Dealing with a sleepwalker.

[Trekker4747]

So yesterday evening a friend visited and we hung out. After dinner we were sitting there watching TV and then they took some medication. Moments later they were out like a light -a sleep.

I tried waking them, making sure they were OK, but was unable to. The person was clearly sleeping so i wasn't too concerned, I just assumed their medication knocked them out.

Anyway, I positioned them on the couch and covered them and laid down on my own bed -leaving a note for them on what happened and to get me when they wake up- and about 20 minutes later this person was attempting to walk out my back door.

I get up and ask what is going on. Apparently they felt the inside of my back door was the outside of their FRONT door. This person was sleepwalking.

This set off a 2-hour "adventure" of dealing with this person trying to see if I could "rationalize" them out of the state (a Captain Kirkian theory, I admit) and I have to say the experience was fascinating.

I assume the subconscious portions of the brain doesn't get to use all of the brain the conscious portions do. Because this person, while fairly lucid and... "aware", obviously didn't get to use the a)logic part of their brain. As they felt my apartment was their home, didn't know why was in their home, after a while realized they weren't home and in someone else's house. b)They didn't seem able to read as I tried to get them to do read something and they weren't able to and were convinced the time was "140" -rather 1:40.

Even at on point the person was convinced THEY were awake and aware and that *I* was the one sleep walking. I also think I got some hints of something locked in their subconscious as they seemed to become afraid when I "threatened" physical contact to see if I could arouse them (like pinching or something) and they seemed to think I looked angry at them. (I was not angry. Just confused, concerned and amused.)

So the person told ME to go to sleep and that they were just going to sit there. So I laid down -made like I was sleeping- then I heard the person sobbing soon after. I then asked what was wrong and they said they didn't know where they were. I then was able to convince the person to lay down and to try and sleep. - Which eventually worked.

Even at one point this person tried using their phone to call someone -their doctor to get him to confirm to me that the person does not sleepwalk- and were not able to use their phone. (Leading me to even more assume the subconscious brain doesn't get to read or do anything too cerebral.)

Anyway, after I got the sleepwalking person to "go to sleep" the person woke up about an hour later -4 hours after they took the meds. When I assumed they'd wake up as I figured most sleep meds are good for 4 hours- and, naturally, they had no memory of the past couple hours' events and was naturally pretty embarrassed.

I must say, it was a fascinating experience and worrying because at one point the person was attempting to leave -intending to try and drive home. Obviously I couldn't let that happen.

Anyway, due to all of that I didn't get much sleep last night as it was about 2AM when they "really woke up", we talked about it for an hour and they eventually fell back asleep as I managed a couple hour "power/awake nap."

Turns out their brother prepared their little medicine sectional tray thingie and must've mistaken put a sleeping-pill in there that they hadn't used in awhile. I understand that some prescription sleeping meds can cause sleep-walking or other sleep disorder.

Anyone else ever deal with a sleepwalker and have funny/similar experiences?

 

[MIB]

I must say, that's a very interesting experience. From your description, I would tend to agree that while in that state, the logic and pattern recognition portions of his brain were either non-functional or performing at minimal power. It's a shame he couldn't remember anything about the experience. I would love to hear about first-person account.

As for me, I've never had to deal with a sleepwalker nor, to my knowledge, have I ever sleepwalked myself. Part of me is somewhat disappointed by that fact since I'm rather facinated with the phenomena.

 

[Lindley]

Closest I've come to sleepwalking---as far as I know---is that moment when the world suddenly snaps into focus, and you realize that while you may have some vague memory of the past few minutes, you weren't really "there".

 

[Rii]

Folks aren't going to assume you're gay just because a guy slept over at your house.

 

[Trekker4747]

Folks aren't going to assume you're gay just because a guy slept over at your house.

FWIW it was a girl.

As if the gender of the person mattered.

 

[Rii]

Folks aren't going to assume you're gay just because a guy slept over at your house.

FWIW it was a girl.

As if the gender of the person mattered.

It seemed to matter as you very studiously avoided mentioning it.

Haven't had any experience with sleepwalkers (or sleepwalking) myself, interesting story.

 

[Spot's Meow]

Wow, I totally imagined it being a guy.

That is very fascinating, and a little scary. Sleepwalking has always freaked me out a little. Luckily no one close to me has ever had that problem.

Though one time, this freaky thing happened. I was writing in my journal just before going to bed and must have fallen asleep. I woke up several minutes later and discovered that I had still been writing the whole time...it looked like another language. It wasn't any English words, just random symbols grouped together, like it could have meant something. I have no idea what though. There was several lines of this gibberish...really creepy.

And it was in a dream journal no less.

 

[Crusher Disciple]

Wow, I totally imagined it being a guy.

Not me. I was going to make a wiseass crack about your social life.

 

[the Dagman]

I have been a sleep walker for years. When I used to have roommates many years ago, they would tell me of the odd things I would do, only I never believed them. Like walking out the front door wearing sweat pants and my bath robe and telling them I had to get to work when asked. They said I would go outside and then come back in a couple of minutes later and go back to bed. They weren't worried that I would go driving away, as my car keys were typically on the table and they'd palm them when they see me like this.

It wasn't until a few years after that, when I was between jobs and apartments and staying at my parents house when I was faced with undeniable proof. I woke up in the shower with the water running, ice cold. I had apparently been there a while as well, since the hot water was on. So I had depleted the hot water heater reservoir. What had woken me up was my mom knocking on the bathroom door over and over asking me if I was all right. I remember fighting my way to consciousness and realizing where I was, but not when. I asked her what time it was, she replied "1:42", and at that exact moment there was an earthquake. I kid you not.

Ironically enough, I am also a lucid dreamer. And one of the key ways to see you are in a dream is being unable to read. I still see shapes and objects on the page, but they are unidentifiable except for the occasional number or letter. I believe that the part of your brain that reads, the part that makes sense of all these squiggles and shapes we call words and numbers, is the part that is totally shut down and resting. It's a reason that dreams rarely make any sense, and are a jumble of images that can go from one unconnected thing to the next.

 

[ancientone51]

I remember one time in junior/high school I dreamt of getting up, dressing in the dark and going downstairs. I felt tired so I stretched out on the sofa for a quick nap.

Mom woke me up and I had no clue what had happened, it was all a dream for me, but I had been sleepwalking. And it wasn't something I was awake for and then went back to sleep...mom couldn't get a response from me until after i had gotten on the sofa and "fallen asleep."

 

[TheSeeker]

Folks aren't going to assume you're gay just because a guy slept over at your house.

FWIW it was a girl.

As if the gender of the person mattered.

It seemed to matter as you very studiously avoided mentioning it.

Haven't had any experience with sleepwalkers (or sleepwalking) myself, interesting story.

You know I thought that too. It really seemed like Trekker4747 was going out of their way to avoid mentioning gender.

Back on topic, very Interesting story . Thankfully I've never had to deal with anything like that.