Elizabeth Eagle

20 April 2012

The Tortured Soul: Somnambulism as Gothic Madness

            From the time I was three until my late teens, I was a sleepwalker. My sisters and my parents have a number of humorous stories of my shenanigans while sleepwalking as well as a list of strange things I have said while sleep talking. As a teenager, I learned that most individuals sleepwalk and sleep talk due to stress in their lives. I also had night terrors that followed me into adulthood which are also due to stress. After discussing the frequency of my night terrors and my instances of sleep talking with my practitioner, I was surprised to learn that night terrors, sleepwalking, and sleep talking that follow an individual into adulthood are usually signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or a breathing disorder that falls under the umbrella term of sleep disordered breathing (SDB). This personal knowledge of somnambulism, the clinical name for sleepwalking, colored my view of Edgar and Clithero in Edgar Huntly. I wanted to know even more about somnambulism and its causes. I also wanted to know what Edgar and Clithero's histories would reveal about their own struggle with somnambulism.

            I began my research by looking at sleep itself to understand what happens to the brain and the body to cause a person to sleepwalk. I found there are two types of sleep: REM or rapid eye movement and NREM or non-REM sleep which is measured in stages from 1 to 4. The body cycles between NREM and REM sleep with the body achieving stages 1-4 of NREM sleep before falling into REM sleep which is where dreams occur. The stages of NREM sleep can last between 5-15 minutes between stages. After reaching stage 4, the body goes into REM sleep before falling back to stage 1 and beginning the cycle of sleep all over again. In stage 1 of NREM sleep, the individual can easily be woken and will feel as if they have not been asleep at all. Stage 1 of NREM sleep is the stage when individuals have the “falling dream” where they feel they are actually falling. Stage 2 of NREM sleep is the stage where the body prepares itself to fall into deep sleep. At this stage, the heart rate decreases, the muscles relax, and body temperature drops. Stage 3 and 4 of NREM sleep are considered stages of deep sleep with the fourth stage being deeper than stage 3. If a person is woken during either one of these last stages, they will feel disoriented and confused. Stage 3 and 4 of the NREM cycle must be achieved with regularity for tissue regeneration, and the rebuilding and strengthening of bones, muscle, and the immune system. In REM sleep, this comes 90 minutes into the cycle, the heart rate and respiration of the individual speeds up and the eyes move rapidly in various directions. This cycle of sleep contains vivid dreams for the individual. Infants and young children spend the most time in REM sleep, up to 50% of their total sleeping time compared to only 20% for adults (Stages).

            Next, I searched for what somnambulism actually is. Somnambulism or sleepwalking is considered a sleep disorder where the individual walks around or engages in other activities while they are actually asleep. Sleepwalking generally occurs during stages 3 and 4 of NREM sleep although it can occur during REM sleep. If sleepwalking occurs during REM sleep, the sleepwalking usually occurs closer to morning and is considered an REM behavior disorder. People who sleepwalk may engage in other activities other than simply walking around their home such as moving furniture, cooking, running, and even driving cars. In general, true somnambulism is generally harmless other than fall hazards presented when a person walks through their home and trips on items or furniture. Of course, those rare sleepwalkers who drive are at an increased risk of injury for obvious reasons. Contrary to popular belief and myth, it is not dangerous to wake someone who is sleepwalking. The individual will wake but will be confused and disoriented upon waking. The individual will have no recollection of how or why they came to be where they are regardless of how or when they are woken (Walking).

            There are numerous triggers for individuals with somnambulism. Alcohol, certain medications, sleep deprivation or insomnia, and febrile illnesses all contribute to somnambulism in adults. However, children are most often diagnosed with somnambulism and the majority of those are also bed wetters. Researchers have found that night terrors, a related sleep disorder, usually accompanies somnambulism and generally these two disorders run in families which lead scientists to believe there is a genetic factor involved in somnambulism (Sleepwalking).

