Uncle Bob Can Babysit
A
38 year old male with lifelong chronic insomnia came to my office for
acupuncture.
“I’ve
never been able to fall asleep until I’m totally exhausted
and even then I
usually wake up after an hour or so if there’s even the
slightest noise. I
can't sleep at all in the same bed as
anyone else. I’ve
tried all the drugs.
They work for a day or two and then after that they simply just stop
working. It’s
weird. I get about 4 hours
of sleep according to my Fit-Bit but it takes me 8-9 hours to do it. I usually catch a nap
between 3 and 4. I’ve
kind of adapted but I feel pretty foggy
in the afternoons and that’s getting worse. I’m
worried my job performance is
declining.”
One
of the questions I always ask new patients is when they first
experienced a
profound loss. Jack’s
answer took me by surprise. “You
know,” he said “I can’t really remember
my childhood at all. I
mean, I know how
to read and do math and all but I don’t remember grade school
at all. It’s
like my life began in junior high.”
It turned out that was when he and his
parents moved to the west coast.