›› Sleeping Disorders
Sleeping disorders
are the WORST. We all know it (even if we haven’t
yet, thankfully, had to actually experience them). People all
the way back in history have bemoaned the trials and tribulations of
sleeping disorders. Many have conquered problems and developed tricks
or habits for sound sleep patterns. Rare sleeping disorders
are written about and made part of fine films. And artists,
poets, and musicians had sometimes unusual relationships with their
nighttime habits.
E. G. Brown admonishes and denounces Morpheus, the god of dreams/sleep
in a raging poem. The poet Rosetti
combats—unwittingly—insomnia, after paying tribute
to his deceased beloved, Lizzie. Surrealist painter Salvador
Dali designs a technique for sleeping in very short chunks of time at a
time. Einstein and Tesler sleep very little. River
Phoenix’s character, Mike, in My Own Private Idaho, suffers
from narcolepsy. Michael Richards’ character,
Kramer, tries to pull off the Leonardo DaVinci tradition—of
sleep 15 minutes every four hours. In The Haunting, Liam
Neeson plays Dr. David Marrow, who attempts to come up with a theory
for sleeping disorders. And Al Pacino is the epitome of
insomnia in the movie by the same name.
The depiction of sleeping disorders in art and film goes on, suggesting
more than a curious preoccupation with such illnesses or disorders as
narcolepsy (sudden bouts of falling fast asleep in any location at any
time of day), insomnia (inability to sleep), and sleep apnea
(obstructed breathing patterns that waken the sleeper
incessantly). In addition, serious studies and ongoing
clinics and research devote much to what are called parasomnias
(problems that occur during sleep), such as bruxism (teeth-grinding);
head-banging; and what Frank Costanza on Seinfeild calls “the
Jimmy-legs,” the restless limbs, moving limbs, or occasional
lunges and lurches of the limbs during deep sleep and/or during the
initial stages of falling asleep.
A few tricks are offered for the one who has mild insomnia.
For example, he/she is warned not to stay in bed for anything besides,
well, in this case, sleeping. That is, don’t work
in bed; watch TV for hours from the bed, etc., as sleeping brains
don’t register it now as a place to sleep but to stay alert
and active. Of course, there’s the natural
tryptophan solution—hence the jokes and traditions of eating
turkey, drinking warm milk, or eating bananas even. And my
sister and I have this newly-discovered habit (we recently discovered,
that is, that we both do it…and we live 3,000 miles apart):
when we are tossing and turning and restless and unable to sleep, we
relocate by sleeping with our heads at the foot of the bed and our feet
where I restless heads just was. It works for us, but of
course, anyone with much more serious sleeping disorders will consult a
family physician, general practitioner, or sleep specialist instead.
The most striking of sayings I found years ago when I was collecting
quotes for a friend. It is an ancient sentiment (I think
Egyptian or Chinese) that goes something like this:
The three greatest ills of man--To be in bed and sleep not; To want for
one who comes not; To try to please and please not.
May your greatest ills be less than sleeping frustrations.
››
A Healthy Dose of Good Advice
