Many of you may have already caught this item, since it's a couple months old, but I only saw it recently and I have to say it both cracked me up and scared thebejeesus out of me:
Researchers recently reported a case of a woman who got on her computer and sent emails while sleeping. She invited several friends over for drinks and caviar.
Apparently the woman went to bed around 10pm, but got up a couple hours later and, in her sleep, walked to the next room and sat down at her computer. She was able to connect to the web, log on with her user name and password, and write and send three emails. She only found out what she had done when a friend called the next day to accept the invitation.
The article points out that the emails "were perhaps not up to the woman’s waking standard; each was in a random mix of upper and lower case characters, badly formatted and containing odd expressions. One read: 'Come tomorrow and sort this hell hole out. Dinner and drinks, 4.pm. Bring wine and caviar only.' Another said simply: 'What the…'"
The woman had no history of sleepwalking or night terrors; however, it was thought that the episode could have been triggered by prescription medication.
The researchers named this new form of sleepwalking: "zzzmailing."
Holy cow, I'm going to stay away from prescription sleep medication! Because after zzzmail, I'm guessing zzzblogging can't be too far behind. Believe me, you do not want to read a "zblog" by written by a somnambulent Crabby McSlacker.
Anyone ever experience any weird sleep phenomenon yourselves? I'm lucky; mine is lucid dreaming which is actually a whole lot of fun. Or do you know of any poor souls who sleepwalk or do freakish things while asleep?
Hm, zzzzzmailing....I don't THINK I've ever done this, but there's nothing in my Sent box that would suggest so.
ReplyDeleteI'm so not giving up my Sonata. (It's like Ambien but it only lasts four hours--it's for just getting you to sleep, not for keeping you asleep.) It has saved my life. It saves my life just sitting there in the bedside table drawer...then I don't worry about getting to sleep, which is one of the main reasons I can't fall asleep. If that makes sense...
*giggle* I've never zzzz-anything-ed. But I used to sleepwalk a LOT. Occasionally I still do it, but I have to be under a LOT of stress. My then-boyfriend said I sleepwalked a few times right after my grandma died.
ReplyDeleteBut when I was little - like 4 or 5 - I used to sleepwalk out into the kitchen, open all the cupboard doors in a certain order (I'd get a dining chair for the high cupboards and climb up), and then go back and close them all in the same order. Happened 2 or 3 times a week, according to my dad (who was always up late grading papers).
Weird, huh?
Wow!! That's really strange. Like you, dreaming is more than enough for me! I'm still trying to understand the sleep-eating thing?
ReplyDeleteIf you walk by my sleeping husband and startle him, he awakes thinking you're an intruder - every single time.
ReplyDeleteHe actually jumps up with fists in the air. It used to freak me out, like "who the hell did I marry"? But now I just tell him to calm down and he goes right back to sleep.
Or maybe he's asleep the entire time. I haven't figured that out yet.
I have lucid dreams which are fun some of the time and terrifying at others.
ReplyDeleteBut my son used to sleepwalk, sort of, routinely. He'd get up in the middle of the night, come downstairs and have a conversation, and it would take a while to realize that This Kid is NOT Awake. And then he'd be hard to wake up and terrified. The doctors consistently dismissed it as something that he would grow out of (which he mostly has), but at the time, it was pretty scary.
No zzzmail, though! That sounds like something I would do...
Oh my goodness! I have walked out of a loft door only to have my frantic Aunt spend 30 minutes cutting me out of the brabed wire fence...not a scratch. I have sat up in the car, put my purse on my shoulder and stepped out at 60 mph...lots of scratches and road rash but nothing broken (not even where my husband thoughtfully left his tire tread on my leg)...woke up in x-ray with no clue. No sleep meds necessary...
ReplyDeleteAdmittedly, it has been years now since I have had an incident that I know of...but now I am an insomniac :o)
That's totally freaky!
ReplyDeleteIt freaks me out when you are dreaming of someone and then they call and wake you up. Weird.
~rupal
Wow, now sleepwalking sounds even more scary that ever! Some of these stories are truly frightening.
ReplyDeleteI think I'd start getting scared to go to bed... Running in Alabama, I'm not surprised you have insomnia! Though that's an awful malady too. Hope that phase ends and that you have peaceful nights of slumber soon.
I haven't done this yet. I hope I never do. My current thing is the beta blocker I take gives me hallucinations. It's often two versions of my husband although recently I saw a 15 foot metallic green stalk of Timothy (variety of hay) extend from the bedroom mirror toward me.
ReplyDeleteMy clock radio used to figure prominently in these. The numbers never looked right and on one stellar occasion the time was replaced by a scrolling newsfeed.
Unpleasant, if interesting, and a great deal safer than emailing dinner invitations.
My husband occasionally tries to romance me while we are both asleep. He thinks it's embarrassing; I find it adorable. He's never emailed me, though!
ReplyDelete-Julia
I've always wanted to be able to lucid dream...I try but no dice. I alweays wake up.
ReplyDeleteI sleep like a rock. I can even fall asleep mid sentence or in a public place so I've never had a sleep problem or sleepwalking problem. (and no I don't drive at night :).
I had a roommate in college who would often try and hold conversations with me in her sleep. Problem was, she was from germany, so she'd slip back into german in her sleep and get really mad when I didn't talk back...:)
Gosh, I feel left out. No sleep-walking stories, no zzz-mailing, just a little insomnia.... I rarely remember my dreams. Well, except the ones where I'm in a filthy public washroom, and all the stalls are either full, or don't have doors, or the toilets are overflowing. I finally figured out that my subconscious was telling me to get up and go the bathroom.
