In ancient times, people believed that the Moon influences not only the tides of the sea, but also the human psyche, and it is this night star that makes some people get out of their beds at night and walk in their sleep. Therefore, in the past, healers called the phenomenon of sleepwalking sleepwalking. But the influence of the Moon is one of the most harmless reasons that were used in ancient times to explain sleepwalking, because in the dark Middle Ages, sleepwalkers were often declared witches or possessed. Fortunately, now the times of the Inquisition and ignorance are a thing of the past, and modern scientists have studied sleepwalking in detail, identified its causes and ways to help the sleepwalker. Let's take a closer look at exactly what signs characterize sleepwalking, why people sleepwalk at night, and how to save yourself or a loved one from night walks.

Features and dangers of somnambulism

Now the term sleepwalking is no longer used, and people who tend to walk, gesticulate, etc. are called sleepwalkers only colloquially. Doctors call this sleep disorder somnambulism, and those who suffer from this disorder - somnambulists. And according to the dictionary of medical terms, somnambulism is a painful sleep disorder in which a person moves, talks or performs any actions while in a state of deep sleep.

Somnambulism is a fairly common disorder because it affects about 2% of the inhabitants of our planet , and most of them are teenagers and young people under 22 years of age. According to statistics, up to 15% of children and adolescents occasionally or regularly talk, sit up in bed and even walk in their sleep, but upon reaching the age of 15-19, approximately three-quarters of young sleepwalkers “outgrow” this disorder.

Contrary to the common belief among the common people that sleepwalkers necessarily get out of bed and go outside the bedroom in their sleep, in most cases this disorder manifests itself less clearly. In general, doctors distinguish two forms of somnambulism - mild and severe, and each form of the disorder is characterized by the following:

• Light form – this is a mild course of the disorder, in which attacks occur no more than 2-3 times a month, and the person does not get out of bed during attacks and does not perform any complex actions. As a rule, with a mild form of sleepwalking, people talk or sit up on the bed, gesticulate, take and move objects lying on the bedside table, etc.
• Severe form - This is a form of sleepwalking in which a person walks in a dream and performs complex actions. Some sleepwalkers do household chores in their sleep, some eat, some simply wander around the house. During his “nightly adventures,” a sleepwalker can leave not only the bedroom, but also the house, walk to another area of ​​the city, start a car, and even go to work or to see friends.

Regardless of the severity of the disorder, during nocturnal activity all sleepwalkers look almost the same - their eyes are wide open, their movements and gestures are somewhat constrained and mechanical, and there is practically no facial expression, which is why their facial expression seems detached. The attack of sleepwalking itself in most cases lasts a maximum of 30-40 minutes, although in psychiatric practice there have been cases when a person remained in a similar state for more than 2 hours. After the attack is over, the person returns to his bed, takes a comfortable position until the morning. Waking up in the morning, the somnambulist will not remember anything that he did during the night attack.

Somnambulism itself, according to doctors, does not pose a particular danger to health and has little effect on the quality of sleep, since most sleepwalkers, even on those nights when they had attacks, slept well and felt cheerful and rested in the morning. Nevertheless, there is still a danger in somnambulism , and it lies in the fact that when performing any movements and actions in a dream, a somnambulist can injure himself, provoke an accident, or even commit a crime. For example, sleepwalkers who go outside while sleeping can get hit by a car, and those who do household chores while asleep can drop something heavy on themselves, flood the apartment, or even open the valves on the gas stove.

Reasons why people sleepwalk at night

Sleepwalking only from the outside seems like something mysterious and even mystical, but for people suffering from this disorder, it is exclusively a cause of inconvenience, and sometimes even danger. Many somnambulists, aware of the danger looming over them, strive to prevent attacks with the help of sleeping pills, but such treatment is ineffective, because all such drugs sooner or later become addictive. Therefore, in order to cure this disorder, it is necessary to eliminate its cause. And according to doctors, in most cases the reasons why people sleepwalk at night are:

If we consider the main reasons why people sleepwalk at night, we can conclude that the source of most of them are psychological problems - constant stress, inability to rest and relax, increased anxiety and inattention to one’s own health. And by eliminating these causes, you can significantly reduce the number of attacks of sleepwalking or completely get rid of somnambulism.

