So easy you can do it in your sleep

Whenever I feel so sleep-deprived that I just. can't. go. any. further, I think of Randy Gardner -- not because he cheers me up, but because compared to him I have no excuse for whining. As Gelf magazine says:

Gardner holds the world record for sleep-deprivation. In 1965, as a high-school student, he went 265 hours without so much as a nap. In the past 41 years, no one has equaled his mark.

This wouldn't be a terribly difficult feat for an insomniac, but then Gardner isn't one of those:Â

Even if his record falls, though, Gardner won't lose any sleep over it. In fact, he hasn't pulled an all-nighter since breaking the record, he says, and generally gets about seven hours of sleep a night.

Indeed, Gardner doesn't have any of the following sleep disorders, featured in mental_floss: volume 3, issue 1:

* Sleep Eating: The most common Sleep Eating episodes entail a person sleepwalking to the refrigerator and munching on a midnight snack that they'll probably never remember. Other times, the episodes are more elaborate, and the fully asleep sufferers head to the kitchen to chop, stir-fry, bake or bust out the George Foreman.

* Pseudoinsomnia: People with this disorder have vivid dreams about not being able to sleep.

* Sexsomnia: It's embarrassing enough to be told that you snore or mumble in your sleep, but imagine being told that you take off all your clothes, moan in ecstasy, and sometimes even pleasure yourself -- all without any memory of doing so.

For two more eye-opening disorders, plus the sleep problem Harriet Tubman and Harold Ickes have in common, check out the magazine.