# Is it possible to sleep with your eyes open? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 3, 2007, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sleep-with-your-eyes-open/390676 "2007-02-03T16:52:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sleep-with-your-eyes-open/390676/21 "2007-02-04T07:01:54Z")
Not sure if this is the same thing, but I had a college roommate who used to talk in his sleep with his eyes open. He made perfect sense and we would have full conversations, but there was one idea he couldn’t understand: “Are you asleep?” He would get completely confused at this, and not know how to answer. In the morning he wouldn’t remember our conversations at all. ---
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sleep-with-your-eyes-open/390676/22 "2007-02-04T07:41:02Z")
I had an uncle who would sleep with his eyes wide open and then talk in his sleep. Scared the hell out of his wife! ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sleep-with-your-eyes-open/390676/23 "2007-02-04T08:17:25Z")
I had a roommate in college who slept with his eyes open. On more than one occasion, I entered the room and began a conversation, carrying on for some time before I realized he wasn’t responding. It was quite odd and unsettling. Some might even say . . . _creepy_. 😉 He occasionally talked in his sleep, but it never coincided with his eyes being open, at least in my presence. One one occasion, however, he _wrote_ in his sleep! Like many college students, we had lofted bunks which were close to the ceiling. Once I saw him lying on his back tracing words with his finger on the ceiling. He made the same motions over and over, and eventually, I was even able to make out what he was writing. ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sleep-with-your-eyes-open/390676/24 "2007-02-04T08:38:50Z")
Not really related to the OP, but when I was younger, I wouldn’t close my eyes when I was trying to fall asleep. I’d keep my eyes wide open until, presumably, I’d finally nod off and my eyes would close. Or maybe I was one of those weirdos who slept with their eyes open. I had my own room, so I may never know. ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sleep-with-your-eyes-open/390676/25 "2007-02-04T13:31:10Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] I’ve never seen it, but I think it would be creepy. I’m surprised nobody has mentioned that. [/QUOTE] To be fair, _I_ said freaky. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sleep-with-your-eyes-open/390676/26 "2007-02-04T14:40:48Z")
[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold] That makes me wonder, though; we wake up if we hear a really loud noise, and smelly stuff is used to wake people. Is there some amount of large visual input that would cause an asleep-with-eyes-open person to wake up? [/QUOTE] Yup. I fell asleep driving once, with my eyes open I’m happy to say ('cause otherwise I wouldn’t be typing this). It was the middle of the night on a backroad, and I woke up as the stop sign flashed in the headlights. Fortunately for me, there was no one coming, and the road continued on the other side of the stop sign. Lesson learned–I’ve never driven so tired since. ---
**Author:** ![Burrido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Burrido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burrido)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sleep-with-your-eyes-open/390676/27 "2007-02-04T15:46:50Z")
Fascinating. How wide are the eyes open in some of your cases? We talking wide open, normal slightly, or just barely? ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sleep-with-your-eyes-open/390676/28 "2007-02-04T15:52:44Z")
[QUOTE=Burrido] Fascinating. How wide are the eyes open in some of your cases? We talking wide open, normal slightly, or just barely? [/QUOTE] Myself, my son and daughter - usually just halfway open, perhaps a little less. However, I’ve seen my son sleep with his eyes wide open on one or two occasions. It’s really… um, what’s the word I’m looking for…? ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sleep-with-your-eyes-open/390676/29 "2007-02-05T03:04:37Z")
I sleep with mine about a quarter open. Wife says it’s creepy. Now I will not sleep in public. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sleep-with-your-eyes-open/390676/30 "2007-02-05T04:55:54Z")
[QUOTE=Burrido] Fascinating. How wide are the eyes open in some of your cases? We talking wide open, normal slightly, or just barely? [/QUOTE] According to people who have seen me sleep, my eyes are usually about half open. It IS indeed freaky (bothers the hell out of me that I know I do it) and my eyes do indeed dry out quite a bit when I sleep. As for the visual equivalent of a loud noise, I’ve had people standing over me talking and waving their hands in front of my eyes and I’ve gone right on sleeping. When I was quite ill on a moving day, I fell asleep on the sofa and was moved, sofa and all, to a whole new house, and when I did finally wake up, my parents’ friends who helped us move would NOT stop talking about me sleeping with my eyes open. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sleep-with-your-eyes-open/390676/31 "2007-02-05T05:34:25Z")
[QUOTE=Alan Smithee] One one occasion, however, he _wrote_ in his sleep! Like many college students, we had lofted bunks which were close to the ceiling. Once I saw him lying on his back tracing words with his finger on the ceiling. He made the same motions over and over, and eventually, I was even able to make out what he was writing. [/QUOTE] Well, what was he writing??? ---
**Author:** ![Chasing\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/258eb7/32.png) [@Chasing\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chasing_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sleep-with-your-eyes-open/390676/32 "2007-02-05T06:36:51Z")
[QUOTE=Weirddave] Well, what was he writing??? [/QUOTE] “I see dead people!” lol 😃 ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sleep-with-your-eyes-open/390676/33 "2007-02-05T14:15:25Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] By the way, **Dr.nuggets** , I think you’ll find that most folks here are familiar with _Lord of the Rings_, the book and movie, and know quite well who Gandalf (the wizard dude) is. Decide for yourself whether that makes us nerds. [/QUOTE] I play Dungeons and Dragons and one of my players has a character called Gandalf. Can he sue this book? (obviously my mate thought of it first!) ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sleep-with-your-eyes-open/390676/34 "2007-02-05T19:58:58Z")
[QUOTE=Weirddave] Well, what was he writing??? [/QUOTE] Thanks, **Weirddave**. About time! 😃 He was writing “Be the solution not the problem.” Lame, I know. You can see why I thought the story needed a little suspense! He had a high opinion of himself, though, and was quite pleased at the pithiness of his subconscious when I told him about it after he woke up. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sleep-with-your-eyes-open/390676/35 "2007-02-05T20:11:59Z")
My father sleeps with his eyes open… in the dentist’s chair! :eek: He loves going to the dentist. Says it’s the only time he gets to take a nap in the middle of the day. He’ll just sit down, go to sleep (with his eyes open) and the dentist will wake him when he’s done! ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sleep-with-your-eyes-open/390676/36 "2007-02-06T14:11:38Z")
[QUOTE=NoCoolUserName] Yup. I fell asleep driving once, with my eyes open I’m happy to say ('cause otherwise I wouldn’t be typing this). It was the middle of the night on a backroad, and I woke up as the stop sign flashed in the headlights. Fortunately for me, there was no one coming, and the road continued on the other side of the stop sign. Lesson learned–I’ve never driven so tired since. [/QUOTE] The phenomenon is known as a “Microslip”, I believe. They do ads here on TV imploring people not to drive when tired, lest they experience the phenomenon you described- except, instead of snapping out of it, they become a Tree Monk or an Oncoming Traffic Monk. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sleep-with-your-eyes-open/390676/37 "2007-02-06T20:42:04Z")
I sleep with my eyes about a quarter open or so. I don’t think I’ve ever had a problem with my eyeballs drying out. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.nuggets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Dr.nuggets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.nuggets)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sleep-with-your-eyes-open/390676/38 "2007-02-07T00:06:25Z")
In response to what Chronos said, i do not think that makes you a nerd but I didn’t want people to think I was a nerd. I am not saying that nerds are bad, I am just stating that I am not a nerd and would not like for people to think I was one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-sleep-with-your-eyes-open/390676.md?page=1)