Ways to get rid of somnambulism

Most sleepwalkers in order to to get rid of a sleep disorder, it is enough to reduce the level of anxiety, learn to fully rest and. This is especially true for children and adolescents who walk and talk at night because their brains cannot cope with the stress.

However, we cannot exclude a more serious and dangerous cause of somnambulism, namely the emergence of a focus of epileptic readiness in the brain. Therefore, in order to exclude this symptom or identify epilepsy at an early stage, people who have started walking at night need to undergo a full examination, including an encephalogram .

If the suspicion of a serious illness is not confirmed, the doctor will prescribe a complex treatment for the sleepwalker, which includes taking medications that improve the quality of sleep and have a sedative effect on the nervous system, and recommendations for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Doctors also often recommend that somnambulists change their environment, go to a resort or sanatorium.

In cases where measures need to be taken immediately, since in a dream a person can harm himself or get into a dangerous situation (sleepwalkers who go out into the street in a dream, get behind the wheel, etc.), the somnambulist himself or his relatives must do everything to prevent sleepwalking. It is very difficult to wake up sleepwalkers when they are sleepwalking. , so it is better to make sure that the person either cannot leave the bed/bedroom, or that he wakes up on his own. To do this, somnambulists are tied to the bed, locked in the bedroom, or a wet towel is placed near their bed so that the person who steps on it wakes up due to the feeling of cold. These simple measures will help prevent the occurrence of a dangerous situation, but you should remember that it is better not to “play it safe” every evening, but to try to get rid of somnambulism by improving your sleep.

Today we will talk about:

Sleepwalking is a frequent phenomenon, but every time it causes fear and gives rise to a lot of myths. It was once considered a curse or an obsession, but now there are completely logical explanations for this. What is sleepwalking from a medical point of view, what processes in the body provoke it, and what are the causes of sleepwalking?

Characteristics of sleepwalking

Sleepwalking or somnambulism is a mental disorder that manifests itself in walking or talking during sleep. The phenomenon received its name sleepwalking due to the opinion that excessive activity of the moon provokes unusual human behavior. However, it has long been proven that this opinion is completely erroneous, but the moon can still have some influence on the psyche.

Somnambulism is quite common nowadays, and affects about 2.5% of the total population of the planet. But just like decades ago, people, when faced with a similar phenomenon for the first time, are frightened due to a lack of understanding of its mechanism and nature.

It is widely believed that sleepwalking is a rare mental illness, but in fact it is just a type of mental disorder that can be eliminated. Most often, children and adolescents are at risk during the so-called transitional age, when the body and psyche undergo changes. Adult “sleepwalkers” are much less common - in about 1 case out of 1000. This suggests that somnambulism goes away with age.

Basically, the disorder appears in highly excitable and impressionable people with specific brain characteristics. Single attacks of sleepwalking should not frighten or provoke panic among relatives, but if they recur regularly, then it makes sense to consult a specialist. This may mean that walking during sleep can be a symptom or “the first bell” to the manifestation of quite serious nervous diseases, for example, epilepsy.

Features of the behavior of sleepwalkers

As a rule, people suffering from sleepwalking get out of bed and begin to walk during sleep. They can perform any actions absolutely clearly and accurately, from everyday household chores such as washing clothes and dishes, to completely unimaginable things. There is a known case when a patient, being a completely uncreative person in life, during attacks at night created amazingly beautiful pictures, and in the morning he got up and had absolutely no memory of what had happened. Moreover, he could not repeat his skill and could not draw at all.

