Unique Experience of an Insomniac

We spend about a third of our lives asleep. Despite numerous papers written about sleep, no one really knows why we need to switch off for 8 hours per night. Physical and mental regeneration are two theories. But when normal sleep does not happen for a sustained period, the label ‘insomniac’ is given. For someone who has never suffered long term sleep disorder, insomnia can hard to comprehend. This became a problem for me, as I wanted to describe the sensations of sleep deprivation for a writing project.

Why We Need to Sleep

Insomnia Research Facts

OK, so I have researched on the basics of insomnia, but have come no closer to getting intimate with the condition. The problem was, I had to find a way of convincing the reader such an experience was truly happening to one of my characters in my novel. The last thing I wanted to do was to go through sleep deprivation myself. According to my research, insomniacs’ experiences of insomnia are unique for each person. This meant I could come up with my own version of insomnia.

A Story about Insomnia

In my novel, Falling Awake, the main character, Luke has been unable to sleep for more than 4 hours a night for 5 years. I didn’t want to simply copy someone’s symptoms and implant them into Luke’s insomnia, it would feel secondhand or even cheating, so I sought something that I knew something intimately about. This would make Luke’s insomnia truly his. For several years, I used to suffer bouts of crippling migraine. Migraine is a condition that can leave the sufferer feeling fundamentally fatigued and jaded, similar to sleep deprivation. It can take up to a day to recover from a severe bout. I transposed the sensations of migraine into Luke’s insomnia.

Insomnia Fiction Thriller

Luke likens his wakefulness to the ‘reality continuum’ that endlessly abrades against his skull. Everyone else appears to possess a soft membrane that protects them from this force, but in Luke’s case is tattered and torn. There is no sanctuary, only the glare of reality. Such a wretched existence bears a parallel with the pain of migraine, as can be seen from the following excerpt.

An eternity later, Luke stood in his capacious office looking out, only he couldn’t see a thing. The reality continuum was still pressing against his cranium and the buffer had eroded away. Features slipped from meaning, just as words eddied mirage-like. He could detect no textures of life. Only a bleak wasteland edged with the ever encroaching tendrils of something that wanted to consume his sanity. To switch off. God, to switch off. If only. Never had he felt so…weary.

I wanted Luke’s sensations of insomnia to be unique and compelling, one that the reader can really comprehend through concrete sensations: the pressure against his cranium; his wavering vision as words caper about in front of him.

A Thriller about Insomnia

I had the dilemma of describing what insomnia feels like where I had not suffered the condition myself. Such a problem, I’m sure is encountered by many writers who want their characters to go through something not actually experienced. Rather than borrow someone else’s experiences of insomnia, I made a parallel between insomnia and something equally crippling that I have experienced. I could then use my experience to describe the sensations of insomnia for the reader.

Excerpt from Falling Awake by Charles J Harwood

Copyright is asserted © 2012

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References

Overcoming Insomnia and Sleep Problems, Colin Espie: Constable & Robinson, London (2006)

NHS Direct (2013) Symptoms of Insomnia

BUPA UK (2013) The Science of Sleep

InsomniaNet (2013)

Image credit: Incubus, Charles Walker, Aquatint (1870)

Insomnia is more than an odd sleepless night now and again. Long-term insomnia can become a nightmare that is hard to describe. Like many writers, I began with research, in this case, sleep facts and the basics of insomnia.

I learned the average adult goes through about 4 or 5 sleep cycles per night. Each cycle has a bout of beta-wave sleep, followed by theta-wave sleep and then the deeper delta-wave sleep (all non-REM). REM or dream sleep follows. These stages do not always follow sequentially in a typical night’s sleep.

For many adults, this ideal sleep cycle is insufficient. Up to 1 in 3 adults in the UK suffer insomnia at some point in their lives (BUPA, UK 2013), and around 60 million in the US (InsomniaNet, 2013).

What is a Sleeping Disorder?

Insomnia causes are many: stress, jetlag, nightshift work, diet, depression, a medical condition or a life change. Insomnia can take the form of the inability to fall asleep (sleep onset), waking up several times in the night or waking early and being unable to fall asleep. There are two types of insomnia: acute insomnia (short term) and chronic insomnia (long term). Melatonin is a key factor in sleep disorder and such disruptions can cause fatigue, drowsiness, forgetfulness, depression, mood swings, lack of concentration, loss of sex drive and clumsiness.

What are the Best Insomnia Cures?

Sleep drugs are not a long term answer. Known as hypnotics, these include ‘Benzos’ (or Benzodiazepines). But these can cause drowsiness, confusion and addiction. The more modern Non-benzos (or Non-benzodiazepines) has fewer side effects. Brand names include Sonata, Ambien and Lunesta. Other drugs used for insomnia are Nytol, Benadryl and Sominex and Valerian.

Cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT might help those who have ‘habited’ themselves into sleeplessness, for example, a psychological state not conducive for sleep at bedtime.