I'm sure you know this already, but sleep is hugely important. I'm a bit of a freak about sleep, mostly because I had severe chronic insomnia most of my life. My son's mental issues are strongly linked with sleep too.

There's a disease called fatal familial insomnia. It's extremely rare. It's genetic and runs in only about 40 families worldwide. What fascinates me about FFI is that once the insomnia starts, the patient begins to suffer panic attacks, paranoia, phobias, hallucinations, weight loss, and finally dementia. Sounds a lot like sz, doesn't it?

I'm convinced that - at least for some people - what we call "sz" is largely the result of lack of sleep or lack of quality sleep. That's why I get worried when anyone here says they're not sleeping.

My insomnia disappeared completely when I went on a low carb diet. After the very first day on the diet I fell asleep immediately when I closed my eyes, I slept well, and I stayed asleep until morning. That's why I'm always harping on my son (who's genetically related to me, of course, so he might share my sensitivities to carbs) to cut back on the sugars and the cheap processed carbs that make up the bulk of his diet and eat more protein and fat.

Can your wife help with that? If not, what else could you do to meet that need?

Temple Grandin, who is autistic, built herself a "squeeze box" to help her meet her need for deep pressure, because she was oversensitive to actually physical contact with people.

A hammock can be soothing. A hot bath. Music.