My own little psychotic peep show
I needed coffee ohhhh....20 minutes ago. And this is strange for me, since Ellen is generally the any-time-is-caffeine-time gal around the house. I made decaf.....and before you judge, I have my reasons. Morning is for caffeine, the evening is not; particularly for myself, of the caffeine sensitive sort. A cup of coffee in the morning is enough to keep me going most of the day. When I drink coffee I talklikeverythingisonesentencemouthgoingamileaminute... Ellen finds this endlessly entertaining, and it drives my mother up the wall. Win-win situation really. Coffee for me has an adverse affect which anyone who sleeps within 100m of me will attest to: night-terrors
Ok, it sounds really hokey and reeks of a bad B-movie horror scene, but they are also pretty interesting...is interesting the right word...hmmm
I will get out of bed, run around the house screaming, and I dont remember a thing. I ran screaming up and down the hallways with a blanket around my shoulders like a cape in our hotel while we were on vacation in Mexico. I had woken up on the stool at the foot of my bed clutching my knees to my chest screaming and crying only to find my dad standing in the doorway with his hand on the light switch. I have checked under the bed for giant spiders, woken up at the top of my stairs with the twins coming out of their rooms and telling me it sounded like someone was hacking me into little pieces or something...and the list goes on. I can have them every night for 3 weeks straight, then not at all for a month. I can get up anywhere from once to 5 times a night when Im in the proper mood. Give me an ice cream and a coffee before bed and your just asking for it.
The thing is though, I dont remember anything from my dreams. I wake up somewhere that isnt my bed, disoriented and confused, feeling scared to pieces, my heart beating like a hummingbirds. I dont know anything in the world that makes me as afraid as I feel when I wake up from one, and sometimes it takes a while to actually come-to...think crazy-scary hallucinations... I cant think of a thing that would be that terrifying and make me more frightened. Name the scariest thing you can think of, and put a nice double exponent on it. Nightmares dont even come close to a good ol fashioned night terror.
Being the nerd I am, I googled it and Wikied it. Apparently they are quite common in kids, so most of the websites are dedicated to the junior version of night-terrors. Only 2 to 3 percent of adults ever have them....always knew I was special!
People have suggested hypnosis, psychiatrists, diet change...and I havent ever gone for treatment. The curious weather-network-watching-national geographic-reading-geek in me is just too damned entertained and interested in what Im doing to stop. Its scary as hell, and probably horrible for my heart (did I mention that out of 4 kids in my family Im the only one who hasnt had heart surgery yet...), but its like watching a train wreck I suppose....cant look away!
So for now, anyone who has the misfortune of being in the same house as me at night is going to wake up a lot of mornings wishing that I had been killed in my sleep. But I am curious as to what will happen if I decide to move into a University Residence next year instead of having an apartment....will I have any friends at school...probably only ones that arent in the dorms. Oh well, If I am in need of some cheering up I can curl up with an episode of Stargate; Michael Shanks makes everything ok.
Ok, it sounds really hokey and reeks of a bad B-movie horror scene, but they are also pretty interesting...is interesting the right word...hmmm
I will get out of bed, run around the house screaming, and I dont remember a thing. I ran screaming up and down the hallways with a blanket around my shoulders like a cape in our hotel while we were on vacation in Mexico. I had woken up on the stool at the foot of my bed clutching my knees to my chest screaming and crying only to find my dad standing in the doorway with his hand on the light switch. I have checked under the bed for giant spiders, woken up at the top of my stairs with the twins coming out of their rooms and telling me it sounded like someone was hacking me into little pieces or something...and the list goes on. I can have them every night for 3 weeks straight, then not at all for a month. I can get up anywhere from once to 5 times a night when Im in the proper mood. Give me an ice cream and a coffee before bed and your just asking for it.
The thing is though, I dont remember anything from my dreams. I wake up somewhere that isnt my bed, disoriented and confused, feeling scared to pieces, my heart beating like a hummingbirds. I dont know anything in the world that makes me as afraid as I feel when I wake up from one, and sometimes it takes a while to actually come-to...think crazy-scary hallucinations... I cant think of a thing that would be that terrifying and make me more frightened. Name the scariest thing you can think of, and put a nice double exponent on it. Nightmares dont even come close to a good ol fashioned night terror.
Being the nerd I am, I googled it and Wikied it. Apparently they are quite common in kids, so most of the websites are dedicated to the junior version of night-terrors. Only 2 to 3 percent of adults ever have them....always knew I was special!
People have suggested hypnosis, psychiatrists, diet change...and I havent ever gone for treatment. The curious weather-network-watching-national geographic-reading-geek in me is just too damned entertained and interested in what Im doing to stop. Its scary as hell, and probably horrible for my heart (did I mention that out of 4 kids in my family Im the only one who hasnt had heart surgery yet...), but its like watching a train wreck I suppose....cant look away!
So for now, anyone who has the misfortune of being in the same house as me at night is going to wake up a lot of mornings wishing that I had been killed in my sleep. But I am curious as to what will happen if I decide to move into a University Residence next year instead of having an apartment....will I have any friends at school...probably only ones that arent in the dorms. Oh well, If I am in need of some cheering up I can curl up with an episode of Stargate; Michael Shanks makes everything ok.