Watching a sleepwalker, you might think that he is not sleeping, since his eyes may be open, his actions are coordinated, he may even answer questions or hum a song. But if you take a closer look, behavioral features that are unique to somnambulists become noticeable. So, the movements will be clear, but slightly inhibited and very smooth. The eyes of such people are usually open, but their gaze is “glassy” - they do not see or perceive anything.

Attempts to wake up a “sleepwalker” are futile in 99% of cases. Moreover, many experts do not recommend shaking such people by the shoulders, slapping their cheeks, or shouting to wake them up, as this can provoke shock and make the situation worse. Often, somnambulists dream that they are not at home, but somewhere else, so a sudden awakening can completely throw him out of mental balance, especially if we are talking about a child. Experts recommend calmly taking the sleeping person to the bedroom and putting him to bed, covering him with a blanket. You can also bring a blanket and cover the person with it so that he feels comfortable and warm and gradually returns to normal sleep.

However, not all somnambulists wander around the house and perform any actions. In some cases, they may simply stand or sit on or near the bed. Others may leave the house and wander the streets. There are cases when sleepwalkers tried to start a car and drive away somewhere. In such situations, relatives need to constantly monitor the person and, if possible, control his actions, preventing him from harming himself.

The attack lasts no longer than 40 minutes per night, and as a result, “sleepwalkers” usually return to the bedroom on their own and go to bed, and in the morning they do not remember anything from the night’s events, believing that they slept well the whole time.

Causes of sleepwalking

As PoMedicine already said above, the causes of sleepwalking lie in increased nervous excitability, which is observed mainly in children and adolescents. In case of frequent attacks, it is necessary to consult a specialist and undergo an examination, including an encephalogram. Most often, the examination reveals foci of epileptic readiness, which means that sleepwalking is a sign of epilepsy. And even if a person is always calm and restrained on the outside, inside he is very vulnerable or excitable, but his upbringing does not allow him to show emotions.

The cause of sleepwalking can be not only epilepsy, but also less fatal phenomena, for example, high fever during the flu. A person in such a situation is in a semi-delirious state and cannot control his actions.

Since somnambulism is associated with the nervous activity of the brain, any disturbance, even such as chronic lack of sleep or severe stress, can trigger an attack. Therefore, it can occur in adults who do not take care of their mental health. Children are known to be more excitable, so sleepwalking affects about 15% of children under the age of 11 years. With age, they learn to control their emotions, become calmer, and sleepwalking goes away without a trace.

Attacks of sleepwalking mainly occur in moments of intense emotion or constant anxiety. For example, if a child watched a horror movie, or the parents don’t get along with each other, he was not allowed to have a puppy, or he is worried about going to school for the first time on September 1st. In such cases, the child’s brain is simply not able to withstand the stormy influx of emotions, impressions and information, so at night he does not rest, but intensively continues to process information, trying to assimilate it. But at the same time, consciousness turns off, and parents see only how their child plays, walks, or simply stands without waking up.

Scientific research has proven that somnambulism can be inherited. So, if both parents experienced (periodically experience) bouts of sleepwalking in childhood or adulthood, there is a high probability that their offspring will also be susceptible to the disorder. In this case, it is worth taking into account not only such obvious manifestations as walking or talking in a dream, but also single movements of the arms or legs.

Why is sleepwalking dangerous?

The disorder itself does not pose any danger to human health (unless it is a sign of epilepsy), but a person’s actions during an attack can lead to very unpleasant consequences. A somnambulist can harm not only himself by stepping out of a window or falling into a pool, but also those around him. Statistics have shown that more than 25% of “sleepwalkers” receive injuries of varying severity during their nocturnal adventures.

There were precedents when a person committed murders during an attack of somnambulism, but in the morning he remembered absolutely nothing. Thus, history knows one of the most shocking cases of sleepwalking, when a person not only drove a car in his sleep, but also committed murder. A certain Kenneth Parks, being a 23-year-old married guy, got into a car in the middle of the night, drove 23 km to the house of his mother-in-law and father-in-law, after which he stabbed his mother-in-law with a knife and tried to strangle his father-in-law. After lengthy trials and medical studies, Kenneth was acquitted because he was not aware of his actions.

