A great place to start Disorder information source Rated and Reviewed Sleep Links Entrance to all monitored Sleep Forums Search all of Sleepnet.com


Narcolepsy Forum
Posting


Archived Narcolepsy Forum17 viewing only. To post a new topic go to the Narcolepsy Forum Homepage.

Osmosis, Micros, Autopilot

Posted by sleepykitty on February 04, 2002 at 09:37:52:

In Reply to: Re: kids posted by altheacoG on February 04, 2002 at 08:29:40:

You would probably be interested to check out Sandman's book which you can access from this site. Ch 4 was particularly interesting as he recounted the unique attributes found in a Dr w/ N, who he refers to as Wide Eyes. It reinforced a lot of my theories in how I have dealt successfully w/ N for so long w/o others realizing I was working/learning in my sleep much of my life.

Wide eyes talks about a incredible way to speed read which seems to operate on the belief that our minds (w/ or w/o N) work much faster than we give them credit. At one time I heard that the average person only uses 10% of their capacity. Don't know if that is true or not, but consider this: Think how a lengthy dream is compressed into a very short time byte. If we dreamed in "real time" we would spend 7 nights just getting thru one dream. Our minds work so much faster than we even know. There are just problems in the wiring that don't allow us to make them work as fast as we want at will. I joked in college about having a photographic memory, but I think the truth is that we all absorb more info than we are consciously aware of; perhaps the trick is in having the ability to retrieve it at will. I'm no expert in any of this, just a PWN, but I think that the fact that we slip between the two worlds of sub consciousness and consciousness so easily/frequently gives us the edge in being able to retrieve and process that stored info.

Wide Eyes also talked about leaving his body in his sleep and the things he was aware of while he was in REM. For him, dreaming was the same as experiencing it in real life. I don't get into the whole out of body experience thing, but I know that when I am napping (either voluntarily or invol.) I am typically fully aware of all that goes on around me and can often reenter a conversation appropriately even though it was discussed while I was asleep. These subconscious behaviors may be how we have learned by “osmosis”. I often say I feel like I’ve lived the life of a 100 yr old in my 35 yrs. Just don’t have to experience it to “know” it because I often feel other‘s experiences as if they were my own.

There was also a unique experience I had where I had slipped off to nap in the car during a family picnic. I had been working w/ my nephew w/ CP in standing w/o the aid of crutches to bat the ball. As I was asleep he was able to do so successfully and after the fact wanted to tell me what I had missed. But, oddly enough, even though I was not even where I could have seen it and I was asleep, I was w/in hearing distance and I "saw" it--the whole grand moment just as he described.

I hope in the next chapter Sandman is going to elaborate on Dr. Wide Eyes’ ability to self hypnotize. I used to believe that I was just disciplined in some areas of my life more than others. No one else I knew could take a 3 min nap. Now I know that is a feature of N, not discipline, but w/o knowing it I have been using some of the same principles of self hypnosis to relax me quickly so I can catch a power nap.

Okay, all that and now autopilot & microsleeps. Not the same thing but I can autopilot while experiencing microsleeps. The latter is defined as nap attacks (or as you put it "checking out")lasting only seconds, often undetected to the person experiencing them. I didn’t realize I had micros in addition to going to sleep for longer periods of time while working. When it happens it is not so much my going to sleep as it is sleep coming to me--seconds of REM drop kicked into my stage of awake--usually a whole string of episodes. I think my eyes are closed the whole time. I usually can’t tell if I was out seconds, minutes or 15 min. Most of the time in my case it is just seconds but if you add all of them up and the fact that each time I have to start over on where I was and what I was doing, it can really affect the output. That is where auto behavior comes in handy. True, I frequently couldn’t recall a lot of what I did, but I still did it right. Driving on autopilot not recommended.

I also use the staring trances you refer to to take naps w/ my eyes open. It is almost the same as if they are closed because I “see” when I sleep anyway. I think the staring comes from being tired but I don’t think it is a form of a N attack. Noticed I spent most of my day in trances like that on Provigil. Couldn’t break them for anything. The building could have been on fire and I think I would still have been staring wildly as I made my way to safety.

Sorry so long, my mind just cranks on this stuff. Good luck w/ help for your family. Look at it like it can be a good thing (at times anyway) and it will help you deal w/ it more effectively. I consider many aspects of the things discussed above to be gifts.


Follow Ups:


Archived Narcolepsy Forum17 viewing only. To post a new topic go to the Narcolepsy Forum Homepage

  • IMPORTANT : Information not intended as medical advice. If you suspect that you have a sleep disorder you should seek care from a qualified professional. Read Terms of Use.
  • The Sleep Forums are not to be used for commercial purposes.
  • Commercial products and services are not endorsed by Sleepnet.com.
  • Sleep Deprivation due to Sleep Apnea and insufficient sleep are common and can present as insomnia, narcolepsy, or idiopathic hypersomnia. In infants and children sleep problems commonly present themselves as ADD or ADHD.


Copyright ©1995-2005 Sleepnet.com., All rights reserved