Waking up fast enough?

[45dotACP]

My dad and I were talking recently about why he doesn't keep a pistol in the desk by his bed. He was telling me that it was mostly because when he wakes up, he's pretty out of it for about 30 or so minutes. He's not an old guy, he just sleeps like a log and when he gets up, he's still tired, cranky, and in need of coffee. Obviously, when something goes bump in the night, it's best to be operating on a higher level than "I need coffee, and all else can wait until then." I have never been sure where to ask this question, but I figure if somebody had an answer, they'd be here on p-f...

How does one get their mind in the game ASAP after waking up at 3am?

[JDM]

I find that the stimulus waking me up plays a big part in how I wake up.

If my daughter crawls into bed with me at 00:30 because she had a bad dream, I'm going to respond very differently than I would if I heard someone working on my front door at the same time.

The former barely wakes me, and the latter often has me wide awake, out of bed or sitting up in bed, and unable to sleep for sometime afterward, even if was just my old lady coming home late.

As far as getting my head in the game...it seems to happen naturally.

[BaiHu]

I agree with the above although I know people that literally take several smacks in the face to wake them up. Darwin is all I can say.

[jetfire]

Adrenaline is a big deal. Example: dog decides to climb into bed with us, I hardly notice. Dog starts growling at the front door, heart rate spikes and I'm instantly in go mode. Adrenaline baby.

[JDM]

What Caleb said.

[EricM]

I've wondered about this as well, but more from the perspective of how can you be confident that you are thinking clearly enough to safely handle a gun immediately after waking up in the middle of the night...and what precautions should you take in case you aren't totally with it. My wife for example has occasional night terrors, some have her literally diving out of bed screaming about something falling on her or whatever. I wouldn't want a gun sitting in the open on top of her nightstand. Instead hers is kept in a lock box in the nightstand on my side. Having a toddler makes the decision easy, but even if I did live alone in the middle of nowhere I'm not sure I'd want my gun just sitting there either, even though I'm not prone to waking up disoriented.

As to getting my head in the game quickly, hopefully a jolt of adrenaline from waking up to the dog barking would take care of that. I'm a pretty heavy sleeper for the most part, but the couple times my dog has barked in the middle of the night, I've woken up very alert and had a hard time getting back to sleep. I also think it's important to have a plan in advance, so your mind goes to executing that plan rather than trying to figure out what you should do.

[DocGKR]

"how can you be confident that you are thinking clearly enough to safely handle a gun immediately after waking up in the middle of the night"

With practice. If you have been (un)lucky enough to have gone through an active residency with lots of trauma cases, you get extensive practice waking up at odd hours while having to be fully alert and immediately ready to handle acute emergencies.

[Hambo]

I agree with Doc and Caleb, but it also matters what stage of sleep you're in. I'm not an expert on sleep cycles, but there were a couple of times when I just couldn't get my shit completely together after being awakened. I was able to drive and I understood that I needed to be more alert, but I just couldn't get there.

[peterb]

I agree with Doc and Caleb, but it also matters what stage of sleep you're in. I'm not an expert on sleep cycles, but there were a couple of times when I just couldn't get my shit completely together after being awakened. I was able to drive and I understood that I needed to be more alert, but I just couldn't get there.

Agreed. As a volunteer EMT/firefighter, I'm usually alert right after the pager goes off, but sometimes it takes a few minutes to shake off the fog. Accumulated sleep loss is certainly a factor.

[Beat Trash]

Doc and Caleb have very good points.

Waking up to strange sounds, glass breaking, your dog trying to get at a threat and eat same goes a long way to spike the adrenaline level in your blood stream. Suddenly the fog tends to go away faster as you wake up. Whether it's 3 AM or not, adrenaline tends to wake me up better than any of the current energy drinks on the market.

I have known a few who keep their defensive handgun a step or two away from their bed versus right next to the bed, or under a pillow. The thought being they wanted to have to take a step or two to get to the gun, causing them to wake faster. These same individuals also had a layered defense within their home. Solid doors with good locks. Loud dogs that would give advanced warning. and so forth.