Penis Panic

I remember during college when I was working 50 hours a week in the data center of a bank at the same time I was a full-time student with up to 23 credit hours per trimester. I used to wish I didn’t have to sleep. I actually didn’t get much sleep in those days but I survived, graduating with years of relevant experience, a bachelor degree and 135 pounds on my six-foot frame.

And now I read that it wasn’t just a pipe dream. It was actually possible to forgo sleep.

I read an article about a man in Vietnam that has not slept in 33 years, over 11,700 consecutive sleepless nights.

“Sixty-four-year-old Thai Ngoc, known as Hai Ngoc, said he could not sleep at night after getting a fever in 1973, and has counted infinite numbers of sheep during more than 11,700 consecutive sleepless nights.”

His wife said when Ngoc went to Da Nang for a medical examination, doctors gave him a clean bill of health, except a minor decline in liver function.

On Ngoc’s prolonged insomnia, Phan Ngoc Ha, director of the Hoa Khanh Mental Hospital in Danang said sleep disorders often cause anorexia, lethargy, and irritability

But, in special cases some people can handle it and still live and work normally, although this was a very small ratio among insomniacs, Ha added.

And there are other strange things that can happen to you:

ALICE IN WONDERLAND SYNDROME

Also called micropsia, this condition distorts visual perception so that objects that are close appear disproportionately tiny, as though viewed through the wrong end of a telescope.

PICA

This is a compulsive appetite for non-edible items, including clay, stones, cigarette ash, paint, glue, laundry starch, ice and even hair.

FOREIGN ACCENT SYNDROME

Foreign Accent Syndrome, which can set in after strokes or other brain trauma, allows people to speaking their native tongue with a different accent. Anything from Swedish to South African and victims need never have heard the accent in question.

ONDINE'S CURSE

A sleep disorder resulting from a malfunctioning autonomic nervous system. Its victims are unable to breathe spontaneously but must consciously will each breath, so will suffocate if they fall asleep.

ALIEN HAND SYNDROME

Another condition arising from brain trauma, this bizarre syndrome involves losing control of one hand, which can do anything from gesticulating to unbuttoning clothes its owner is trying to put on with his or her other hand.

POLYDACTYLISM

Polydactylism is a congenital abnormality involving being born with too many digits, ranging from rudimentary nubbins to fully formed fingers or toes. Notables with the condition have included Henry VIII's ill-fated second wife Anne Boleyn (whose extra pinky sparked rumours of her being a witch), war photographer Robert Capa and cricketer Garry Sobers. According to The Guinness Book of Records, the record for extra digits goes to Indian brothers Tribhuwan and Triloki Yadav, who boast 20 fingers, four thumbs and 24 toes between them.

CAPGRAS SYNDROME

This syndrome involves the delusion that a significant other, such as a parent, spouse or other relative, is being impersonated by an imposter. Sufferers sometimes attack the supposed double. The delusion can also extend even to oneself, with the person convinced that the reflection in the mirror is that of an imposter.

RILEY-DAY SYNDROME

Feeling no pain; it doesn't sound like a problem, but it can be lethal for the victims of a syndrome involving, among other symptoms, insensitivity to pain. Caused by a chromosomal abnormality found among Ashkenazi Jews - people of Eastern European Jewish descent - the syndrome makes its victims exceptionally accident-prone because they simply don't register warning signs of tissue damage such as wounds, bruising and burns. They are even oblivious to oxygen deprivation, which means that when they hold their breath, as infants often do, they do so until they black out. Riley-Day patients tend to die young - around half before the age of 30 - from their injuries.

JERUSALEM SYNDROME

A religious psychosis triggered by a visit to Jerusalem. Observed since medieval times, its victims may believe that they are prophets and parade around the city proclaiming the Holy Writ or exhorting sinners to repent. Affecting around 100 tourists per year, it generally clears up once they leave town. However, it can have serious repercussions, as with the widespread rioting that ensued when Australian man Michael Rohan set fire to the al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in 1969, convinced he was the "Lord's emissary".

HYPERTRICHOSIS

People with hypertrichosis, a congenital condition involving hair growing all over the body - including eyelids and even ears, which can sprout long curls.

PENIS PANIC

Genital Retraction Syndrome victims become convinced that their genitals are disappearing into their bodies. It can be contagious, sparking off "penis panics", such as the one that overtook Singapore in 1967 in which thousands of men became convinced that their penises were being stolen; it was contained by a complete media blackout on the condition.

PROTEUS SYNDROME

Named after Proteus, the Greek god famous for changing his shape, this is a progressive disorder causing disfiguring tumours and abnormal bone development. It's extremely rare, with just over 100 cases confirmed since it was first identified in 1979. Its most celebrated victim was Joseph Merrick, aka "The Elephant Man", a grotesquely deformed man befriended by Dr Frederick Treves, a physician at London Hospital.