Sleep Talking Man is the Talk of the Internet

Earlier this week The Telegraph reported that a sleep talking blog has become the latest sensation to sweep the Internet.

Karen Slavick-Lennard said she was accustomed to hearing her husband Adam’s unusual comments. She even repeated them to friends for their amusement.

Then she created a simple blog to share his latest quotes with others. Now the world has become his stage.



The blog lists 3,650 followers. The hit counter reports that more than 800,000 unique visitors have stopped by. And t-shirts displaying his aphorisms are being shipped around the world.

One warning: This sleep talker often has a filthy mouth. Adam may be a mild-mannered, British advertising account director by day. But at night? He starts saying things you might expect to hear in a Quentin Tarantino movie.

Here is a brief selection of his sleeping banter:

"You can't be a pirate if you don't have a beard. I said so. MY boat, MY rules."

"Yes I'm sad, but if you stood further away, I'd be happier. No, further away.”

"Please just walk away. I don't want to have to stand here and say something so awesome that I'll have to remember it the rest of the day. Thank you!"

"You can stop clapping now if you want. Really. You'll need your energy for cheering me later. Shhhhhhhh. shhhhhhhh."

"I haven't put on weight. Your eyes are fat."

Adam’s quotes may be unique. But sleep talking is common. The AASM estimates that about five percent of adults are sleep talkers. And about half of young children talk in their sleep.

Often it is simply a normal byproduct of the brain’s activity during sleep. But sometimes sleep talking isn’t so amusing. The SleepEducation.com discussion forum is filled with complaints about it.

Sleep talking also can occur along with a "parasomnia." This is a sleep disorder that involves undesired behaviors during sleep. Examples include sleepwalking and REM sleep behavior disorder.

Sleep talking rarely requires treatment. But you should contact an AASM-accredited sleep center for help if episodes are extreme. You also should seek help if the sleep talking occurs together with unusual actions.

Visit the Sleep-Talkin’ Man Blog for more of Adam’s quotes. Watch Adam and Karen on a recent appearance on "This Morning" on itv 1. Learn more about sleep talking on SleepEducation.com.

Sleep & Relationships: Are You a Sleep Stealer in Bed?

For all of the procrastinating men out there, here’s a quick Valentine’s Day checklist. (You did know that today is Valentine’s Day, right?)

Chocolate. Flowers. More chocolate. Overly sentimental greeting card that somehow expresses “just how you feel.” Sleep.

Sleep? Sure – a good night’s sleep may be exactly what your valentine needs – especially if you’re a sleep stealer.

A sleep stealer? That’s right. Your sleep habits or behaviors may cause your loved one to lose sleep at night. You may even cause her to have environmental sleep disorder.

A 2004 study in the journal Sleep examined how sleep affects a marriage. It found that an individual’s sleep problems can have a negative impact on his or her spouse’s health and well-being.

A sociologist has even described the “Social Etiquette of Sleep.” He suggests that you can be an “inconsiderate or selfish” sleeper.

How do you know if you’re a sleep stealer? Here are seven signs. See if they describe you – or your bed partner. After all, both men and women can be a sleep thief.

Signs that you may be a sleep stealer include:

1. Snoring: You remain oblivious to the noise you’re making while you sleep. Your bed partner, on the other hand, is frustrated, annoyed and wide awake.
2. Sleep talking: Your conversations, laughter and other noises may amuse your bed partner at first. But eventually he or she may start wishing you would just be quiet.
3. Taking the covers: While you’re snug and cozy, your bed partner is left out in the cold.
4. Using bedtime for relationship building: At the moment when your bed partner is about to fall asleep, you say, “Can we talk?”
5. Being a night owl: While your bed partner is trying to fall sleep, you’re in bed watching TV, talking on the phone, doing paperwork or reading.
6. Preferring to be warm: Even though a cool room promotes good sleep, you insist on keeping the thermostat turned up all night.
7. Refusing to go to bed alone: When your bed partner tries to call it a night, you make him or her wait until you’re ready to go to bed.

So are you guilty of sleep stealing? Or are you in bed with a sleep thief? What other types of behavior do you think should qualify as sleep stealing?

Tomorrow we’ll look at some things you can do to help put an end to sleep stealing.

Talking in Your Sleep

The Romantics climbed the Billboard charts in 1984 with the hit pop song, "Talking in Your Sleep." The lyrics feature the memorable chorus, "I hear the secrets that you keep, when you’re talking in your sleep."

Talking In Your Sleep (Album V...

Each night the song comes to life for many people who suffer from sleep talking. The AASM estimates that about five percent of adults are sleep talkers. About half of young children talk in their sleep.

Sleep talking is a "borderline" sleep disorder. It straddles the line between normal and abnormal sleep. Often it is simply a normal byproduct of the brain’s activity during sleep.

Sleep talking can provide a lot of amusement for a sleep talker’s bedpartner or roommate. Strange conversations. Incoherent mumbling. Funny outbursts. Think of a sleeping Dory muttering, "The sea monkeys have my money," in the movie Finding Nemo.

But sometimes sleep talking isn’t so amusing. The discussion forum at www.sleepeducation.com is filled with complaints about it.

The frequency of sleep talking can be annoying. The timing of it can disrupt a bedpartner’s sleep. The language can be offensive or embarrassing. The content of the conversation can even cause problems in a relationship.

Sleep talking also can occur along with a "parasomnia." This is a sleep disorder that involves undesired behaviors during sleep. Examples include sleepwalking and REM sleep behavior disorder.

Sleep talking rarely requires treatment. But you should contact a sleep center for help if episodes are extreme. You also should seek help if the sleep talking occurs together with unusual actions.

So what about you? Have you been told that you’re a sleep talker?