Last month Roseanne Barr tweeted some racial slurs about Valerie Jarrett, the senior advisor to the President of the United States Barack Obama. Her ABC show was canceled in the meantime from zero tolerance of racism. Her excuse – Ambien texting.
Sleep texting has become a legitimate concern for those who are taking Ambien to help them get some sleep during the night. Ambien is a sleep aid in the hypnotic class of drugs that causes blackouts during sleep. People have been known to exhibit abnormal thinking and strange behaviors including sleep eating, sleep driving, and sleep shopping. Now sleep texting can be added to the list of bizarre acts that Ambien can cause. With the brain on autopilot, people are highly capable of performing complex activities in their sleep.
Ambien has a warning on its label that advises “sleep driving can occur along with complex behaviors” which texting could be characterized as. Scrolling to find a certain person in their phone and utilizing the keyboard to type in some words on a text or a post makes use of the subconscious in the brain. Most people are so familiar with their phones because of prolonged use, they can literally maneuver them in their sleep. Their texts may not make any sense, but nonetheless they wake up to see they have texted in their sleep under the influence of Ambien.
The sedative forces the brain into sleep while the brain stays active in certain areas. When someone takes Ambien, their prefrontal cortex is shut off which decreases the chances of control with a person’s inhibitions. The limbic system, which gives way to certain elements that are turned on by the brain such as emotions, hunger, or someone’s sex drive, remains stimulated amongst the pursuance of Ambien.
A person who finds themselves exhibiting unknowing behaviors when they are “asleep” on Ambien, should consult their prescribing healthcare professional to let them know how the Ambien is affecting them. Although sleep texting is not as dangerous as sleep driving when under the influence of Ambien, someone who wakes up to find ludicrous texts and posts could damage their relationships and lose other important things such as their job.
Responding to Roseanne Barr with their statement on Twitter, the makers of Ambien posted, “While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known effect of any Sanofi medication.” The truth about Ambien is sometimes the sleep aid does more than help someone sleep which can inadvertently cause havoc.
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