An MD with focus on sleep medicine could have also asked an Occupational Therapist to check for Sensory Integration issues (that type of research simply did not exist when Michael was young and shocker, has nothing to do with "Michael, the freak" the media loves) which together can make for horrible nights - I have a child with a sleep disorder who used to wake up every 20 minutes, driving us all insane. And he sticks sticky notes everywhere, so a lot of this sounds awfully familiar.
(the brain in newborns and young babies for example show very sleep short cycles - and for example, someone with narcolepsy and other sleeping disorders has measurable sleep cycles that differ vastly from healthy sleep)
His mother kept mentioning having to make extra issue he'd eat and the sleep issues were also longstanding. I remember Bush talking about his fascination for corduroy.
Given his artistic nature and him being a dancer - treating his underlying issues of anemia (can produce horrible insomnia+and fatigue), the chronic bronchitis - add Michael's very specific eating habits and the sleep issues - heck, he was SNORING (!!!! one the biggest giveaways in sleep disorders) - an expert in OT, communicating with a sleep specialist could have helped - in addition with meds.
A good occupational therapist (not to be confused with a 'shrink'!!) could have screened him because the eating+sleeping issues+snoring are almost a dead giveaway. Instead of scolding Michael for trying to fall asleep with a TV, something should have clicked - people with these specifics simply 'operate' differently than the rest of us and scolding them for their coping methods accomplishes ZERO.
I shake my head that someone of Michael's statue had to put up with such horrible care. Makes me sad.
I'm an artist myself and it is true - the muses do seem to talk very loudly at night, especially when it is quiet in the house - and I went from total basket case to human being in about half a year.
Michael's autopsy showed some fairly easy manageable issues that could have been managed even within a few weeks, or at least tolerable.
Kudos to Michael for trying and reaching to out to a holistic nurse and 'allopathic' medicine at the same time. He was trying and a lot has changed in the last few years in the treatment of sleep disorder.
Again, not trying to speculate about anyone's mental health - just thinking out loud about the things mentioned by his loved ones, shown in the autopsy report. And they are unspectacularly boring and have nothing to do with "Mike, the pill popper'.
Michael was simply surrounded by folks who seemed rather unflexible - just by freaking NOT REFERRING him to those people who deal with these issues. But no, everyone wanted to stay his primary physician. Go figure.
Totally OT... but there are millions of people with similar issues also just trying to cope. Some people literally drink themselves into 'sleep' - don't ever think for a second that other people aren't as desperate to sleep.