That is why relatives need to closely monitor and, if possible, control the actions of the “sleepwalker” in order to avoid dire consequences.

Myths about sleepwalking

Sleepwalking is an unusual phenomenon, and for obvious reasons it has given rise to a lot of myths and misconceptions. People tend to fear what they do not understand, so PoMedicine proposes to dispel the mythical halo around somnambulism.

Myths about “sleepwalkers”:

• “Lunatics” are invulnerable during an attack and cannot harm themselves. This is absolute nonsense and cannot stand any criticism. During an attack, only the subconscious sleeps, and the body is active, as in ordinary life, so if a person falls, then it is quite obvious that he will receive a bruise or abrasion. He will even feel pain if the areas responsible for this are in an active state. But in some cases, these “painful” areas are turned off, so the “sleepwalker” does not pay attention to the injuries.
• Somnambulism is a hereditary disease. Firstly, this is not a disease, but a disorder, and secondly, only if both parents were “sleepwalkers” is genetic transmission possible.
• The somnambulist remembers nothing from her nightly travels. A controversial statement, because often a person can remember what happened, consider it an ordinary dream and soon forget.
• Attacks of sleepwalking occur only during the full moon. The disorder is “tied” not to the phases of the moon, but to the emotional state of a person.
• Women are more likely to suffer from sleepwalking. This opinion was especially widespread in European countries during the Inquisition. At that time, a woman suffering from sleepwalking was automatically recognized as a witch, but modern research has shown that the disorder does not have gender selectivity.
• Sleepwalking only happens at night. Not at all, an attack can happen in a dream at any time of the day, for example, during the daytime nap in kindergarten.
• During an attack, a somnambulist hears, sees and feels everything, like a waking person. This state is more like deep hypnosis, and all reactions, sensitivity and receptivity are “dulled”.

If you have a “sleepwalker” in your home, the best thing you can do in case of rare and intermittent attacks is to ensure the person’s safety and protect him from injury. Remove electrical wires from the floor to prevent him from tripping, put bars on the windows, and move glass objects on the shelves away. In severe cases, it is recommended that the person be tied to a bed or locked in a room at night. But in most situations, it is enough just to pay more attention and monitor mental health, and then the disorder will gradually disappear.

Oksana Zheltukhina

Sleepwalking is a rather rare disorder that manifests itself in people both during critical, stressful and ordinary periods of life, sometimes lasting for years. How to recognize sleepwalking in a loved one and is there a treatment for this restless syndrome?

What is considered true sleepwalking?

Let's leave behind outdated ideas about somnambulists, based on the mysticism and prejudices of dark people. After all, if earlier a sleepwalker could be considered a mentally ill person, possessed by demons or a witch (women sleepwalkers were officially persecuted by the Inquisition), now doctors know for sure that this is a syndrome associated with a violation of the transition to/from the sleep state.

Astrologers still stubbornly associate such walks with the phases of the moon, believing that the full moon causes an attack of sleepwalking. However, experience shows that people sleepwalk in any phase of the moon, that is, no direct relationship has been found.

The main problem why sleepwalking in children and adults worries neurologists is related to one of the forms of epilepsy. Sometimes the disease manifests itself this way at a very early stage or retains this form permanently.

An epileptic does not suffer from convulsive syndrome, but his attacks resemble a kind of trance, into which he can fall while asleep or awake.

Since epilepsy first appears before the age of 30, its diagnosis in children is of utmost importance. If parents or educators, teachers notice a state of trance in a child, then he needs to be urgently examined by a neurologist to find out the possible causes.

How to recognize a sleepwalker

Since the causes of sleepwalking are of inorganic origin, one can expect its next manifestations in certain situations:

• severe stress at work, school, or in a team;
• emotional turmoil and experiences, such as divorce, financial collapse, serious accusations and other pressure on the psyche;
• in children - fear, in adults - a threat to life (attack by people or animals, road accident).

