Sleep Walking and Moon Walking: A Medico-Literary StudySadger, J.
Science
Sleep Walking and Moon Walking: A Medico-Literary Study
Sadger, J.
Psychoanalysis; Sleepwalking
Purely childish moreover is the clever technique of disguise. First she
simulates illness or fear in order to be taken into the mother's bed.
Then she pretends to be asleep, talks in her sleep, throws herself about
in her sleep, that she may be able to do everything without punishment
and without being blamed, finally plays the mother in a manner which
corresponds completely to child's play. Also later, before and after
wandering in the bright moonlight, she produces specially deep sleep and
first as if in an obsession tries the door repeatedly to see if it is
closed. I see in this, naturally apart from possible organic causes of
profound sleep, an unconscious purpose, which plainly insists: "Just
see, how sound-asleep I am (we are reminded of the earlier pretending to
be asleep) and how afraid I am that the door might be left open! Whoever
has to walk about in spite of such sound sleep and such precaution, and
even perhaps do certain things which might be sexually interpreted, he
plainly is not to blame for it!"
We might add from knowledge of the neuroses that the fear that some one
might be hiding in the room signifies the wish that this might be so in
order that the subject might be sexually gratified. There was one
circumstance most convincing in regard to this, which I will now add.
Even during the time of her psychoanalytic treatment, when she did not
wander at night any more nor perform complicated acts in her sleep, she
had a number of times in the country carefully locked the door of her
room in the evening, only to find it open again in the morning. To be
sure, her lover of that period slept under the same roof, though at some
distance from her.
Before I go more closely into the question as to what share the light
had upon the sleep walking of our patient, I will recall once more that
her actions during sleep were at first but few and had nothing to do
with the light. As the years went by they became more complicated and
finally took place only under the influence of the light, whether it was
artificial or natural, that is of the moon. More extended walks were in
general possible only in the light of the moon, which as a heavenly body
shining everywhere threw its brightness over every thing, in the court,
garden and over the street, while candles or lamps at the best lighted
one or two rooms. The patient, given to sleep walking or moon walking,
went after the light, which meanwhile represented to her from childhood
on a symbol of the parents' love and gave hope of sexual enjoyment.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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