The Dreams of a Man Asleep for Three Weeks(kotaku.com)
kotaku.com
The Dreams of a Man Asleep for Three Weeks
https://kotaku.com/the-dreams-of-a-man-asleep-for-three-weeks-1833572960
4 comments
> Delirium in intensive care units is extremely common
For some people a fever is enough. Somewhere in the region of 39C I start having what I can best describe "emotional hallucinations" or "hallucinations of the mind's eye." There is nothing sensory (auditory, visual, physical) in the classical sense, but I know that something is there and it is terrifying (even though I have always been aware that it's a hallucination).
I had an unknown parasite, distantly related to Malaria, for two weeks as a child. This was just enough to push me into delirium. I "hallucinated" a black hole in my room, not one the size of my room, but real stellar proportions and gravity. I also hallucinated a radio chasing me around. I never saw, heard or felt either of them, I just knew that they were there, and were not there.
I've had wildly vivid dreams ever since. They are blandly authentic. Some of them would probably make great movies. Every night I hope I have one of those dreams, but they are becoming less and less frequent.
For some people a fever is enough. Somewhere in the region of 39C I start having what I can best describe "emotional hallucinations" or "hallucinations of the mind's eye." There is nothing sensory (auditory, visual, physical) in the classical sense, but I know that something is there and it is terrifying (even though I have always been aware that it's a hallucination).
I had an unknown parasite, distantly related to Malaria, for two weeks as a child. This was just enough to push me into delirium. I "hallucinated" a black hole in my room, not one the size of my room, but real stellar proportions and gravity. I also hallucinated a radio chasing me around. I never saw, heard or felt either of them, I just knew that they were there, and were not there.
I've had wildly vivid dreams ever since. They are blandly authentic. Some of them would probably make great movies. Every night I hope I have one of those dreams, but they are becoming less and less frequent.
Thank you for posting this. I have been hospitalized a few times for acute pancreatitis, for 5-7 days at a time. No food or liquids allowed, with just a saline drip and an IV of dilaudid every 4 hours and hydrocodone every 2 hours.
>Delirium in intensive care units is extremely common
The first time after 48 hours the auditory hallucinations started, but I thought it was music traveling through the HVAC from the wing of the hospital that was being remodeled so I said nothing of it. The second time after 48 hours the auditory hallucinations came again and the nurses had uncomfortable looks on their faces when I explained it to them. Basically it was constant hip-hop, metal, or psychedelic music, droning constantly.
>extremely stressful situations, abnormal biochemistry, and powerful pharmaceuticals.
The constant clicks and beeps of the IV machine, the little lights that never turn off, and all the other interruptions of a hospital stay make for a very stressful situation. The last time that I was in the hospital for it a couple years ago (and surely hope it is the last time, for my daughter's sake) they had implemented alarms on the beds for those under heavy pain medications that went off anytime you attempted to get out of bed, leading to the feeling of being imprisoned.
By the end of each time that I was in the hospital it was constant auditory and intermittent visual hallucinations, and it was horrible. Typing all of this has brought all the vividness back (and the feelings of being trapped in a nonsensical world), which makes me think maybe I as well should write about my experiences.
>Delirium in intensive care units is extremely common
The first time after 48 hours the auditory hallucinations started, but I thought it was music traveling through the HVAC from the wing of the hospital that was being remodeled so I said nothing of it. The second time after 48 hours the auditory hallucinations came again and the nurses had uncomfortable looks on their faces when I explained it to them. Basically it was constant hip-hop, metal, or psychedelic music, droning constantly.
>extremely stressful situations, abnormal biochemistry, and powerful pharmaceuticals.
The constant clicks and beeps of the IV machine, the little lights that never turn off, and all the other interruptions of a hospital stay make for a very stressful situation. The last time that I was in the hospital for it a couple years ago (and surely hope it is the last time, for my daughter's sake) they had implemented alarms on the beds for those under heavy pain medications that went off anytime you attempted to get out of bed, leading to the feeling of being imprisoned.
By the end of each time that I was in the hospital it was constant auditory and intermittent visual hallucinations, and it was horrible. Typing all of this has brought all the vividness back (and the feelings of being trapped in a nonsensical world), which makes me think maybe I as well should write about my experiences.
