Dreamland

Jim Home looks at the things we do while we're asleep.

Task 1. Read this newspaper article and answer the questions which follow.

• Sleepwalking: Even in the deepest sleep, our thought processes continue. They may be dull or funny. Occasionally, they get out of hand – or out of bed. Sleepwalking, or somnambulism, is now said not to be the enactment of dreams but the reflections of the confused and sometimes anxious thoughts of deep sleep. Common in children, it seems to run in families, peaking in adolescence, and is usually associated with anxiety. It may be trivial – the loss of a favourite toy or just a frustrating day. Only when sleepwalking occurs almost every night is there likely to be more severe underlying distress requiring specific teatment.

Sleepwalkers are unresponsive to their environment, preoccupied with their own thoughts and have no subsequent recall of their nocturnal activities. It is almost impossible to attract their attention. Left alone, they normally go back to bed.

• Nightmares: Although nightmares are usually quickly forgotten, they can be very disturbing, particularly if frequent, and if one dwells on them for several days. Whether or not we should place much reliance on trying to interpret their meaning is a matter for debate, as dream interpretation is usually no more than inspired guesswork – with the interpreter fantasising more than the dreamer.

It is normal in sleep for the brain to paralyse the sleeper in order to prevent the acting out of dreams. But sometimes, when waking up suddenly out of a nightmare, this paralysis can continue and one cannot move or call out. This distressing state can take minutes to lift; all the sufferer can do is breathe, move the eyes and possibly moan. In contrast, and in rare circumstances, dreaming may occur without paralysis and then, if the dream is violent, the all too mobile dreamer may come to harm or harm others.

• Night-terrors: Whereas the nightmare is visually vivid and prolong, night-terrors are quite distinct. They are not just bad dreams but sudden and horrifying sensations with fleeting images that shock the sleeper into immediate wakefulness. Typically, the individual sits abruptly up in bed, screams and appears to be staring wide-eyed at some imaginary scene.

• Muscle Stiffness: Painful stiffness in the back and shoulders on awakening, that may last for several hours, can be caused by undue muscle tension in the back during sleep. This is often because sleepers have been ruminating too much over disturbing thoughts that seem to plague their minds during sleep. Although sufferers claim to sleep soundly, there is much restlessness in their sleep.

• Head-banging: This is common in sleep and is a forward-backward banging of the head into the pillow or mattress, or, worse, into a more solid object. Bouts can last up to 15 minutes. Variants are head-rolling, a repetitive side to side movement and body-rocking, usually performed on the hands and knees, with a backwards-forwards pushing of the head into the pillow. All usually occur at sleep onset and during light sleep. They are commonly found in infants many of whom seem to get pleasure from the activities.

• Restless legs: This is a physical disorder to which older people are susceptible. Although it seems like a form of walking in bed, it has nothing to do with sleepwalking and has a variety of causes. It takes two main forms, one being a sudden jerking or kicking of one or both legs, not just occasionally (which happens to us all now and again in sleep) but every few minutes. The other form is a peculiar creeping sensation in the upper thigh that necessitates shuffling the legs around. Both disorders can severely delay going to sleep and, when sleep eventually comes, the restless legs continue to disrupt it, leaving the individual perplexingly exhausted the next day.

• Sleeptalking: This consists of a muttering of jumbled words or phrases with no content. It occurs in light sleep and seldom has anything to do with dreaming. Sleeptalking is common in adults and almost all children do this if talked to during light sleep. But their confused replies have little relevance to what was originally said. If two or more children share a bedroom and one starts sleeptalking, the curtain can go up on the bizarre theatre of the mind, as others join in. None of the participants listens to the ramblings of the other. Each is in a world of his or her own.

Task 2. Of which of the sleep experiences mentioned in the article are the following statements true? Choose your answers from the list of sleep experiences A-G.

Note: When more than one answer is required, these may be given to any order. Some choices may be required more than once.

Very young children may appear to enjoy it. 1............

People who experience it say that they have slept well. 2............

The person may be very tired afterwards. 3............

It can be inherited from parents. 4............

A previous theory about it is no longer accepted. 5............

Someone experiencing it may make an unhappy sound. 6............ 7...........

It usually starts as soon as the person goes to sleep. 8............

It means that you are seriously unhappy if it happens repeatedly. 9............

The person does not react when spoken to. 10............

A Sleepwalking

B Nightmares

C Night-terrors

D Muscle stiffness

E Head-banging

F Restless legs

G Sleeptalking

? VOCABULARY PRACTICE

Lexical cloze

For questions 1-15, read the following passage carefully and decide which word best fits each space. The exercise begins with an example (0).