It is curious that not all stressful situations provoke attacks in sleepwalkers. The trigger mechanism is only those experiences that force a person to intensively think about a problem and intensely search for its solution, at least this is what happens in adults.

Children can suffer from true sleepwalking, experiencing strong and complex emotions, mostly negative, but the inability of the young body to completely relax and calm down before bed also plays a role.

Childhood sleepwalking is directly related to impressionability and overwork of the nervous system - a child’s sleep may be disturbed by watching movies in the evening, playing too actively or playing in a sports section. The atmosphere in the family also affects the child’s psyche and sleep.

The symptoms of sleepwalking are as follows:

• a person gets out of bed and sits or even stands on it without waking up;
• while in a dream, he walks around the room, can perform some simple actions, despite the fact that the environment is unsuitable for them (trying to start the car while sitting in a chair or taking on cooking outside the kitchen and without dishes, etc.);
• speech that is unintelligible or meaningless to others, often involving strange, illogical or inappropriate questions;
• often somnambulists try to leave the bedroom - through room doors, balcony doors and even through windows;
• there are fewer attempts to leave home and use transport;
• somnambulists do not seek to contact their household and never intentionally wake them up;
• the eyes may be closed during an attack, but most often they remain open, rarely blink, the gaze is empty, self-absorbed, the face is absolutely expressionless;
• the skin is insensitive to touch and even minor injuries;
• If you still wake up a somnambulist while walking, which is actually very difficult, then the person experiences a short-term shock, but, having recovered, he cannot describe the incident and is generally a little concerned about it.

Is there a problem?

Somnambulists, or sleepwalkers, very rarely seek medical help, simply ignoring the problem and not even asking how to get rid of sleepwalking.

Most likely, this is due to the unique feature of sleepwalkers - not remembering what happened to them during a somnambulistic episode. They learn about their problem from family members, but they themselves are practically unaware of what is happening.

It is curious that the sleepwalker ends the episode of sleepwalking by falling asleep in his bed, and after a normal awakening he feels neither fear of a possible illness nor anxiety for his well-being.

The question arises - if sleepwalkers themselves do not suffer due to an unusual sleep disorder, then why is it necessary to fight it at all?

The dangers of sleepwalking in adults

Indeed, if a medical examination does not reveal encephalopathy, then sleep disturbance in children goes away on its own, without special treatment. Parents should take the main measures to maintain a calm environment.

If a child has problems with peers at school, it is better to arrange a transfer. Too intense training or numerous clubs and sections will have to be abandoned until the nervous system gets stronger.

It makes sense to review your diet and exclude cocoa, chocolate, strong tea, and spicy foods. The purpose of the diet is to reduce the load on taste buds and remove tonic substances. In this way, the child's problem will disappear and be forgotten.

It's a different matter for adults. Their unconscious walks and actions, unlike children’s, are not only more varied, but also potentially dangerous, and here’s why.

Sleepwalkers, in addition to getting out of bed and walking around the room, often try to carry out their daily activities - go to work, turn on some electrical appliances, sew, clean, sometimes read and write something.

But most importantly, unlike children with their little and safe experience of action, adults can be truly injured and even die. This danger can never be ruled out, so families should take the treatment of adult sleepwalking seriously.

How to protect a somnambulist:

• place an unwrung wet towel on the floor by the bed, sometimes the sleepwalker wakes up by standing on it, or simply goes back to sleep;
• set several alarm clocks that a person will have to turn off every 2 hours at night - this way you can control the slow-wave sleep phase by forcibly interrupting it;
• bars on the windows are a labor-intensive but correct solution to avoid falling out of the window (lunatics open locks, so window latches will not save you);
• unplug the microwave (if you turn it on empty, there will be an explosion) and the electric oven, remove lying wires from walkways, hide the car keys.

