a crime or even death.
Creation of a painting canvas
Lee Hadwin has been a sleepwalker since early childhood. At the age of four, he began to draw in his sleep, but until adolescence, these drawings were not particularly intricate.
Lee said that while sleeping, he seemed to find himself in some "strange place." However, while awake, he did not show any interest in art and, in particular, in drawing. And I never remembered what I did in my dream.
When Lee was awake, he worked as a nurse, played in a local band and admitted that he was much more interested in music than painting. “I just cannot explain where drawing came into my life. It’s like other abilities of my brain are awakening in a state of sleep,”says Hadwin.
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Murder
Several dozen sleepwalking tragedies take place every year.
On the morning of May 23, 1987, Kenneth Parks got out of bed. Without waking up, he got into the car and drove 14 miles towards his father-in-law's house and broke into it. Then he began to strangle his wife's father until he passed out.
Parks then inflicted a fatal blow on his mother-in-law with a tire iron - after unsuccessfully trying to stab her with a kitchen knife. Surprisingly, after that, still asleep and covered in blood, he headed to the police station. The tendons on the man's arms were cut with a kitchen knife. He showed no signs of pain.
The court ruled that the crime was committed under the influence of an attack of sleepwalking.
Night fears
While many people have nightmares from time to time, only one to six percent of children and less than one percent of adults suffer from real nightmares that interfere with their normal lives. They appear during the first hours of sleep during the third to fourth phase of sleep with non-rapid eye movements. Nightmares tend to start early in life and go away during adolescence.
Such episodes can occur at intervals of days or weeks, disturbing the sleeper for several nights in a row or even several times per night.
Observing nightmare sufferers from the outside describe this state as a "stance of alert": eyes wide open, an expression of panic on their face … They often scream - at any of their surroundings or just into emptiness. They often have a fever and palpitations. They punch and kick, as if trying to escape from something. At such moments, it makes no sense to talk and ask for something - these people are fast asleep.
Sexomnia
Sexomnia is a mental disorder in which a person has sex while sleeping. Throughout the history of research into the causes of sleep disorders, there have been many reported cases of sexomnia. According to research, approximately eight percent of patients requiring treatment for sleep disorders suffer from sexomnia. This is approximately 1.5 percent of the total population.
Most often men suffer from these types of disorders. As in the case of sleepwalking, these people usually do not remember what they did the day before. The usual frameworks inherent in patterns of sexual behavior during wakefulness do not work during this time. They behave completely relaxed and sometimes they are able to deliver a partner much more pleasure than with regular sex,”explained Michael Mangan, Ph. D.
Manifestations of sexomnia include caresses, moans, and intercourse. Sometimes a person with this disorder can hurt a partner if he resists. In addition, the partner may have a reasonable question - who the person making love to him sees in a dream. Finally, this behavior can be annoying.
Sleeping behind the wheel
Ambien is one of the most popular drugs for the treatment of insomnia. However, people using this drug can do strange things. Drivers should refrain from driving as the drug affects motor skills, especially in case of overdose.
Driving behavior under the influence of ambien includes driving in the wrong direction, colliding with a lamp post, disobeying the police. There have been cases when drivers sleeping behind the wheel went to supermarkets "to shop".
Once there was an accident at an intersection. It was minus eight outside, but the culprit (a local hospital nurse) was wearing a thin nightgown. She got out of the car and urinated right at the intersection, in front of all honest people. When a policeman approached her, she got into a fight with him.
Lina Skok