Ashley Schwenkel
22 year old female

Oh, thanks, so now I’m more likely to get it. :-(

DI!”[/quote]

I have a stress disorder that I believe is known as ‘Alopecia’; where you lose hair in patches. Some attribute it to another disorder called ‘Sleep Apnea’, which is where you lose or hold your breath either momentarily or extensively while sleeping. Often times this occurs once REM (rapid eye movement) sleep begins and can last until the person is awakened by shortness of breath or extreme numbness, again due to physical and/or psychophysiological stress, or other factors such as smoking.
While experiencing lucid or non-lucid dreams during the REM stage, and therefore also during ensuing fits of Apnea, the brain may become deprived of oxygen in specific zones and lose the aforementioned ‘bond’ with the corresponding muscle or organ, causing regions of blood vessels and hair follicles to stop functioning, hence the Alopecia; or as is correlative with ‘Proprioceptive deficiency’.
It must follow also that, those dreams experienced during such a state are usually based on a loss of motor skills or any other type of similar loss of mental to physical control and correlate directly to symptomatic occurrences such as the development of any type of ‘Proprioceptive Deficiencies’.
Also when experiencing lucid dreams while in such a state, the dreamer loses the capability to control parts or the whole of his or her ‘dream’ body in that, it could possibly serve as a means of symptomatic predication of any developing ‘Proprioceptive Deficiency’ or other bodily affliction. (Dream Theory for another bright day)

It is purported in this article entitled “The Seventh Sense” by “Zack Jordan” that these disorders could possibly have psychophysiological roots (and also the extent of one’s knowledge on the subject could lead them to subconsciously ‘will’ themselves to contract such a disorder). These are Damn Interesting grounds for future exploration on the topic and, naturally, make me a viable candidate to contract such a disorder.

Please Note: I have not done any manual research on this topic and have written this comment only out of memory and if I may be wrong about any particular section, I shall be appropriately and formally corrected.

These comments may be taken as mere speculation, since there is no research I am aware of which may prove any of this to be true or untrue, and could also potentially rob some of my credibility. Especially because of the fact that when I (personally)
have encountered Sleep Apnea and Alopecia I also experienced such dreams and often found myself waking in fright, unable to breathe, as well as unable to move certain parts of my body. Damn Interestingly enough, however, I was always acutely aware of the afflicted limbs and their respective location and position in space upon finding myself unable to move or operate said body parts (including automatically operated organs such as the lungs). Only the ‘bond’ between thought process and action was absent.

[quote]macfiend said: “It’s funny they mention that symptom about vivid dreams. This reminds me of a condition I used to be commonly afflicted (only rarely now), called ‘sleep paralysis disorder’. I’m not sure exactly how it works”[/quote]

These two points could be closely tied together somewhere along the line.

I agree it’s more sensible to have children at 30, but biologically the older the eggs are, the higher the likelihood is for defects. You’re much more likely to produce perfectly healthy children at 18.

[quote]ifeelya said: “Did the lady read a lot, or have a career in rocket science, or something? What does that mean? If you’re less-educated, maybe people just assume you’re crazy or mentally retarded and leave it at that.”[/quote]
Uh… Huh? Are you trying to say that doctors looking at a set of symptoms like “I don’t know where my limbs are” they’ll blow it off as stupidity if they somehow magically know the person isn’t well educated? That’s just ridiculous. The diagnosis is dependant on the symptoms, not the education of the patient.

[quote]ifeelya said: “Anyway, I think it must have something to do with the way the brain processes signals from the inner ear, amongst other things. For example – skaters and dancers learn to spin by tricking and overriding the brain’s sense of proprioception. The brain thinks you will fall down. You disagree and spin anyway. If that neuronal pathway fails, then maybe you’d be like this woman. It might be a trainable perception in both directions? That would be…damn interesting?”[/quote]
Uh, no. That’s just “psychobabble,” as you put it earlier. You are confusing a sense of balance, which comes from a combination of sight, proprioception, and the inner ear, with the ability to know where your body parts are. You can reach behind your back and scratch that itch without looking because of proprioception; your inner ear and sense of balance have nothing to do with that.

So, skaters and dancers aren’t “overriding the brain’s sense of proprioception,” they’re simply trained to override reflexes people normally have to keep them from harm. To do that they need a lot of practice and an excellent sense of both proprioception and balance.

I have all the above systems, I call tell you this, it is a tough way to live, it robs you of your career, it will financially destroy you (thanks bush) and you basically live in my own mind trapped. It is like fixing a computer that gives you different errors all the time. This leads us to fluid viral or nerve damage.

P.S. – quit calling us “case studies” – we are already defeated, no need to rub it in.

Personal Quote: As the world turns around you, you realize after a decade or so that this is a life in hell. It absolutely will not stop under any circumstances until you are dead – every day brings something new that you never tell any one about, it is a fight, make no mistake about it, knowing who or what you are fighting is a good start..

JJ