Having caught a somnambulist, he needs to be put back to bed, acting smoothly and carefully. You can speak to him quietly to make it easier to direct him to the bedroom. It is not advisable to wake up.

We calmly go to bed to sleep, relax, and gain strength. But there are people who go to the kingdom of Morpheus with fear, not knowing where they will wake up and whether they will wake up at all. To die while wandering in a dream, or to become a murderer yourself - such is the risk that awaits sleepwalkers or somnambulists - people who suffer from sleepwalking.

Night adventures

Somnambulism (or, as it was called before, sleepwalking) inspires artists: the image of a pretty half-naked girl walking on the roof in her sleep just begs to be painted on canvas. Those walking in their sleep were called sleepwalkers. It was believed that night walks depended on the phases of the moon. Then it turned out that somnambulism has nothing to do with the night luminary.

Waking up in an unexpected place, a person suffering from somnambulism sometimes cannot understand where he is and does not believe that he came there himself. No, he was, of course, moved to another place. Who? Some jokers or even little green men flying in on UFOs. But if you put a video camera in the room where the sleepwalker is sleeping, everything falls into place. The man gets up and walks around the house himself. If sleepwalking is prolonged, the sleepwalker can go outside, do some mischief, and wake up in the morning as if nothing had happened.

Sleepwalkers are often depicted with their arms outstretched and their eyes closed, although in fact they walk as usual, and only a frozen gaze and lack of reaction to what is happening around them indicate that something is wrong. In cases where the eyes of a sleep walker are closed, doctors have discovered an interesting phenomenon. The sleepwalker avoids collisions with furniture and walls not thanks to his sixth sense. He lifts his eyelids for a moment and, as it were, makes a map of the location of objects in his brain, and then walks in accordance with it. Having passed into another room, the person takes the next “snapshot”. If the room is dark, he can easily bump into something.

In a study of 54 people suffering from sleepwalking, scientists from Stanford University found that every second person was injured by crashing into walls or furniture at night. 20% performed strange actions: jumped out of windows, wandered the streets, climbed onto roofs. Sometimes sleepwalkers move things to another place and hide them. In the morning they waste time trying to find what they lost. If the sleepwalker does not live alone, his family and friends may get it: you, they say, are stealing my things, you want to survive me. Often a sleepwalker goes to the refrigerator at night and begins to eat foods in any combination. Here you can’t blame it on your relatives: the smeared mouth, hands and crumbs in the bed show that he ate everything himself. This occurs when the blood level of the hormone leptin, which suppresses hunger, is low.

Wandering Death

In January 2009, 51-year-old electrician Timothy Bruggeman from Hayward, Wisconsin (USA), left his home and did not return. It was -26 °C outside. The electrician's body was found near the house. He died of hypothermia. Timothy often walked in his sleep, even got behind the wheel in this state and once rammed the wall of the garage, but no one expected such an absurd death.

A sleepwalker, once behind the wheel, risks not only his own life, but also the lives of other people. Reflexes during sleep are inhibited, and getting into an accident is as easy as shelling pears.

In April 2010, Hungarian Sandor Petofi drove 50 kilometers in his sleep along the oncoming lane of a busy highway and managed not to get hurt!

61-year-old Texas resident Zsolt Naji woke up when police knocked on his car window. They had long been monitoring the actions of a man in pajamas sitting behind the wheel, but decided not to stop him: a sleepwalker, waking up, could make an unexpected maneuver and crash. Only when Zsolt stopped the car on the shore of the lake and fell into a deeper sleep did the officers take action.

On May 23, 1987, Kenneth Parks from Toronto, in a state of somnambulism, got into a car, drove to his relatives and beat his mother-in-law with a tire iron until she went to the next world. During the trial, Kenneth's lawyer stated that his client was innocent, since he had been suffering from sleepwalking since childhood and at the time of the murder did not realize what he was doing. There was no motive for the murder - Parks did not quarrel with his mother-in-law and could not receive any benefit from her death. Experts confirmed that he cannot control his actions during sleep.

