Houston, We've got a problem

Today, once again, I suffered from microsleep as I was driving home from work. It usually happens to me during the evening drive home. If i were to put a percentage to it, most of the occurrences of microsleep, about 70% happen in the evening (about 6-7pm ish); 25% late at night; and about 5% in the mornings.




It doesn't happen everytime, but its getting more and more often especially during the drive home from work. And the strange thing is that it usually happens then. If i work late till about 8-9pm, I dont suffer from microsleep at all. If I go gym, or go for my games of badminton and futsal after work, i dont have that effect at all.

I do feel that it is dangerous for it to happen especially since I'm almost always driving. But today's case i think was the worst I had encountered so far. Just as I was about to enter into Sg. Long, the access road leading to it (about 3km long), was jammed. This was due to numerous traffic light and pasar malam. Lo and behold, when i was stuck in the traffic, I actually closed my eyes. And when I opened my eyes, there was a huge gap between me and the car in front!! It was obvious I had microslept. It happened a few more time as we slowly moved according to the traffic light. I guess i was lucky i was stuck in the middle of the junction, or else God knows what will happen to me. I dont know if there is a cure for this, but playing music loudly didnt work for me...


Well below is what I've taken from Wikipedia about Microsleep:

'A microsleep is an episode of sleep which may last for a fraction of a second or up to thirty seconds.^[1] Often, it is the result of sleep deprivation, mental fatigue, sleep apnea, hypoxia, narcolepsy, or hypersomnia. Microsleeps can occur at any time, typically without significant warning.

Microsleeps (or microsleep episodes) become extremely dangerous when occurring during situations which demand continual alertness, such as driving a motor vehicle or working with heavy machinery. People who experience microsleeps usually remain unaware of them, instead believing themselves to have been awake the whole time or to have temporarily lost focus.

One example is called "gap driving": from the perspective of the driver, he drives a car, and then suddenly realizes that several seconds have passed by unnoticed. It is not obvious to the driver that he was asleep during those missing seconds, although this is in fact what happened. The sleeping driver is at very high risk for having an accident during a microsleep episode.

Many accidents and catastrophies have resulted from microsleep episodes in these circumstances.^[2] For example, a microsleep episode is claimed to have been one factor contributing to the Waterfall train disaster in 2003; the driver had a heart attack and the guard who should have reacted to the train's increasing speed is said by his defender to have microslept.

There is little agreement on how best to identify microsleep episodes. Some experts define microsleep according to behavioral criteria (head nods, drooping eyelids, etc.), while others rely on EEG markers.


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Boodyboy, out!!!