Main Series Kitty BITE Back Episode 8: Now I lay me, *NOT* down to sleep... FU liMes, Sleepy Baby***
- Jezebel Freedom
- Aug 14, 2021
- 3 min read
HEYOOOO!!! At this point if you aren’t caught up on this series, I don’t know what to tell ya LOL. I’m just saying, we’re out here livin‘! So let’s just jump right into it! The 6th component of Behavioral Control as described in the BITE Model by SAH is “manipulation and deprivation of sleep”. Lemme tell you, as someone who LOVES to sleep, this one was very icky to me; and, still is, really. (BECAUSE THIS SHIT IS STILL HAPPENING!!) Anyways, let’s talk about what manipulation and deprivation of sleep looks like. So, how about we define this shit.
According to the American Thoracic Society, sleep deprivation occurs when an individual doesn’t set the amount of sleep that they need to function. This can cause your body not to be able to repair itself properly. There is a chart on the link below that breaks down ages and how much sleep they need.
So let’s talk about sleep!
STORY TIME!
When I was in the cult, we would have what I would call “marathon services”. Yes, they are as awful as it sounds... Let me just detail when the standard service times are:
Sunday: 9am-1pm AND 5pm-12am
Tuesday: 7pm-12am
Thursday: 7pm-12am
Theses are just the stadard times, Sometiems services would last longer. On Saturdays we would walk around town and canvas, trying to get people to come to church. This would go from 8am-5pm with no breaks. I know that some may not consider this sleep deprivation. However, I DO because we were required to spend so much of our time doing things for the cult and being at services that by the time you had your job or in my case, school, you had little to no time to sleep. Let me paint the picture for you when I was in high school there at the end.
6am: wake up for school
7am: school
11am: co-op
3pm: marching band practice
7pm: service
12am: clean the church
2am: get home, shower, do any homeowrk
3am: bed
I was getting, on average, 3 hours of sleep a night. No wonder i was falling asleep at school and during services. Did you know that repeated disturbed sleep patterns can lead to insomnia? Guess what I battle with every night of my life now? You guessed it! INSOMNIA! And why would the “pastor” be interested in depriving the group of sleep? One word: CONTROL. People are much easier to control, persuade, and manipulate when they are sleep deprived. When we are sleep deprived, the connection to out prefrontal cortex is blocked. We almost go into like a “primal brain” where we can’t regulate our emotions properly and we end up making rash decisions. If we are kept in this state and then forced to go to services where we are being manipulated, there is no telling the extent and depth of the trauma caused to the group (especially children).
Are you or someone you know being sleep deprived in order to gain control? Do you know of any groups of people that demand so much of their members’ time that it leave little time left for other things like.... SLEEP? If so, please reach out to someone. Me, the police, someone not in the group. Get as far away as possible and go take a nap while help is on the way, please.
HERE is SAH's list of resources that his organization, Freedom of Mind, has gathered.
Please use this information and share it with those who need it. It could save a life.
Until Sleepy Hollow’s village has a peaceful night, my insomnia will burn my eyes red.
-Jezebel Freedom
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