Sleep drunkenness
Hmm, being drunk on sleep sounds nice, right?
I stumbled (ha ha) on this article (pdf here) about sleep drunkenness hidden in yet ANOTHER article about how sedentary desk workers are and that they need to move more.
WE GET IT! Sitting down is the devil!
Anyway.
What is sleep drunkenness?
Bouts of the condition involve waking up with extreme confusion, disorientation, and sometimes amnesia. If you’ve ever awaked and turned off your alarm without knowing it, you may have been in this state, technically known as a “confusional arousal.”
This state of “confusional arousal” usually occurs when you wake up somebody suddenly, and they don’t know what’s going on, or where they are. The condition can cause real problems, especially if it happens frequently; more than half of those who reported experiencing sleep drunkenness said it happened at least once per week.
According to this short article, it affects 15% of Americans, and it can last up to 15 minutes. I think it’s more than just hitting snooze because you don’t want to get up. It’s waking up and having no idea what the effity is going on.
Have you had any sleep drunkenness incidents?
Ha ha. Ha. I have one to share. It’s a story my family likes to tell time and time again, because it makes us all laugh.
When I lived at home, my snister and I shared a bedroom. One night during my high school freshman year, I had gone to bed before her. She and my mom were at some event and got home late that night, around 11:00 pm.
When they got back, they found me in the doorway to our bedroom, dressed in my school clothes. They asked what I was doing and I told them, matter-of-factly, “leaving for school.”
Apparently, I was so confused when I woke up, I thought it was time to go to school. I don’t remember putting my school clothes on. I just remember standing in the doorway, and them looking at me like I was cray cray. And I was so adamant that it was time to go to school.
They gently told me to go back to bed (after laughing at me, I am sure).
The most recent time this happened, I lucked out! My alarm went off and I had no idea what day it was or why my alarm was going off and why I needed to get up. I was SUPER out of it. My first thought was that I was supposed to meet Kelly for a run. But when I looked at the alarm, it told me what to do.
I am happy I named my alarms!
Themocracy
every. single. day!!!! HAHAHAHA! My alarm says (for work) Time to make the donuts!
Last week, my alarm was off and my iphone went off anyway. Spooky. Also, REALLY confusing.
Too funny! One night I woke up at like 1am and thought it was time to get up for work (4:50am) and I even got into the shower. While washing my hair I suddenly questioned what time it was… I finished showering though since there aren’t any clocks in my bathroom. Lol
Ha ha ha! So you were able to skip the shower when you got up, at least!
One night last week I fell asleep on the couch sometime around 9 or so. Well about 11, the dishwasher started. (I had filled it up and set it to delay earlier in the evening because it’s loud and I hate listening to it.) When it kicked on, it startled me awake, and I had no idea wtf was going on. lol No idea what time it was, what day it was, where I was… it was a little freaky!
How long did it take to figure it out?! Until you found a clock?
I’m laughing so hard at this post. First, at the “what the effity” statement and then at you sleep drunk as a teen and then at your alarm name! Hilarious!
I have had this a few times, mostly after taking a nap. It’s very confusing!
Aww, thank you! 🙂
Sigh, yeah, sometimes when you get in to that awesome deep sleep on a nap… gosh it feels so good but the confusion part sucks. Then you’re in a fog the rest of the day!
Ah, I didn’t know you could name alarms. I should do that! Duhhhh. Maybe I’ll leave myself a happy morning message.
You are my go-to resource on articles about how sitting is killing us, ha. (Also, that article about “confusional arousal” makes me skeptical. It kind of sounds like someone wanted to publish an academic paper and was like, “Yep. This sounds like a smart thing. Imma’ jump on this sedentary bandwagon.”)
It wasn’t until I reformatted my phone in July that I named them! It was a feature I kept forgetting about. My Friday alarm tells me it’s time to get up and go teach.
Ha ha ha! I am not a good source since I mostly make fun of it!! I do not get why those articles were doubled together. It’s like they didn’t have enough content for a long article? I was really surprised to read about this… and even more surprised that I clicked on another “YOU’RE ALL GOING TO DIE YOU SIT TOO MUCH!!!” article 🙂
I have an alarm called “run you fat bitch, runnnnn!” hahah. Sometimes it works.
My college roommate was always sleep drunk. One time her alarm clock was going off forever and I rolled over to see why she wasn’t turning it off – she was just pushing random buttons on her phone and trying to answer it and yelling “Hello?!” “HELLOOOOO?!” hahaha. I had to tell her about 5 times that it was her alarm clock and not her phone.
Hahaha I had a very similar thing happen when I was in high school — on my birthday, in fact! I heard my alarm go off (or so I thought…), got up, and dragged myself to the bathroom to put my contacts in and wash my face. I was SO SO SO tired (and bummed out that I was so tired on my birthday!) when my mom knocked on the bathroom door and asked what I was doing. I, naturally, told her I was getting ready for school, and she was like, “…it’s 12:30…?” Hahahaha. Guess that explains why I was so tired 😛
I have been waking up about 3, so the confusion sleeping sets in about 5 when I have to get up at 5:20
I get the sleep drunk thing. I regularly turn my alarm off without being aware of it or remembering later.
My most recent time of doing something crazy while being sleep drunk was at the engaged encounter weekend that Matt and I went to back in April. I woke up in the middle of the night and went to the door of my room. I was standing with the door open when I came out of my drunkeness. And I was like WTF is going on? Then I just got back in bed. It seems to be worse when I am staying at unfamiliar places!