One
I’ve been sleepwalking since I was 7 or 8 years old. Sometimes I wake up in a strange place, like in a wardrobe or at the foot of the stairs, not knowing how I got there. I’m not a child anymore, but once in a while I get out of bed in the middle of the night and wander around. It’s not uncommon for me to go downstairs to the kitchen for a glass of milk or for a snack. I think I got it from my father who is also a sleepwalker.
Two
I find it difficult to wake up early for school and even more difficult to stay awake after the first fifteen minutes of a class. My teachers mistake my trouble paying attention for disinterest when really I’m just half-asleep. I feel at my best in the evening or at night and I simply can’t fall asleep until about 2 a.m. That is why when my alarm clock wakes me up at 6 a.m., I can’t drag myself out of bed. Sometimes I ignore the alarm and come to school late, but I can’t afford to miss any more classes now.
Three
Judy can’t sleep well at night. She complains that before she goes to bed she has a cup of herbal tea to relax, but when she goes to bed she just can’t stop worrying about her exams and about how she is not sleeping. She says that she has tried everything, from going to bed early, reading a book, listening to relaxing music, exercising to drinking more herbal tea. In the morning she is so exhausted that double espresso seems to have no effect.
Four
I have a lot of problems sleeping because of jet lag. As part of my job, I have to travel all over the world and I often take long-haul flights. I love my job but I hate jet lag, which makes me feel tired and sleepy. It’s best understood with an example. I often fly to Pennsylvania and I arrive there at, say, 2 p.m. local time (when it is 7 p.m. in London). So at 6 p.m. local time I will be very tired because this is the time when I usually go to bed. But I can’t go to bed because I’m probably still working or having lunch with my clients. When I eventually go to bed around midnight, I wake up 3 or 4 hours later because my biological clock thinks it’s about 8 in the morning.
By A.Treger