The first time they gave me a bunch of morphine post-op, a nurse kept wondering by. After a few checks, getting slightly more in explicit, I asked "why". She explained that there was a fair likelihood of hallucination with the drug, but if they warn people in advance it is significantly more common.
There is obviously more risk to unexpected hallucination, but always some risk if it happens. I still think it's a really interesting risk minimisation proposition.
There is obviously more risk to unexpected hallucination, but always some risk if it happens. I still think it's a really interesting risk minimisation proposition.
I wonder if that phenomenon is explained by people being more willing to admit to hallucinations if they've been told it's an expected result of the drug, and not because they're crazy or weird.
This was a really enjoyable read - thank you for posting.
I've always had difficulty remembering my dreams after waking, so I'm almost jealous of the amount of detail and realism he was able to retain, but then again, I guess 3 weeks of nothing but dreaming would do that
Everyone is different.
When I was young, I was a natural lucid dreamer and had substantial recall. I wrote tons of my dreams down. There wasn't a time I thought this was unusual until many years later in school after my recall declined.
When I reached high school, a teacher had explained the concept of lucid dreaming to a class that seemed skeptical. There was one other student aside from me that experienced them.
In response to discovering this 'oddity', I ended up joining a community to log my experiences and discuss them... there's a large variability in the kinds of dreams and the ability to induce them. I ended up meeting my last gf on that community and she never had a lucid (her dreams were mostly fragments of the prior day's events)
Mine weren't like that. Sometimes I would just fly around in environments that were similar to what I experienced in life. I would often just test to see what I could do (move objects with my mind, that sound of crap).
Oftentimes, I would just live out daily events as either a different person or myself in another time and place. A hallmark of my logs was the amount of time I experienced in each dream, when I was very young I would experience what would feel like a week in a night. There were times it felt even longer, one time in kindergarten I lived out a portion of gradeschool and woke up crying because I realized the friends I made there wouldn't be in the real world.
Today, I am an infrequent dreamer and not active in that community anymore. I can occasionally induce a short lucid dream if I have a quiet morning to myself and set an alarm to wake up a bit early. I find my recall goes up when I am teaching myself things. The recall is not related to the material I'm learning.
So yeah, there's some variability in dreaming.
When I was young, I was a natural lucid dreamer and had substantial recall. I wrote tons of my dreams down. There wasn't a time I thought this was unusual until many years later in school after my recall declined.
When I reached high school, a teacher had explained the concept of lucid dreaming to a class that seemed skeptical. There was one other student aside from me that experienced them.
In response to discovering this 'oddity', I ended up joining a community to log my experiences and discuss them... there's a large variability in the kinds of dreams and the ability to induce them. I ended up meeting my last gf on that community and she never had a lucid (her dreams were mostly fragments of the prior day's events)
Mine weren't like that. Sometimes I would just fly around in environments that were similar to what I experienced in life. I would often just test to see what I could do (move objects with my mind, that sound of crap).
Oftentimes, I would just live out daily events as either a different person or myself in another time and place. A hallmark of my logs was the amount of time I experienced in each dream, when I was very young I would experience what would feel like a week in a night. There were times it felt even longer, one time in kindergarten I lived out a portion of gradeschool and woke up crying because I realized the friends I made there wouldn't be in the real world.
Today, I am an infrequent dreamer and not active in that community anymore. I can occasionally induce a short lucid dream if I have a quiet morning to myself and set an alarm to wake up a bit early. I find my recall goes up when I am teaching myself things. The recall is not related to the material I'm learning.
So yeah, there's some variability in dreaming.
It's interesting that you mention your recall increases when you're learning things.
I've recently started learning and practicing new music, and when I focus, fragments of old dreams just randomly appear in my head.
I've recently started learning and practicing new music, and when I focus, fragments of old dreams just randomly appear in my head.
If you want to remember your dreams you can train yourself to do so. Keep a journal on your nightstand. The moment you wake up, write down all the details you can remember. After doing this for a while, you will remember more and more and the memories won't fade so easily.