Kenneth was acquitted because the judge and jury were familiar with similar cases. At least 30% of sleepwalkers who came to the attention of doctors managed to injure themselves, break something, or attack someone.

Love is like a dream

Canadian scientists have identified a type of somnambulism, when people have sex in their sleep and don’t remember anything in the morning. There was even a word to describe this phenomenon - sexsomnia.

It also happened before that sleepwalking ended in amorous adventures, but now the frequency of sexual intercourse during somnambulism has increased sharply. It’s good if a husband starts pestering his wife in the middle of the night or vice versa, but if a sleeping person harasses other relatives or strangers, the matter may end in court.

The most amazing case of sex addiction was described in 2004 in the scientific magazine New Scientist. A resident of Sydney (Australia) went out at night, had sex with passersby, and the next morning did not remember anything. Her name was not used for ethical reasons. The lady's husband began to suspect something was wrong and one night he caught her in an unambiguous position with a stranger on the lawn near her own house.

“I know this sounds incredible,” Peter Buchanan, a sleep specialist at the Woolcock Institute of Health Research at the University of Sydney, wrote in the article. “However, tests have proven that the patient really walks in her sleep and manages not to scare anyone away with her unnatural behavior!”

Peter managed to cure the woman using hypnosis, and sleepwalking stopped.

Another type of sleepwalking was first discovered in 2005. People suffering from it send emails or SMS in their dreams. The first to come to the attention of doctors was a 44-year-old Spanish woman who sent three letters to men at night with the following text: “Come tomorrow at four o’clock for a drink and dinner. Just bring wine and caviar.” The next morning she did not remember anything and was amazed to receive answers from the men. After checking her mail, the woman realized that she had indeed sent three letters, with grammatical errors (even though she usually wrote correctly), two hours after she went to bed!

Since then, the phenomenon called “zzz correspondence” has been noted more than once. People in dreams usually send letters and SMS of a sexual nature, risking ending up in an unpleasant situation.

The human body is sometimes capable of presenting real surprises to its owners. For example, a person feels absolutely healthy, no different from those around him, but this is during the day, and at night he suddenly gets up, begins to walk like a somnambulist, perform some actions, and all this without waking up.

And then it turns out that he suffers from a mysterious ailment - sleepwalking. The article will talk about who sleepwalkers are, what are the causes of sleepwalking, and whether there are methods of treating it.

Sleepwalking - what is it?

Somnambulism is the medical name for a painful psychological sleep disorder, which is popularly called sleepwalking. This term refers to the unconscious and purposeful movement of a person during sleep. When he wakes up, he has absolutely no memory of what he did. And he is very surprised when he hears from others about his nightly “walks.”

It used to be a common belief that sleepwalking was closely related to the full moon. But modern medicine refutes this opinion. According to statistics, approximately one adult in a thousand exhibits varying degrees of symptoms of somnambulism. And in children and adolescents, this disorder is even more common.

Causes of sleepwalking in adults

Doctors have been studying this problem for a long time, but have not yet come to clear conclusions about what exactly causes some people to walk in an unconscious state. The following hypotheses are put forward:

1. Disturbed phase of slow-wave sleep. True, it is not clear what leads to these violations.
2. Immaturity of the nervous system. This partly explains sleepwalking in children.
3. Sleep deprivation (the body's lack of need for it). This assumption is considered to be the closest to the truth. With this type of disorder, the sleep phases seem to be layered on top of each other and thus may seem to be absent. In fact, sleep phases cannot disappear, one phase simply exists against the background of another (slow phase on the REM phase and vice versa). As a result, the lines between sleep and awakening are blurred. That is, all the time a person walks in his sleep, he continues to wake up, but cannot do this.
4. Emotional fatigue, too much nervous excitement, psychological disorders. These factors can cause sleep deprivation with all the ensuing consequences.
5. Various mental disorders. It is known, for example, that the development of paranoid schizophrenia is often preceded by a severe sleep disorder. Such a person cannot fall asleep for days, from time to time falling from fatigue into a kind of semi-comatose state.

