I have posted about my sleepwalking here before.
This has been a particularly stressful week, and I’ve made an effort not to let real-life problems flow into my posts here on the site.
It could be debated as to whether or not that held true when dealing with xoxos, but I feel as though I would have replied similarly regardless of what happened last weekend (I already had issues with him, as did many others).
2 weeks ago I was so lively spirited that I joked about how programming transforms you, and line endings. I even noticed it and thought, “This is so nice. I hope this goes on for forever.”
This last week I have been direct and to the point, deliberately emotionless because with my neutral personality already being quite direct any amount of emotion that could leak through could result in posts not appropriate for this site. With every post since the last weekend I have been keeping myself in check, saying, “They don’t know what happened, you don’t need to show energy, but you can’t take out your anger on them either.”
The change in my overall attitude and energy is due to having been mugged during the weekend.
After a night out with friends, they went home and I decided to go to a place where my old boss used to take me.
Walking near there 2 black guys called me into a club. I did not drink there but they did give me candy or snacks. They may have been laced. There was a 3rd black guy in the club.
I grew sleepy in the club and wanted to leave, but they blocked my way and threatened me, demanding I pay to be “polite” for the girl who served the snacks.
I paid cash. I don’t know how much; I just wanted to go home already.
Then I left, and they followed. We talked while walking down the alley, and then I called a cab.
I got into the cab and was about to tell it to take me home, when they suddenly barged in. I should have had the sense to kick them out, but I was too tired and for whatever reason I did not think they had bad intentions. How wrong I would become.
2 or 3 black guys and 1 Japanese girl. Also, she may have been a factor in my decision not to kick them out. Actually I am betting that was the biggest factor. I was extremely drowsy at this point and not making good decisions.
While riding, we talked for a while, and I fell asleep a few times and then awakened and talked again.
Then I fell asleep for real, and the next time I awakened I was on the other side the taxi (I fell asleep on the right side, now I was on the left side), they were gone, $250 from my wallet was gone, and my iPhone 6 Plus was gone. I awakened because the taxi driver was asking me where to go.
This happened Sunday morning.
I filed a police report Monday explaining all of this.
Brace Yourself
But I had this memory of a song I heard while sleeping. The theme song to a store here in Japan.
So on Tuesday at work I had a coworker help me contact my credit-card company just to check. I was sure nothing was wrong but I just wanted to check.
The woman said that on that Sunday I paid $3,300 at a store in Japan called ???????. This was the music I had in my head.
Then she said, “Then after that another charge of $3,300 at the same store.”
I fell asleep in a cab and they somehow used my sleepwalking to make me pay for $6,600 worth of shit from a store for them.
I have no idea what I bought. But the cameras will show me walking around the store and signing for it, using my credit card. My credit card wasn’t stolen, but I used it like a zombie to buy shit for assholes who would then steal everything out of my wallet and also my iPhone.
Because of sleepwalking.
I have already filed police reports, and will put the credit-card company in contact with the police next Monday. Naturally I am stressed out.
In order to get my money back I have to prove that I was actually asleep in the security videos, even though I am walking around in them.
It’s not Funny Anymore
Sleepwalking used to be a fun story I would tell people, including here. I made a topic where I treated it lightly.
It’s not funny.
2 weeks before I left America I found a body under a bridge. She had sleepwalked off it, after scooping up her pet dog, putting it into the family car, and then driving over to the bridge near my house. I, a fellow sleepwalker, found her because I was riding my bike home from a friend’s house in order to pack things at my home for my departure.
The last time I sleepwalked before last week? The week before last week. I received a package entirely while sleepwalking. I awakened to find clothes by my bed. Thank Todd I had the sense to put on pants before opening the door to the mail person.
If you don’t sleepwalk, you simply can’t understand. You can literally walk off a bridge or sign away $6,600 worth of goods while you are sleeping and completely unaware. It’s not a laughing matter. I met people at my company this week who didn’t believe it is real. What the fuck is wrong with you if you think it is not real or if you think it is funny?
I am now literally afraid of walking off my own 9th-floor balcony. It’s getting worse and more frequent, and I don’t know what to do.
