Butcher knives and the Sleep Walker

Latetly, ______ told me she dreamed of being thirsty and woke up the next day with empty ice trays on the counter, the faucet running. Recenty she has beening finding the clothes she went to sleep in all over the house. She wonders if she has been outside because she will wake with mud on her feet. (And she wonders if she was nude.) Her seven year old daugher states she found her mom in the living room walking in circles during the night and that she led her mom back to bed.

She's been under a lot of strain. She works 12 hour days for two or three weeks in a row. Her husband can not see her (and hasn't so far, thank god.) He is charged with domestic abuse. She woke up with him on top of her as he choked her to unconsciousness three or four times. While this happened, he raped her. He may not be charged with that. However, at some point, a week later perhaps, he called the police and said they had better come before he killed her. He cut gashes into her legs with butcher knives and, for several weeks, a lump under her hairline filled with fluid and, much later, she discovered that her cornea was scratched. She doesn't recall much of that night. He did not see that he did anything wrong. He was quite upfront with investigators. (Note: He called the police, not her.... probably the only good thing he has done. I think she is a strong person: what would have it required for her to call the police?)

July 29, 2006