ReplyDeleteI used to sleepwalk when I was a kid, but I think I mostly grew out of that, at least no one's told me I sleep walk and I havn't woken up weird places. I do still talk in my sleep however, which is amusing because so does my S.O., and people have reported us having "sleep conversations" ^_^
ReplyDeleteI still worry about the dream I had about how sleepy I was. If I'm hungry, I'll dream about food. But if I'm already sleeping, why am I dreaming about needing to sleep?
ReplyDeleteI've had to monitor stuff for IT purposes and have fallen asleep in front of a computer, but have never gone to bed and sleep walked to send mail.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised how many folks have sleepwalked! I don't even talk in my sleep. I would be scared if I zzzmailed and I'm always grateful I'm not one of these people who does the whole sleep-eating thing.
ReplyDeleteThis gal needs Gmail. She can turn on the Mail Goggles function in the labs. I think it was invented to stop "drunk emailing" (vs. drunk dialing). She'd have to complete a few simple math problems in a certain time before the email would be allowed through. *snerk* The things we come up with! (Yes I'm serious - this really does exist!)
ReplyDeleteI was a sleep walker when a kid, as was my hubby. Usually when we needed to use the bathroom. Based on the antics we got up to? I can't wait to see the creative things our kid does! Actually - my husband STILL sleepwalks when large amounts of alcohol are involved. Again - usually when he needs to use the bathroom. And it never ends well.
A few years back I had a boyfriend who would awaken much like Yum Yuck described - ready to fight.. spiders. He was extremely arachnophobic and often wandered the house trying to kill them. Except there weren't any and it was almost impossible to convince him of that. It was kind of creepy because he made perfect sense except for the spiders.
ReplyDeleteYikes indeed! Personally I have not had a similar sleeping issue to zzzmailing. Probably due to the fact that sleep is not one of my better skills! (is sleep overrated? :) ) Unfortunately I think I have passed down my bad sleeping habits to my kids! My son has had night terrors and it is frightening to be part of from this end as well!
ReplyDeleteI am an Internet addict, but not that bad.
ReplyDeleteGeesh woman. Take a pill or something!
I used to sleep walk when I was little, but grew out of it. Geesh, I hope it never returns in the form of zzmailing. I guess it's better than walking around the neighborhood naked like my brother used to do. lol.
ReplyDeleteI can have a conversation in my sleep. My previous roommates and husband tell me I'm very polite. But I do talk a lot in my sleep.
ReplyDeleteI had a roommate for two years (in a dorm room, no less) who talked and walked in her sleep. Every night was an adventure for all of us!
ReplyDeleteMy step-father and my step-brother also sleepwalk, but since I've never shared a room with either of them I never really got caught up in any of their escapades.
Apparently I'm a pretty boring sleeper, although my husband tells me that sometimes I sleep with my eyes half open. Freaks him out.
I have become a really heavy sleeper which can be a bad thing :)
ReplyDeleteLately, the twins have been sneaking into my bed at night.......
I wake up in the morning and there they are.........I never felt them get in!
Imagine what else could going on in my house without my knowledge while sleeping.......it scares me because I was never like this before.
Omg, Crabby! I can just visualize the zzzmailing! My brother used to sleepwalk on the farm and my mom would find him out wandering in the yard near the barn. My other brother used to sleep-talk, and quite loudly at times if you happened to pass by his bedroom making even the slightest noise! I had better be careful not to take any sleep meds, or I could end up with a combination of both characteristics!
ReplyDeleteImagine receiving this invitation? A sort-out-the-hell-hole soiree featuring wine & caviar. I've not yet been invited to such an affair.
ReplyDeleteI *thought* I posted this earlier today, but I was probably really just sleeping.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, a freaky deaky sleep phenom I experience is a weird out of body thing before and after waking up. Like I'm floating away from my body. Sometimes I can see myself and the room I'm in, even tho my eyes are closed. I used to joke that I was "waking up on the ceiling."
I've been getting them ever since I was attacked by a dog when I was a kid.
It's amazing the things some people manage to do in their sleep... I've heard some *interesting* stories. But never sending emails...
ReplyDeleteAmbien is the Devil. I took it once at the same time I ordered Chinese. Then had to commando low-crawl up the stairs to find my money, and I think I gave the guy like a hundred bucks. I recall him looking at me like I'd just offered him a crack pipe. It was like the drunkest drunk you've been in your whole life.
ReplyDeleteNext thing I remember, I awoke face down on the floor of the den, fully clothed, and the cats had spread the Chinese food all about the place. True story.
Oh, and one time in Baghdad I was awakened in a bunker with my full uniform, body armor, and gear on correctly, down to the loaded M-4. By myself. I went to sleep in a trailer 50 yards away in shorts and a t-shirt. One of my soldiers told me he'd asked me why I was all geared up at 2am as I walked quickly to the bunker, and evidently I said, "Here we go!" It scared the crap out of him; he thought we were under attack and woke up the Commander. I guess it's a good thing I didn't shoot anyone! That was one of the most surreal experiences EVER and I never lived it down!
ReplyDeleteOh dear goodness, now I'm worried that my sleeping problems are going to lead me to do all kinds of crazy and unusual things while I'm still asleep...
ReplyDeleteSo after reading these posts yesterday, I woke both my husband & myself up last night thrashing around in the bed killing imaginary spiders. Funny the things that stay with you when you don't realize.
ReplyDeleteIt's a family thing here. My cuz couldn't figure out why she wasn't losing weight until she woke up with marinara sauce covering her pillow (she lived with her mom and thought mom was eating, as well as being neat in her sleep and put the dishes in her sleep).
ReplyDeleteMy then two-year-old yelled 'spider' in his sleep, hands straight out. Patted his back, thought it was a bad dream. Two minutes later, hands straight out again; 'up the water spout!'
That is scary!
ReplyDelete