As I work full time and am taking Master's classes the only time I have to do homework is in the evenings. My family is all in bed and asleep by 10:00. My wife can even tell what time it is based on how tired he is. It is seriously creepy. Some nights I exercise my 15-5 rule. I developed this as an undergrad. Read for 15 minutes and when my eyes start to droop, sleep for 5 minutes. Repeat. Other nights I am able to plug through articles, chapters, posts, papers, assignments, or projects for two to three hours straight and not feel at all tired and without needing any breaks. There have been nights I've been up to 1:00 am working on homework and then went to bed and read twitter messages for half an hour because I still didn't feel tired.
That got me musing about what causes sleeplessness. Pulling up insomnia in Web MD gets you good information about acute and chronic insomnia, what causes it and how to treat it. I couldn't find anything to what my situation was, but perhaps I didn't know exactly what was going on in my brain.
I'm not a new comer to insomnia or other sleep oddities. Lemons and decongestants too close to bed will keep me up with no relief. I've also had my share of normal sleepless nights due to my sleeping situation (on someone's couch, floor, camping, etc.) I had a very healthy case of jet lag after spending two years in Russia and then returning home to Utah. The really fun sleep problem I have is caused by high stress or high emotion. I hallucination whatever activity the emotion or stress revolved around.
My first occurrence with it was in junior high when I spent too much time playing Warcraft, the original. I went to bed to awake a few hours later. My eyes were open, I could see everything in my room, but there floating in my field of view was a game of Warcraft that i could not avoid. Closing my eyes didn't help, my mind was so focused on the game that even though I wanted to quiet I could not. I knew I was awake, but I could not fall asleep while that game was on - and it wouldn't shut off.
The week of the high school musical was horrible as well. I was the props master, making sure all of the actors had what they needed and helping to push sets on stage. Every night of a performance I would awake and a vision of backstage would superimpose itself on my bedroom. I would think, "I've got to get the set on stage" and then climb out of bed and try to push my bed "on stage." Luckily I was just pushing it against the wall so it didn't actually move, but I would continue to push even after I collapsed from exhaustion. The only thing that would snap me out it was looking at my digital alarm clock. For some reason, seeing the time would pull me back into reality and I would crawl into bed and fall asleep. Only to have it happen again an hour later.
In addition to these very intense sleep disturbances, I occasionally will reach a semi-awake state where I will feel that I am in the middle of a conversation. This causes me to talk in my sleep, and while I can't remember what I say every time, I am often aware of what I am saying. That does not mean that what I say makes any sense what-so-ever, but I know that I'm saying it. I've even barked in my sleep, and no, I have no idea why.
I couldn't find anything online that sounded like this and I think I've only met one or two other people who experience the same kind of thing. I have noticed that if my brain is kicked into critical thinking gear sleep is banished and I am able to perform very well mentally. While this is handy for homework, I suspect it is the reason for not being able to fall asleep many nights.
One last anecdote. There is a wonderful strategy game called Steel Panthers that I've played on and off for several years now. It kicks my brain in to ultra high gear and keeps it there. I've always been fascinated with tactics and strategy and this feeds that interest like no tomorrow. One night I had played in on my lap top in bed (something I don't do anymore) and then managed to fall asleep. My daughter, who was an infant at the time woke up a couple of hours later and my wife elbowed me to tell me it was my turn to check on her. I got up and wandered into her room, knowing that my wife would want to know why she started crying. When I got there, the answer was clear. She had kicked her blankets off and was exposed to the elements. I could see this. I could see what was right in front of my face. But what my sleep deprived, game addled brain made my eyes see was the hexagon board from Steel Panthers, a stand of trees and three squads of infantry to the north west of my daughter's position. I could see how they had fired on her, and as her moral fell she retreated out of her cover. It all made sense now! I tucked her in and went back to bed.
As I crawled into my own covers my wife asked, "What was wrong?" I knew that what I had seen was ridiculous. I knew that what I had seen was false. But unable to stop myself I said, "Infantry scared her out of her cover." My wife sat bolt upright, turned to me and said, "They WHAT?!" Again, knowing that I spoke complete and utter nonsense, I grunted and replied, "Infantry. Scared her our of her cover." My wife looked at me, blinked a few times, and slowly lay back down.
