A MAN with a brain disorder says he is trapped in a “nightmare” that sees him spend hundreds of pounds on shopping while he is asleep.
Mark Doyle suffers from narcolepsy, a rare brain disorder that causes him to suddenly fall asleep at any time.
One of the symptoms of the illness is automatic behaviour, which means Mr Doyle can carry out everyday tasks such as cleaning, cooking and shopping while fast asleep.
Mr Doyle, 46, from Neilston, appears to be wide awake but is in fact fast asleep and completely unaware of what he is doing.
The father-of-four has suffered from the disorder all his life and two weeks ago he had an episode at the Savers store on Barrhead’s Main Street when he spent more than £120 on toiletries.
including shavers, bath sponges, and deodorant.
He said: “When I woke up I noticed that I had spent more than £100 on things like deodorant, sponges, hair wax, you name it.
“On July 13, I bought £78.49 worth of toiletries which I did not need. The following day I went back to return the products but I took a turn again, fell asleep and tried to buy more stuff, about £80 worth.
“Luckily, I couldn’t find my card so the staff had to take all the other items back. I went back again the same day and bought £26 worth of stuff. I was in the shop that day four times. I can’t afford to be doing this any more., I don’t have that kind of money to spend”
Last week, Mr Doyle tried to take the toiletries back again but staff refused to reimburse him, worth £78.49, despite him having the receipt.
A Savers spokesperson said this was because the goods were damaged from a bag leak.
Mr Doyle said: “I tried to explain my condition but they were not having it. I don’t get how they can let me return the other items but not that other receipt. They just told me it’s not their problem it’s mine.
“I just hate the way I’ve been treated. Younger people disrespect me and they just think I’m stupid but I’m not.
“I once took a turn in Morrisons and bought six chickens, six cans of dog food and 12 packets of cat food, although I don’t have pets. I took it back an hour later when I woke up.
“Luckily, one of the members of staff knew someone with the same condition”.
According to Narcolepsy UK, the condition affects around one in 2,500 people, with around 30,000 sufferers in the UK.
Nicola Rule, from the charity, said: “It is really not at all that unusual for people with narcolepsy to suffer from the same problems as Mark”.
A spokeswoman said: “Mr Doyle has not made direct contact with our Customer Relations Department regarding this incident.
“We do not accept liability for any goods which have been damaged after they have been purchased unless they are faulty.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here