SUNDAY GRATITUDE EXTRAVAGANZA: Sleepwalking Edition
| Five Things… [Sleepwalking Edition] | "Anyone Anywhere" AA Meeting | "Which Came First: The Alcoholic or the Sleepwalker?" |"The Power of Ritual and Jangly Brain Syndrome" | Much, Much More...|
I’m grateful for a quiet day. I’m grateful for samurai movies. I’m grateful when the answers become obvious. I’m grateful for how different things are. I’m grateful there was always a way out. I’m grateful I stumbled into it. I’m grateful to be sober today.
The Sleepwalking Edition. What the f*** is this all about? I read a lot and watch a horrifying number of YouTube videos on some pretty obscure topics. The range of topics is so bizarre, they really don’t know what to sell me—I get a lot of Medicare Type B ads (why do they yell and command me to look at the screen, right now!) and then ads for some kind of Viking-styled cooking knife that could be used for more Viking-style activities than slicing tomatoes. Anyway, I started watching this video about the neuro-science of sleepwalking and it turns out that it’s a really weird phenomenon where lots of your brain works like normal, except the pre-frontal cortex, which is why it seems like you, but not like you and you do things that you wouldn’t ordinarily do, and people can’t figure out if you’re really awake and you have kind of dim memories of what happened the night before…
Yeah, that’s what occurred to me, too. This alcoholic was a sleepwalker first, just saying.
1. SLEEPWALKERS DO CRAZY SHIT.
2. THEY WON’T DIE IF YOU WAKE THEM UP.
For some period of time, part of the official explanation for sleepwalking involved the soul leaving the body at night. Waking a soul-less nightwalker, well, of course that seemed like a terrible idea. Good news, souls apparently often stay put at night.
3. SLEEP-MOWING THE LAWN IS SUPER DANGEROUS.
Some mental health experts suggest that sleepwalking can involve acting out dreams and fantasies or strongly-held urges. With all due respect, I don’t think I really want to know much more about this guy’s interior monologue.
4. IS SLEEPWALKING A MURDER DEFENSE?
5. WAIT, THERE’S SOMETHING CALLED “SEXSOMNIA?”
Yes, this is apparently a thing. No, I don’t know if it’s a tag you can put on a dating app profile.
“Anyone Anywhere” meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous!
Tuesday nights at 7pm
The “Anyone Anywhere” meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous takes place on Tuesday evenings at 7pm (edt). It is an “Open” meeting, meaning all are welcome and that definitely includes you! If you’re curious about what happens at AA meetings or have been looking to check new meetings out, it’s all good with us.
We’ve been working our way through the Big Book, but it’s cool to jump in any time, you don’t need to promise to come every week, you don’t even need to turn your camera on if you don’t want to. We’re going to be starting on “Working with Others,” which is a really critical part of the Big Book and provides some often overlooked advice on how best to help alcoholics and addicts.
We’d love to have you join us.
Zoom: 873 5565 4347 secret code: 1234
Which Came First: The Alcoholic or the Sleepwalker?
I was a sleepwalker. I don’t mean that in some allegorical sense, I mean I actually walked in my sleep. When I was in the Second Grade, I woke up one night and left our apartment, walked to the building my friend lived in, went to his front door and rang the doorbell. When his mom answered the door, it was like 3am, and she asked why I was there, I said, “there’s no one at my house.” She frantically called my parents, thinking there had been a terrible crime, but everyone was safe. I dimly remember walking between buildings and ringing the doorbell, but seriously:
WTF.
The sleepwalking continued. As a teenager, I’d frequently make appearances in the living room where my parents were watching The Tonight Show. I’d speak some gibberish, they’d tell me to go back to bed and I’d turn around and head back to my room. There was the time I got locked out of my hotel room at a debate tournament and the time I woke up on the front lawn. I was dimly conscious of these episodes and I remember some details about them, but someone else was definitely at the wheel.
I’m watching this YouTube video on the neuro-oscience of sleepwalking and the crazy things people are able to do while asleep and they were explaining how it was a “glitch” in the brain, some areas of the brain continued to function normally while the pre-frontal cortex, the part of the brain that supplies executive function and decision-making is somehow impaired or deactivated. This reminded me of something else and who else would I turn to but the robot?1
I asked ChatGPT to fill me in on the science of sleepwalking and then asked:
Do both sleepwalking and addiction suggest impairments of the prefrontal cortex and executive motor function?