You can also cheat a bit in my experience by waking up maybe 45-90 mins before you normally would, then going back to sleep. The dreams you have in this period should be more vivid and easier to remember.
You can also cheat a bit in my experience by waking up maybe 45-90 mins before you normally would, then going back to sleep. The dreams you have in this period should be more vivid and easier to remember.
You can also - and this has worked very well for me - do a little affirmation in your head before you fall asleep. Just say to yourself a few times: "I'm going to remember (all) my dreams". This is super easy and very effective. After a few days/weeks I was able to remember several dreams that I had that night. The cheating you mentioned also works very well and you can actually do it a few times with each nap being 10-20 minutes.
How do you ever remember to write in it after waking?
I'm lucky if I remember deodorant first thing in the morning. I'm usually good 5-10 minutes after waking, but before then I rarely do things like shower and sometimes won't even make coffee. I guess I can talk to folks and be really mean at first - I don't remember these outbursts, though. It gets worse with bad sleep hygiene.
I'm lucky if I remember deodorant first thing in the morning. I'm usually good 5-10 minutes after waking, but before then I rarely do things like shower and sometimes won't even make coffee. I guess I can talk to folks and be really mean at first - I don't remember these outbursts, though. It gets worse with bad sleep hygiene.
I'm just like you in the morning, but I was asked to keep a dream journal for a creative writing class. I was sure it wouldn't work, but it did.
Put the journal (opened to the right page) and pen right beside your bed where you can't miss it when you wake up. Write down anything that's in your head, even if it's just, "I don't remember anything." Eventually, you'll start remembering dreams vividly and be able to write them down.
Or at least this seems to work for most people. I have no idea why. Of course, it probably doesn't work for everyone. But then again, what does?
Put the journal (opened to the right page) and pen right beside your bed where you can't miss it when you wake up. Write down anything that's in your head, even if it's just, "I don't remember anything." Eventually, you'll start remembering dreams vividly and be able to write them down.
Or at least this seems to work for most people. I have no idea why. Of course, it probably doesn't work for everyone. But then again, what does?
Have the notebook next to you in bed with a pen ready. If you need to get up to do it, you'll often forget all or most of your dream by the time you get to the notebook.
That's the thing: I do have a pen and paper by my bed - mostly for those "going to sleep" thoughts but also so I always know where one is.
I never remember until I've been awake and moving around for a bit. :)
I never remember until I've been awake and moving around for a bit. :)
Sounds like a fun experiment. I'll try this and report back in a month
I'm always curious about expository writing like this. I have pretty bad ADHD, so unless the topic is interesting or the information is summarized, I'd rather pay money than be forced to read it. (I noped out of this article pretty quickly.)
What makes reading articles in this style interesting? It takes a lot of time, so there's definitely an opportunity cost.
What makes reading articles in this style interesting? It takes a lot of time, so there's definitely an opportunity cost.
>I have pretty bad ADHD, so unless the topic is interesting
.... to you
>What makes reading articles in this style interesting?
People who are interested in the topic find detailed articles on that topic interesting.
.... to you
>What makes reading articles in this style interesting?
People who are interested in the topic find detailed articles on that topic interesting.
I get it, I’m cynical. But am I the only one that wonders how much of this is true, and how much “poetic license”?
It might be hard to believe if you have fairly normal dreams. I can easily believe it. My dreams are much stranger than that. The last vivid dream I had was of Anubis looking men emerging from eggs laid out in a grid. They clapped their hands chanting 'wolf men, wolf men, wolf men' while I had to fight their normal looking wolf pets.
Any ideas what might be causing your.. imaginative dreams?
Cheese before bed? Art-house movies? Art-house substances?
Cheese before bed? Art-house movies? Art-house substances?
No cheese before bed (I didn't know that was a thing) and I like watching strange films but it's not something I do often. I haven't used any interesting substances in a long time, just ranitidine for reflux.
Honestly, I don't know. I don't remember them not being like that. I still have some normal dreams, even the common ones like teeth falling out. But a large portion of my dreams have always been nonsense.
