Sleeping Can Be Dangerous

Daytime sleepiness is a disease that is also called sleep apnea. I have it since childhood and it has caused me a lot of troubles in the past and occasionally these days. When I was a medical clerk, I was assisting in the operating room and my responsibility was to retract the skull. I made the surgeon very furious when he caught me sleeping while doing an operation that could kill a patient with just a slight mistake.

I was scolded naturally and thrown out of the OR.

Sleeping is good only when you have a good sleeping pattern. It can restore strength, heal some disease and makes a person’s mood nice the following day. But if you are like me who couldn’t but sleep anytime, anywhere and whatever the occasion is, that spells trouble.

According to research, this particular situation can lead to increased risk of high blood pressure, stroke and heart attack. Furthermore, it can obviously lead to car accident.

My failure to finish my medical school could be a blessing in disguise. Imagine how many people could have died in my hands while operating on them and I slept! Of course this should not be considered a genuine solution.

The first thing that helped me manage this disorder is the humble and honest acceptance that I suffer from this. Acceptance made me into a better person and enabled me to face daily challenges with some practical solutions.

For example, whenever I need to drive long distance, my wife prepares coffee that I could drink along the way and she stays beside me to watch any signs of impending slumber. She would slap me in the face from time to time.

The most important thing that I did (which I find very difficult to do even up to now because of the nature of my business and hobby) is to have a healthy, regular and consistent sleeping pattern.

Nevertheless, I find this solution the best so far. With perseverance, patience, self-control and self-discipline along with the most important thing – prayer, I am able to face day-to-day challenges victoriously so far.