            While many children outgrow somnambulism, there is a fairly large adult population that struggles with the disorder. Adults with somnambulism can be divided into three basic groups: somnambulists with sleep disordered breathing or SDB, somnambulists with post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD, and somnambulists with neither whose episodes are triggered by the causes listed at the beginning of this paragraph. Of the individuals with SDB, many find their sleepwalking episodes greatly diminished and even completely removed with the use of a continuous positive airway pressure machine or CPAP, which delivers a constant stream of air to the sleeping individual. The CPAP machine ensures breathing is not disrupted which keeps sleep from being disrupted. When the sleep cycles remain uninterrupted, instances of somnambulism disappear for nearly all individuals with SDB. Individuals with PTSD related somnambulism are usually treated with sedatives that relax the body and the brain thus keeping sleep cycles constant and diminishing the ability of the body to move out of the bed (Guilleminault, et al).

            Individuals with PTSD induced somnambulism are a different story altogether. After reading much of Edgar Huntly, I believe both Edgar and Clithero suffer from PTSD induced somnambulism. Post-traumatic stress disorder is a disorder brought on by extreme stress. Individuals suffering from PTSD are anxious, nervous, feel unsafe, may experience paranoia, and feel unable to reconnect with others. These feelings are normal after a traumatic experience such as experiencing a war (soldiers), being involved in a car accident, witnessing a murder, the death of a loved one, assault, home invasion, and many others. Basically, any stressful event that causes the individual to become anxious, fearful of their safety, and unable to reconnect with others despite the event passing is considered to have PTSD. Generally, these individuals have experienced an event so overwhelming and frightening they are unable to cope with everyday life following the event. These people experience somnambulism, sleep talking, night terrors that usually involve a reliving of the event that caused their PTSD, flashbacks, panic attacks, and many other psychosomatic occurrences either separately or a combination of many at once (Smith and Segal).

            I believe that both Edgar and Clithero have PTSD induced somnambulism because both men experienced a traumatic event earlier in their lives. Clithero's PTSD stems from the fact that he is a murderer having killed Arthur Wiatte and believing he has killed his patron, Mrs. Lorimer. His somnambulism could also be later attributed to Edgar's belief that Clithero murdered Waldegrave which would escalate Clithero's already considerable stress. For Edgar, his PTSD induced somnambulism stems from the death of his parents at the hands of Indians when he was a child. Later, his somnambulism is also exacerbated by the death of his friend Waldegrave and his belief that Clithero is Waldegrave's killer. The ensuing search for evidence and justice by Edgar would cause him considerable stress which would then increase his susceptibility to somnambulism.

            My research into somnambulism and its causes was quite intriguing. While my thoughts on Edgar and Clithero's somnambulism and its causes is merely conjecture, I believe my research to provide a very plausible answer to as to why each man is affected by somnambulism. The idea and implementation of somnambulism in a novel seems the very essence of the gothic ideal. Here two men are tortured by their pasts so much that they have sleeping disorders. They have no recollection of their actions and find themselves in mysterious places and circumstances. Somnambulism becomes the mark of a tortured soul which describes both Clithero and Edgar. For Clithero, since he is a murderer, his somnambulism becomes almost a punishment while Edgar's somnambulism becomes almost a descent into madness as he struggles to find the truth in Waldegrave's murder. Either way, the use of somnambulism becomes an interesting aspect of the gothic novel and an intriguing way to disguise or enhance a character's madness.

Works Cited

Guilleminault, Christian, Ceyda Kirisoglu, Gang Bao, Viola Arias, Allison Chan, and Kasey K.

            Li. “Adult Chronic Sleepwalking and its Treatment Based on Polysomnography”. Brain:

            A Journal of Neurology. Oxford University Press, 14 February 2005. Web. 19 April 2012.

            http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/128/5/1062.full.

“Sleepwalking”. National Sleep Foundation. National Sleep Foundation, n.d. Web. 18 April

            2012. http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/sleep-related-problems/sleepwalking. 

“Sleepwalking: Walking During Sleep; Somnambulism”. PubMed Health. A.D.A.M. Inc., 22

            May 2011. Web. 18 April 2012.

             http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001811.

Smith, Melinda M.A. and Jeanne Segal, Ph.D. “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD):

            Symptoms, Treatment, and Self-Help”. HelpGuide.org. HelpGuide.org, October 2011. 19

            April 2012. http://www.helpguide.org/mental/post_traumatic_stress_disorder_symptoms_

            treatment.htm.

“Stages of Sleep: REM and Non REM Sleep”. WebMD. WebMD, LLC, n.d. Web. 18 April 2012.

             http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/excessive-sleepiness-10/sleep-101.