Sleep-Related Eating Disorder: Wouldn't You Know

If you're an insomniac, who requires Ambien to get yourself to sleep at night, be sure to padlock your fridge and pantry before popping the pill. The NYT reports:

The sleeping pill Ambien seems to unlock a primitive desire to eat in some patients, according to emerging medical case studies that describe how the drug's users sometimes sleepwalk into their kitchens, claw through their refrigerators like animals and consume calories ranging into the thousands.

The next morning, the night eaters remember nothing about their foraging. But they wake up to find telltale clues: mouthfuls of peanut butter, Tostitos in their beds, kitchen counters overflowing with flour, missing food, and even lighted ovens and stoves. Some are so embarrassed, they delay telling anyone, even as they gain weight.

You know, this response reminds me an awful lot of another rather soporific drug. Well, let's hear it for fat, happy, and well-rested. Of all the mental illnesses I could fall victim to, a sleep-related eating disorder sounds, by far, the coolest.