L. Spiro
Sleepwalking Takes a Dark Turn
Wow, that's horrible. I'm truly sorry to read that these things happen to you. :/
For one thing, I do hope that you manage to get those charges reversed; I recognise that it may be difficult under the circumstances (as you pointed out, you're likely to be on the security cameras), but I'm glad if I understand correctly that you are pursuing it.
Man that's horrible :(
My grandmother used to sleepwalk a lot, but not to that extent, she would keep herself within the house.
This may be of some help to you, although I am sure you have done your research on the matter:
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/sleepwalking/Pages/Introduction.aspx
That's awful. I don't sleep walk, but I've been mugged 3 times before under very different circumstances (Once they wanted a laptop with a massive ammount of customer information).
On the store cameras they may be able to see the suspects as well. Do you have the taxi driver's information?
Do you wake easilly at all when sleepwalking? If so something like this may help if you get dressed or whatever.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mmapps.mobile.anti.theft.alarm&hl=en
They make sleepwalker alarms as well.
Your concern about your sleepwalking is logical. But this particular situation was induced by others who probably would've found some other way to part you from your money if you weren't sleepwalking. I hope these people are brought to justice, that you're able to recover your money, and that you are able to return to the good humour you were in earlier this month.
If you have a serious concern that while living alone in your 9th floor apartment you might sleepwalk off of your balcony then the most obvious solution is to not live alone in a 9th floor apartment. Otherwise it seems to me that it's a matter of deciding (perhaps when you're not so overwhelmed by the whole experience) what risks you're willing to tolerate and acting accordingly. It isn't the most sympathetic sounding advice but it's the best I got since I have to figure if the situation was a simple as getting some gadget or locks on the doors and windows you would have looked into that already.
Hope all goes well.
What to do is simple, you should be talking to a doctor is all, however that sounds really odd and not so much like sleepwalking at all, more like a state of deep sugestability, i mean walking around doing things you'd normally do awake is a thing, but being able to pay 6K and sign while "sleeping" that doesn't really make much sense, you must've been aware of your surroundings at that time (even if you don't remember it after the fact). Maybe you were drugged while in the bar?
One thing you can do (really) is to tie yourself while you sleep if you're afraid of what could happen while you sleep, while it's unlikely you'd jump over the balcony (hardly something you'd "naturally" do) you can definately hurt yourself by making a bad move while sleepwalking and if you live alone there's no one to check on you, tie yourself (gently, don't do something that could block circulation) in a way that you'd still need to apply substantial force to get away and hopefully if you do it'll wake you up in time.
Also while what followed is probably mostly not your fault, going into a bar with people waiting outside telling you to come in and giving you free stuff should've sounded fishy like, imediately ...
I've a friend who occasionally sleepwalks. Most times she is discovered doing it, the watch her and everything is fine.
One morning her family heard her in the kitchen. She had a bowl out and had dumped cereal all over the floor. She had turned on the stove and woke her family while trying to get into the (locked for her safety) knife drawer.
It is not something I'd like to deal with. I have heard self restraints rarely work and are especially dangerous if you are alone. But there still need to be steps taken, like my friend and her kitchen incident, could have been far worse if she successfully got into the knife drawer or put anything (like wooden objects or her hand) on the stove.
Hopefully there is something you and your doctors can work out.
If you can perform all kinds of complex activities (allegedly even homicide) while sleepwalking can you actually wake a sleepwalking person up?
That's really scary, I'm sorry all that happened to you. I am reminded of scopolamine, which is used to zombify people and make them ultra persuadable and suggestible into doing things eerily similar to what you described happening to yourself. It's basically a sleepwalking drug that is slipped into someone's drink, or blown into someone's face in a cloud. The fact that these people followed you closely after you left makes it hard to think they weren't up to something already.
If you can perform all kinds of complex activities (allegedly even homicide) while sleepwalking can you actually wake a sleepwalking person up?
Its possible to wake a sleepwalking person up, but its a bad idea.
When someone immediately awakens from deep sleep, they are usually startled, disoriented and agitated.
Best thing to do is just lead them back to bed and monitor.
Or at least thats what WebMD says....
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