Honestly, I don't know. I don't remember them not being like that. I still have some normal dreams, even the common ones like teeth falling out. But a large portion of my dreams have always been nonsense.
I’ve had some great dreams with taking b12 right before bed. Or waking up then going back to sleep + b12.
You sure it was b12? b6 is known to increase dream 'weirdness'. I ran a not so scientific trial 15 or so years ago with around 30 individuals where we kept dream logs and took various dosages of b6. Small amounts do have varying effects on people.
I really do not recommend high dosages over 50mg, peripheral neuropathy is not fun to have.
I really do not recommend high dosages over 50mg, peripheral neuropathy is not fun to have.
Yes, it’s the best b12 I could find.
The imagination has literally everything imaginable at its disposal. Considering the drugs they were pumping through his veins I don't see why we have to doubt the veracity.
I've dabbled in sleep deprivation in the past and after four days it's as if I'm dreaming while my eyes are open, simultaneously sleeping on some level while still functioning in the world. It was as if totally random and crazy movies were playing in my head and my consciousness would uncontrollably alternate between them for minutes at a time, only occasionally giving attention to the one in front of my eyes.
I've dabbled in sleep deprivation in the past and after four days it's as if I'm dreaming while my eyes are open, simultaneously sleeping on some level while still functioning in the world. It was as if totally random and crazy movies were playing in my head and my consciousness would uncontrollably alternate between them for minutes at a time, only occasionally giving attention to the one in front of my eyes.
New parent here. The sleep deprivation thing is real. There were moments early on where I would lay on the couch hoping to get a quick 15 minutes in and almost as soon as I closed my eyes I would have dreams.
The interesting part for me, is that as soon as I realized these were crazy and not reality, I would instantly zap myself awake. It made things incredibly difficult and I would have to close my eyes with the intention of not trying to detect if what I was thinking about was real.
The interesting part for me, is that as soon as I realized these were crazy and not reality, I would instantly zap myself awake. It made things incredibly difficult and I would have to close my eyes with the intention of not trying to detect if what I was thinking about was real.
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I rarely read articles that long, but I found this one fascinating.
I can believe it, since I (both unfortunately and fortunately) have the most vivid, realistic, extremely detailed (and sometimes weird and frightening) dreams. Dreams that I can remember after years. Sometimes they change the course of days decisions, even life decisions.
I can remember almost every detail, except for one: every time that I wake up in the middle of the night after dreaming the solution to a big (mine or global) problem, or an idea for "the next big thing". I recall saying "Yes! Of course! How could I not think about it before?!". The answer is there, at the tip of my fingers, then I wake up and, frustrated, can't remember what it was. I can remember though that feeling of having the click in my mind about the idea or solution being so rational and possible.
I can believe it, since I (both unfortunately and fortunately) have the most vivid, realistic, extremely detailed (and sometimes weird and frightening) dreams. Dreams that I can remember after years. Sometimes they change the course of days decisions, even life decisions.
I can remember almost every detail, except for one: every time that I wake up in the middle of the night after dreaming the solution to a big (mine or global) problem, or an idea for "the next big thing". I recall saying "Yes! Of course! How could I not think about it before?!". The answer is there, at the tip of my fingers, then I wake up and, frustrated, can't remember what it was. I can remember though that feeling of having the click in my mind about the idea or solution being so rational and possible.
> Only now I can wake up any time I want.
The author talks about dreams, but dreams are just one aspect of the ICU mental experience. The line between dreams, hallucinations, and memories can collapse.
Delirium in intensive care units is extremely common, affecting up to 80% of some patient populations. It is the result of a combination of highly vulnerable patients, extremely stressful situations, abnormal biochemistry, and powerful pharmaceuticals. It is poorly understood.
This delirium can pose danger to staff and patient in hospital, and can have lasting cognitive impact on patients once they leave. PTSD-like symptoms are not uncommon and are certainly under-treated. Given how common delirium in ICUs is, most facilities have limited or no psychiatric staffing for ICU mental health support.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2391269/
I spent three days in a coma as a result of hepatic encephalopathy, among other episodes related to end stage liver disease. Some day I'll write more about the experience. Incredibly vivid dreams are just one piece of it.