Yes, both addiction and sleepwalking can suggest impairments in the prefrontal cortex and executive motor function, albeit through different mechanisms.
1. Addiction and Prefrontal Cortex Impairment:
Chronic substance abuse can lead to structural and functional changes in the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for executive functions such as decision-making, impulse control, and emotional regulation. Prolonged substance use can impair these functions and lead to diminished activity in the prefrontal cortex. This can result in difficulties in exerting self-control, making sound judgments, and regulating behavior.
2. Sleepwalking and Prefrontal Cortex Involvement:
During sleepwalking, there may be a partial impairment or disconnection between sleep and wake states. While the specific involvement of the prefrontal cortex in sleepwalking is still being studied, research suggests that executive functions associated with the prefrontal cortex, such as decision-making and self-control, may be impaired during sleepwalking episodes. This can result in complex behaviors being carried out while individuals are partially asleep, with limited awareness or control.
In both cases, there can be impairments in executive functions related to the prefrontal cortex. Addiction involves impairments caused by the direct effects of substances on brain function and structure, whereas sleepwalking may involve alterations in the sleep-wake cycle and associated disruptions in prefrontal cortex activity during sleep.
The Big Book describes alcoholic behavior as “absurd,” “baffling.” “incomprehensible.” There is the Jekyll/Hyde aspect to it that is so destructive and particularly incomprehensible to the civilians. It’s like there is a switch that can get turned on and off. The Big Book refers to the phenomenon wherein we alcoholics are able to briefly exert mastery over our subject, and then mysteriously, the switch gets flipped and off we go.
Sleepwalking can be caused by a variety of genetic factors and may reflect stress levels, other behavioral issues, sleep disorders, the presence of Parkinson’s Disease. Meaning that in some people, these external forces occasionally conspire to switch off executory function and let the Wild Rumpus begin:
I consulted Google and found studies that showed that alcoholics and addicts had more parasomnia dysfunction2:
The consumption of alcohol was reported in association with arousal disorders, such as sexsomnia and sleep-related eating disorder; and REM sleep behavior disorder was reported during alcohol withdrawal. Cocaine abuse was associated with REM sleep behavior disorder with drug consumption dream content. Overall, we found that several types of parasomnias were very frequent in patients with addictions.
This review of the literature concluded that addicts and alcoholics and addicts have much higher rates of parasomnia, but assumed this was caused by the drinking and the drugging.
Ummm, I was a sleepwalker before I was an alcoholic.
I’m not saying that four decades of chaotic mayhem were the consequence of a sleep disorder. I wasn’t sleepwalking that entire time. I very, very much believe that alcoholism and addiction are diseases, diseases that don’t fit in traditional molds and aren’t really explainable or treatable by traditional means. This has been the case since the 1930’s. But at the bottom, I have a difficult time reconciling the disease model with the stuff I did and the way I hurt people—that all didn’t just happen and I know I have some level of responsibility. I certainly don’t believe that alcoholism and addiction are just excuses for poor self control and bad behavior. That’s why exploring and understanding connections like this are of critical importance—they hold the keys, I think, to understanding this disease and to developing more effective treatments.
My own personal, highly unscientific, very idiosyncratic and evolving view of alcoholism is that it involves a series of genetic traits and environmental factors that trigger “glitches” similar to what’s involved in sleepwalking. They also produce weird thinking patterns that are prevalent among alcoholics and addicts. Maybe alcoholics and addicts and sleepwalkers have brains where it’s easier to switch off the pre-frontal cortex than others—that would explain the “magical effects” brand new alcoholics report about their first drink. Which brings to mind Dr. Ruth Fox’s definition of the “Primary Addict,” (an alcoholic like me):
The Primary Addict, from his first introduction to beverage alcohol, uses it as an aid to adjust to his environment.
Alcoholism, Its Scope, Cause and Treatment, Dr. Ruth Fox (1955)
Alcohol works for alcoholics, right? Maybe this is part of the reason why? Anyway, things are better in the light of day? Right?
From the TFLMS Archives:
As I have mentioned, I’ve chosen to keep the relationship very non-personal as I realize there will probably come a day when I may need to kill the robot. It’s just business, baby.
Parasomnias in Patients with Addictions: A Systematic Review (Cambridge University Press)
“Alcohol works for alcoholics, right?” Yes...until it doesn’t.
Absolutely fascinating post, TBD!