DoctorOz: Strangest Sleepwalking Confessions Caught On Tape

The strangest sleepwalking confessions caught on tape. From sleep eating, which many of you actually are doing, you don't even realize it, to sleep dancing, a little more unique, but she's got some good rhythm there. Completely a sleepless lady, by the way. And get this, this is a sleepwalker who fell out of an eight-story window. Don't worry, don't worry, he survived. This is actually him, there he is right there. He woke up obviously, he landed six floors below where he fell out on a second-story scaffolding of a building, and the firefighters are in there trying to rescue this guy. He's obviously a little bit surprised. But you'll never believe what some people do while they're fast asleep. But just in case, take a look. Imagine waking up to find your daughter like this. Asleep, by playing the piano. Even snoring along to the tune. Or finding your mom like this, in her nightgown, sleep dancing. And what exactly are you doing, ma'am? I was trying to open her tomato cage. The tomato cage. Yeah, I was doing a special thing. Tomato cage, what's that? And check this out, a woman caught her boyfriend on tape and finally learned why their milk kept going missing every night. From missing milk to missing person, 19-year-old Taylor Gammel was found nine miles from her home, near her uncle's house. Turns out, she had sleepwalked the entire way there, in socks. She joins us today to share her story. I was so disbelieving, I asked Taylor and her dad, Steve, to join us, and they are here via Zoom. They're not in the same place, because guess what? Taylor is away at college, which I'll get to in a second. Taylor, you sleepwalked nine miles in no shoes? Do you have any recall, any memory of this? No, no memory at all. I just woke up, and I was not in my own bed. So, Steve, you and your wife reported Taylor missing that morning. What was it like to wake up and see your daughter was not in her bed? That's the worst fear, worst nightmare of every parent. Well, of course, it's always terrifying. So, I told my wife to call the police, because we were really panicked. I'd be scared, too. So, as you try to piece all the parts of this puzzle together, what do you think happened? Um, you know, I can't say for sure. I think around probably 12 a.m. to 1 a.m., Taylor left the house and started her journey. I will say I don't know how she got as far as she did, but the reality is when I saw her socks and I saw her feet, she had been out there for quite a long time. Taylor, do you ever worry about sleepwalking while you're at college? Because college kids do sort of stay out late, come back early. I mean, what are the safety precautions so you don't wander another nine miles at school? My roommates know about it, so they know what to look for. And we've talked about getting a bell for the door so they might hear if I leave in the middle of the night. Oh, my goodness. Well, listen, thank you both. I'm glad it worked out well. That is scary. Steve, send her that bell she's talking about. That's what I would do if I was a dad. No doubt. So, joining me now is board-certified sleep specialist Dr. Carol Ash, good friend of the show. Why do some folks sleepwalk and others do not? Well, Dr. Oz, there is a genetic component to this, so some of us are more inclined to do it. So in kids, their brain is still maturing. In adults, if they get sleep-deprived or stressed, they'll spend more time in deep sleep. That's where it's occurring, in deep sleep. And the brain spends more time there because it's trying to repair itself. Actually, I made a little animation to help everyone understand this. It's so cool. I actually wonder why this doesn't happen more often. This is what scientists think happened to a sleepwalker, okay? So here's Cindy. I just ran into her. She's a sleepwalker, right? I found her wandering around backstage. Well, let's go inside Cindy's brain. Let's see what's going on. And I want to point out one area. It's the blue area that's closest to me. See this area here, right? This is the part of her brain responsible for thinking. It's her consciousness, her awareness, right? But look over here. See the red over there, the red? That's the part of her brain that controls motor function. That's how, you know, when she moves around, right, she can coordinate that. But what if she began to move when she's asleep at night? That's a problem. But thankfully, when you sleep normally, they both turn off. The whole brain turns down, right? Gears down, everyone's resting peacefully in bed. But wait, one second. You see this little flickering over here, right over here, right? What if she starts to wake up? That part of her brain, right, the motor function, it's flickering back on. But her conscious part here, it's still asleep, not moving, right? So at this point, Cindy can actually sit up, stand up, get out of bed, walk down the stairs, eat a snack, pour the milk out, wander outside, walk nine miles, check her mailbox. She's still sleepwalking, right? So Dr. Ash, what is a sleepwalker capable of? We just gave a couple examples. I mean, falling out of an eight-story window is a pretty dastardly complication. Anything they have done before, you're capable of doing while you're sleepwalking. So you can get up and you can walk nine miles, you can pour a glass of milk, you can even drive. I could be sleepwalking right now. So if you run into a sleepwalker, I've been told you're not supposed to startle them or awaken them. What are the steps to take? The best thing to do is gently try and guide them back to bed. If you're struggling with that, you would want to awaken them, but stand back a bit, maybe make a loud noise, startle them. And then make your home safe. And make your home safe, especially with children. If it's happening frequently enough, you want to remove all the sharp objects, you want to get alarms on the doors and windows and locks and gates. But if it's really a chronic problem, then you may need to reach out to a sleep specialist. There are medications. But, Dr. Ash, for most of us, this is about being introspective and self-care. What can you do to reduce the sleep debt, the stress in your life? That's all most of us need to do is change behaviors. This is a wake-up call from your brain. Answer it. Dr. Ash, thank you so much. Wonderful advice. We'll be right back, everybody. Be sure to subscribe to my channel so you don't miss anything. And remember to check back often to see what's new.