Dream Haunted

[Incomplete, will need to research more into insomnia and narcolepsy]

"Dream haunt, dream haunt,
Why are you gaunt?
Do you sleep all day,
Unable to play?
Dream haunt, dream haunt,
Why are you gaunt?
Do you wake at night,
Without a dream in sight?"

— Child's nursery song, popular in the mountain regions of Theydim and Tormyra

The Dream Haunted is a term to describe both people who can fall asleep without warning at any moment, and people who struggle to sleep at all. The causes are unknown, but the two groups of people are linked together by having their dreams consist of the same contents, despite distance in dwellings and distance in time.

Transmission & Vectors

Show spoiler

The Dream Haunted are people whose subconscious reaches The Plane of Dreams and struggles to leave. Most mortals visit the plane while asleep, but can easily leave.

Symptoms

• Dreams, regardless of number, consist of images of beings and landscapes the individual recognizes as familiar, but twisted.
• Dream Haunted individuals consistently report a sensation of sleep "grabbing" at them. Those who struggle to sleep report the "grabbing" always misses, while those who fall into sleep without warning report feeling something akin to being drowned by the "grabbing."

Treatment

"Miss Adson, there is little to be done in order to prevent your sleep from overtaking you, we can only awaken you if it happens at an inopportune time. It is fortunate Warforged do not need to sleep like other mortals."

— Medical Warforged H34L, Tormyra

Prognosis

While the condition itself is non-fatal, the condition can cause fear in those who have it, and the symptoms can lead to fatal circumstances.

Sequela

Patients have reported developing;

• Somniphobia as a result of losing control over when they sleep.
• Oneirophobia as a result of the somniphobia.
• Hallucinations from a lack of sleep.
• Memory loss from too much sleep or a lock of sleep.
• Extreme swings in emotions from the dreams or hallucinations blending into perceived reality.

Cultural Reception

The Dream Haunted are generally pitied for their conditions, though misunderstandings spring up if the individual is a child, as parents will withdraw their children from being arround the afflicted.

Type

Mental