The next morning, my wife asked, "Do you know what you told me last night?"
Yes, Angel. I knew it when I said it. It seemed like the thing to say at the time.
That got me musing about what causes sleeplessness. Pulling up insomnia in Web MD gets you good information about acute and chronic insomnia, what causes it and how to treat it. I couldn't find anything to what my situation was, but perhaps I didn't know exactly what was going on in my brain.
I'm not a new comer to insomnia or other sleep oddities. Lemons and decongestants too close to bed will keep me up with no relief. I've also had my share of normal sleepless nights due to my sleeping situation (on someone's couch, floor, camping, etc.) I had a very healthy case of jet lag after spending two years in Russia and then returning home to Utah. The really fun sleep problem I have is caused by high stress or high emotion. I hallucination whatever activity the emotion or stress revolved around.
My first occurrence with it was in junior high when I spent too much time playing Warcraft, the original. I went to bed to awake a few hours later. My eyes were open, I could see everything in my room, but there floating in my field of view was a game of Warcraft that i could not avoid. Closing my eyes didn't help, my mind was so focused on the game that even though I wanted to quiet I could not. I knew I was awake, but I could not fall asleep while that game was on - and it wouldn't shut off.
The week of the high school musical was horrible as well. I was the props master, making sure all of the actors had what they needed and helping to push sets on stage. Every night of a performance I would awake and a vision of backstage would superimpose itself on my bedroom. I would think, "I've got to get the set on stage" and then climb out of bed and try to push my bed "on stage." Luckily I was just pushing it against the wall so it didn't actually move, but I would continue to push even after I collapsed from exhaustion. The only thing that would snap me out it was looking at my digital alarm clock. For some reason, seeing the time would pull me back into reality and I would crawl into bed and fall asleep. Only to have it happen again an hour later.
In addition to these very intense sleep disturbances, I occasionally will reach a semi-awake state where I will feel that I am in the middle of a conversation. This causes me to talk in my sleep, and while I can't remember what I say every time, I am often aware of what I am saying. That does not mean that what I say makes any sense what-so-ever, but I know that I'm saying it. I've even barked in my sleep, and no, I have no idea why.
I couldn't find anything online that sounded like this and I think I've only met one or two other people who experience the same kind of thing. I have noticed that if my brain is kicked into critical thinking gear sleep is banished and I am able to perform very well mentally. While this is handy for homework, I suspect it is the reason for not being able to fall asleep many nights.
One last anecdote. There is a wonderful strategy game called Steel Panthers that I've played on and off for several years now. It kicks my brain in to ultra high gear and keeps it there. I've always been fascinated with tactics and strategy and this feeds that interest like no tomorrow. One night I had played in on my lap top in bed (something I don't do anymore) and then managed to fall asleep. My daughter, who was an infant at the time woke up a couple of hours later and my wife elbowed me to tell me it was my turn to check on her. I got up and wandered into her room, knowing that my wife would want to know why she started crying. When I got there, the answer was clear. She had kicked her blankets off and was exposed to the elements. I could see this. I could see what was right in front of my face. But what my sleep deprived, game addled brain made my eyes see was the hexagon board from Steel Panthers, a stand of trees and three squads of infantry to the north west of my daughter's position. I could see how they had fired on her, and as her moral fell she retreated out of her cover. It all made sense now! I tucked her in and went back to bed.
As I crawled into my own covers my wife asked, "What was wrong?" I knew that what I had seen was ridiculous. I knew that what I had seen was false. But unable to stop myself I said, "Infantry scared her out of her cover." My wife sat bolt upright, turned to me and said, "They WHAT?!" Again, knowing that I spoke complete and utter nonsense, I grunted and replied, "Infantry. Scared her our of her cover." My wife looked at me, blinked a few times, and slowly lay back down.
The next morning, my wife asked, "Do you know what you told me last night?"
Yes, Angel. I knew it when I said it. It seemed like the thing to say at the time.
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