By Ben Barry
A prolific sleepwalker recorded his antics and captured himself arguing and talking – while fast asleep.
James Grayson, 27, noticed he would sleepwalk and talk while he was on trips away in 2014 – as he would wake up people he was sharing a room with.
His friend, sent him funny clips of someone sleepwalking and James decided to record himself out of “curiosity”.
James looked back at his footage and noticed he would be up out of bed and talking or walking between three to four times a night.
Whilst he has been asleep, James has got up out of bed thinking that someone is there and doing anything from whispering to shouting.
James says he finds the videos funny and his partner, Daisy Dayton, 26, is a “heavy sleeper” and doesn’t bat an eyelid when it happens.
James, a musician, from St Albans, Hertfordshire, said: “It isn’t affecting my life, it doesn’t feel like it is impacting me greatly – I don’t feel the need for a solution.
“People ask if I remember any of it which is usually no.
“Sometimes I wake up feeling confused or embarrassed knowing I have done something but I can’t put my finger on what.”
In 2014, James started travelling for work and noticed he was waking people up.
Originally James put his sleepwalking down to being in an unfamiliar place but it continued when he returned home.
He said: “I think I have always done it to some extent, but I haven’t had people around to witness it.
“I started travelling for work a little bit and would share hotels with people.
“That is when I noticed I would start to wake people up.
“At first, I thought I did it in an unfamiliar setting, in a hotel, but when I started recording I noticed I was doing it more often.”
James started recording himself sleeping a year ago in May 2023.
He said: “I wanted to figure out a way to record out of curiosity.
“It was shocking to see how much I was doing it.
“I probably average around three to four times a night, sometimes it’ll me nonsensical muttering – anywhere to full-blown shouting.
“I put a handful of them on Instagram and TikTok, I thought they were really funny.
“But, when I saw friends in the pub they were all talking about my sleepwalking.”
James says it is a “weird feeling” plugging a memory card in to see if he has done something “impressive”.
He said: “It is a weird period of disappointment when there isn’t something but I’m happy I got a full night’s sleep.
“It is my usual routine now, I almost don’t think about it too much – I sleep pretty well.”
James said he feels sorry for his partner, Daisy, for having to deal with his sleepwalking but says she doesn’t seem fazed by it.
He said: “I feel really bad for Daisy or anyone who is subjected to it.
“I don’t know if she is being nice about it as it would infuriate me.
“She has become accustomed to it to an extent and found a way to deal with it.
“You have to entertain what I am doing to an extent.”
Daisy added: “We’ve been together for nearly seven years, and when something out of the ordinary happens nearly every night for a length of time is becomes ordinary.
“At first I was definitely concerned, as anyone would be when you see someone you love seem so distressed.
“But over time I’ve learnt how to steer the situation calmly and quickly deescalate so we can both get back to sleep.”
James says he has tried all sorts to see if that will limit the amount of time he is sleepwalking.
He has changed his diet, sleeping pattern and had blue light exposure but claims nothing has worked.
James said: “I usually get at least eight hours of sleep, my sleeping pattern is pretty normal.
“I have changed my diet, the time I go to bed, times I am on my phone but none of it seems to have an impact on the frequency I sleep talk.
“I am not looking for a cure but if someone said this is a pathway to sort it out I would be interested in going down that route.”
