• 💖 [Donate To Keep MyPTSD Online] 💖 Every contribution, no matter how small, fuels our mission and helps us continue to provide peer-to-peer services. Your generosity keeps us independent and available freely to the world. MyPTSD closes if we can't reach our annual goal.

"sleepwalking" or dissociation or flashback or what?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Swift

MyPTSD Pro
Hey,
So I've been having this problem for a little while.
This morning, for example, I woke up and the key in the back of my lock is snapped off, so that the hilt of the key is stuck in the lock and the head is broken.
I'm exhausted and I don't know what happened.
I remember going to bed and everything, and I also remember having nightmares, but I don't know if I got up and acted them out.
(Stone cold sober, no drugs or alcohol, other than meds.)
Apparently this has been happening, I get up and do strange things in the garden.
I don't know what to call this.
I'm off to my T today, so I'll ask her.
I can't be the only one with this symptom, can I?
I'll come back and post what she says, just for interest for others.
(I pushed myself pretty hard yesterday. I went into a triggering situation, had therapy on my broken hand, was a bit dissociative during the appt but not too bad. Then I went to my night school classes, once again not brilliant but not a catastrophe. Came home feeling like the candle was burnt at both ends, drew for a bit, put the dog and I to bed. I've woken up late and am exhausted.)
I'm just curious what to call this symptom and how to fix it.
Has anyone else had something similar or any luck?
 
When I was living in a children's ward at St George's with my son he nurses said I used to walk barefoot from the parents room navigating two swabbed doors a lift( when I'm awake it's always the stairs so f*ck knows. Apparently when I'm asleep a lift is more convenient) a maze of corridors which seemed to take me longer to find my way around when awake to arrive at my sons bed side where (relayed to me when awoken) one of the nurses commented " I don't think that mum's awake. I think it's a fairly common symptom as my hubby also used to sleep walk in his more troubled days and from my memory inadequate sleep made it worse tenfold. How's your sleep quantity and routine mate? I had things down for a while having gone the first significant period in my life without outdoor elements and alcoholic leeches to contend with. Last week. Return of the night terrors. Yay. Good luck mate but please don't worry that this is like majorly abnormal or any shite like that just try not to dig a hole and poo in the garden. Emoji broken. Red face x 3. Smiley mate face.

P.s. It would've taken a lot of force to snap a key, have you any marks on your hands that could give you answers. I remember how important it used to feel to piece together my sleep adventures for brain organizational purposes. Gets rid of niggling confusion.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hey
Yes. When I first read your post I didn't think it related to me.
Then a couple hours later I ran my tongue over my teeth randomly, and felt a big chip out of one of my canines. Had a look in the mirror... yep there is a part of my tooth missing.
I have a vague memory of feeling a chunk of my tooth in my mouth. I had just assumed it was from a nightmare.
I have no time context associated with the memory - day of the week or time of day or even if it was dark or light outside.
No environment context either.
I don't do recreational drugs or alcohol so I was definitely sober when this happened also
I have to admit I'm pretty freaked out about it. That feeling when I suddenly realised this was reality and not just a vague blurry memory frame. Holy shit.
I don't know if this is exactly what you're asking about, I must admit my head is all over the place so I'm sorry if I'm slightly off topic, but as soon as I felt the tooth chip I thought of your post.

I would think this fits under dissociation? Though I'm not 100% sure as this is the first time (I'm aware of) that I've gone through this.
 
@Finchlet2 - haha, thanks for that mental image. I won't do that, that's my dog's job :)
@bellbird , yeah, exactly what I'm talking about.

The therapist's answer:
Your central nervous system and your amygdala and everything are so activated, your hippocampus kicks in and that's why you get flashbacks and nightmares and don't know where you are in space and time, and that's why you have these nocturnal disturbances. She didn't think any one label particulary fitted, more like a combination of all three.
 
Yes. For a time there I destroyed my bedroom during the night. Yikes. Just threw things on the floor, my laptop was also on the floor, lamp turned over... Damn.
My kitty sleeps with me, so I was scared of hurting her. So my mom helped me out and just turned me to bed when she saw I got up.
I didn't hurt her or my kitties, I just threw things on the floor.
I told my T about it, we analyzed the dreams I was having and processed what needed to be processed. It went away on its own. Now I just move a lot.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top