I Dream of Eating

Nocturnal sleep-related eating disorder. Have you guys heard of this? It's a rare disease or disorder...or something in which people eat while they are asleep. It's like sleep walking but it's sleep eating. I just read a case study in which a guy sleep-walked a couple of miles to a sweets store and started going to town. Sounds like people are faking it right? They just say that they were sleeping to cover up their desire to binge? Unlikely. First off, this guy first sleep-ate a few days after beginning taking a sleeping pill which has been known to cause somnambulism. Second, people that sleep-eat often eat really bizarre things that no person in their right mind would do. Like raw chicken, soap, or dog food. You just don't do that when you're awake.

So if you wake up one day with raw chicken on your face you might want to go see a doctor.

Check out Dang et al.'s (2009) article in the International Journal of Eating Disorders for more on this crazy disorder and the above case study.