Sleeping Beauty

COMMENTARY

Published: 3 Mar 2013 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

Lois Wood is a teenager who sleeps for up to 44 days at a time. But hers isn't a sleeping beauty fairytale; rather it's a nightmarish story.

In a "zombie-like trance", as described by the Daily Mail, she would bang her head against the wall, attack her family and raid the refrigerator. Sometimes she acts like a babbling toddler, sometimes a violent drunkard, but at all times she remains asleep.

Doctors say she suffers from Kleine-Levin syndrome, a neurological condition that starts during adolescence, involving long hours of sleep where the sufferer becomes irritable, displays childlike behaviour, is disorientated and hungry for excessive amounts of food.

This article is older than 60 days, which we reserve for our premium members only.You can subscribe to our premium member subscription, here.

Forum

Your comments

jimbly
Post : 77
Send message

Discussion 18 : 04 Mar 2013 at 02.5018
Post this to my Facebook
Hugo your Italian glory is all from the past. My friends who lived in Thailand for two years and worked with the Thai people, moved to Italy. They tell me Italy and Thailand are very very similar for corruption and inefficiency. But then mankind is corrupt; is it not? You can point to someone else's flaws to distract yourself and others from your own, but you are as corrupt as any of the rest of us.
Like dislike 2 people liked / 0 people disliked this comment
hugo
Post : 108
Send message

Discussion 17 : 03 Mar 2013 at 23.0117
Post this to my Facebook
D 16. There is something right in your comment, but if I were you I would not be so enthusiastic about Asia being the leading continent in the future. It is true, we had a PM who likes women ( I can't blame him for that ) is a bit of a showman who openly says what everyone thinks but is too hypocrit to say, but at least our judicial system does not have convicted people shot, like they do in China on a daily, if not hourly basis, even for very minor crimes and charging their relatives the cost of the bullet. For Asia is not only Thailand or Singapore. Asia is China. The future is there. And to me, it does not appear that bright.
Like dislike 0 people liked / 0 people disliked this comment
wantmyony
Post : 687
Send message

Discussion 16 : 03 Mar 2013 at 22.0916
Post this to my Facebook
Italy and France are old ladies still trying to look sexy in bikini. Asia is where the future is, whether its crazy thailand or straid clinical singapore, at least their prime ministers dont constantly look under women skirts! Every country have some form of superstition and Italy has more of that than England or Germany, which explains why some european countries are losing to their eastern brothers. Thailand has more temples than schools and that may explain why even highly educated people are as superstitious as those from farms.
Like dislike 4 people liked / 3 people disliked this comment
The Dark Side
Post : 606
Send message

Discussion 15 : 03 Mar 2013 at 21.3415
Post this to my Facebook
@hugo Your Italian ego is most evident and as the world sees Italy at this moment in time we all say, go have your nice 3 hour lunch with wine and keep drinking! It will keep you happy.
Like dislike 4 people liked / 3 people disliked this comment
hugo
Post : 108
Send message

Discussion 14 : 03 Mar 2013 at 17.0214
Post this to my Facebook
D 12. Mr / Mrs Katsumoto, a name that hardly looks Thai, just a piece of advise: before saying anything about Italy, wash up your mouth. Italy still is the country which has got half of the world' s entire artistic and cultural heritage, meaning your country and all the others in the world share the remaining half... And I doubt it was you or any of your compatriots which made that 50 % my country has. I have a feeling it was done by the Italians. Cheers.
Like dislike 3 people liked / 11 people disliked this comment
hugo
Post : 108
Send message

Discussion 13 : 03 Mar 2013 at 16.2413
Post this to my Facebook
If you want your car to drive properly, the engine requires lubricant oil. It looks ugly, it smells bad and makes your hands dirty, but no engine will work without it. So is with other things. Corruption and tax evasion make the lubricant of a good working economy, without corruption and without tax evasion the economy slows down. Superstition forms the lubricant of the soul of a nation, it is part of a people's culture, traditions, religion, it is ancestral. You can give a Thai a smart-phone and through it the illusion of being part of the "globalized world" but you can never stop him from believing in spirits and godfathers. Luckily.
Like dislike 6 people liked / 16 people disliked this comment
katsumoto
Post : 64
Send message

Discussion 12 : 03 Mar 2013 at 16.0212
Post this to my Facebook
To Hugo @D10: You obviously do not think at all! Superstition, belief in black magic and the spirit world are based on a lack of education and lack of exposure to the real world. That is why Thailand is an international laughing stock both politically and nationally. THese are most often used as excuses for failing to achieve. I won't even discuss how people see Italy apart form their arrogance and know all attitude.
Like dislike 11 people liked / 5 people disliked this comment
dao
Post : 4,619
Send message

Discussion 11 : 03 Mar 2013 at 15.3511
Post this to my Facebook
People with right m ind and action dont need superstition .
Like dislike 12 people liked / 3 people disliked this comment
hugo
Post : 108
Send message

Discussion 10 : 03 Mar 2013 at 15.2110
Post this to my Facebook
What does Mr. complaining-constantly unhappy-Voranai want? A democratic country where people ignore superstition and rationally act as responsible citizens and taxpayers? In South-East Asia? Please, give me a break. Let Thailand remain Thailand, let the Thais be Thais. If I want to see a horrible, aseptic and arrogant version of a tropical Zuerich, Singapore is already a valid option. Mr Voranai, I am Italian and I can tell you this: like the Italians, you live in Heaven. And, just like many Italians, you do not know how to enjoy it. Try to smile more and think less.
Like dislike 7 people liked / 22 people disliked this comment
drsmith
Post : 1,571
Send message

Discussion 9 : 03 Mar 2013 at 12.009
Post this to my Facebook
"Cultural thinking" is a synonym for no education. Thai society is plagued by a handful of rich politicians and generals, that outsmart 90% of the Thai people on a daily basis. The other 10% that know better are too scared to get involved. Those in power want you to believe in "the invisible hand", ghosts, spirits, etc. to keep the uneducated in line never to question the gov't. You are standing in the middle of the train tracks. There is a train approaching. Is it a real train? If so, move out of the way. Don't wait to be told by the gov't to move. There is no crossroads without education. Uneducated people will believe anything.
Like dislike 20 people liked / 0 people disliked this comment

1 2 Next Last

Sleeping Beauty | Bangkok Post: opinion

Sleeping Beauty

Most Viewed

Chiang Mai reds' strange concept of democracy

Forum

Your comments

Sign in once and access every part of the website at your convenience!