Some nights while he’s still asleep, he starts punching, kicking and choking his wife.
He might hurl himself into the wardrobe or the bedside table. He may shout out, or wake up in a strange position, or find his clothes strewn across the floor. Usually this follows a vivid dream where he is being chased or attacked.
When this man is sleeping, he becomes dangerous.
Almost every night, when many of us are at our most peaceful, a 70-year-old Australian man wakes to find the results of his bizarre behavior.
Out of safety fears, he has had to strap himself to the bed with belts around his waist and chest and surround his bed with mattresses. His wife had to sleep in another room.
The man, who preferred to remain anonymous, didn’t understand what was going on.
It wasn’t like he had sleep apnea, or any psychological or neurological issues. He didn’t even snore.
We all know that sleep is strange. About four percent of us sleepwalk, and around five percent of toddlers experience night terrors where they cry a “bloodcurdling” scream, thrash around, and cannot be consoled.
But this man’s condition may be the most unusual yet. It’s called REM sleep disorder and it’s mostly unheard of.
That’s why sleep researchers have tried to raise awareness of the rare condition by releasing this man’s story as part of a new Medical Journal of Australia report.
REM sleep disorder affects both men and women of all ages (although it’s particularly common in men older than 50).
And according to the Medical Journal report, anywhere between 33 and 65 percent of patients report injuring themselves or their partner in bed because of it.
“It’s uncommon. But when you see it, you remember it,” Dr. Richard G. Weeks said.
But how does it get to this? You usually dream during part of your slumber called Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep.
During this phase, which makes up around 25 percent of your sleep time, we lose a lot of our muscle tone and are essentially paralyzed, said Weeks, of the Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health.
Not so for people with REM disorder. Their muscle tone stays or the same or even increases because their bodies don’t receive a command from their brain ordering their muscles to relax.
Many things remain a mystery about the condition. For instance, scientists believe it is linked to Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease. But our 70-year-old subject didn’t show any signs of neurological issues following extensive tests.
As Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki wrote in November, science still doesn’t even know a lot about sleep itself — including why we need to spend an eight hour chunk of our day virtually paralyzed. Thankfully, our unnamed sufferer is finally getting some peace, according to the Medical Journal report. He has taken medication and the violent incidents are much more rare, the report says.
That must be a relief. If there’s one thing this story wakes us up to, it’s that there’s nothing like a good night’s sleep.
This article originally appeared on news.com.au.