Symptoms of somnambulism

Who are sleepwalkers? What are the signs by which a person can be classified into this category? This parasomnia (sleep disorder) is manifested by the following symptoms:

• periodically walking in a dream with open or closed eyes, performing simple actions familiar to a person;
• movements during sleep walking are inhibited, robot-like;
• noticeably constricted pupils;
• a frozen gaze, as if immersed within itself.

A sleepwalker may not show much physical activity. He sometimes just gets out of bed or sits without moving in space. An individual can remain in this state for several minutes, or even an entire hour. Sometimes, in a state of somnambulistic activity, a sleepwalker is even able to conduct a simple verbal dialogue. The attack of activity ends with the person returning to his bed and sleeping normally, peacefully until the morning awakening.

Manifestations of sleepwalking usually occur in the first third of the night, but sometimes (very rarely) cases of sleepwalking activity are still observed during daytime sleep. A sleepwalker must not be awakened during his “travels.” Suddenly waking up, a person can be very frightened. It is recommended to simply take him to bed and sit next to him until he falls asleep normally. However, it is very difficult to awaken a person in a state of somnambulistic activity. He may not even feel strong pinches or hear loud sounds.

Is sleepwalking dangerous?

Somnambulism itself is not a dangerous disease and does not negatively affect the body. Who are sleepwalkers? Mentally ill people? Not at all! Often, their physical and mental health can be the envy of those who sleep at night with great sound sleep. And yet, sleepwalking poses some danger both for the person suffering from such a sleep disorder and for those around him.

Without being aware of his actions, a sleepwalker can cause serious injury to himself. There are known cases when such people fell out of a window or fell from a roof. A number of scientific works describe facts when sleepwalkers even committed murders; fortunately, this happened extremely rarely.

Security measures

If there is a person in the family who suffers from sleepwalking, you need to take safety measures for him. To do this, the following is recommended:

• close all windows tightly at night;
• turn off electrical appliances;
• remove all dangerous sharp objects;
• make sure that the sleepwalker is not disturbed by any light source (night light or moonlight), this can provoke an attack of somnambulism.

Sleepwalking in children

Causes and treatment of sleepwalking - these topics are very important for parents. As mentioned above, children more often “sick” with sleepwalking. Therefore, parents are very worried when they notice that their child is walking in his sleep. But this usually goes away with age. Most often, somnambulism is observed in children aged 4 to 10 years.

Doctors attribute this to heavy loads, which negatively affect the fragile nervous system. Teenagers are also prone to sleepwalking, because puberty is replete with strong emotional outbursts. As a rule, by the age of 20, when both the reproductive and nervous systems are fully formed, the emotional background returns to normal, and “night adventures” remain a thing of the past.

What to do if your child sleepwalks

First you need to analyze what can provoke this condition. If the child is overly emotional, and there is a turbulent nervous environment in the family, then this in itself can be a trigger for a sleep disorder. Drug treatment is unlikely to help here.

Another provoking factor is outdoor games before bedtime. If a child runs around on the street until late and then immediately goes to bed, his nervous system simply does not have time to turn on the brakes. Computer games and late viewing of movies or TV programs also contribute to sleep disorders.

Having made conclusions, you need to take action. It is necessary to improve the emotional climate in the family, replace evening active games with quiet book reading, etc. And, of course, you need to discuss the problem with a pediatrician and child psychologist.

How to treat

Treatment of sleep disorders in adults suffering from somnambulism can be lengthy and does not always lead to success. This problem is poorly solved with the help of sedatives and antidepressants. Scientists believe that the best treatment is to level out the general. A general dry recommendation: you need to avoid stress. Moreover, not only negative emotions, but also overflowing joy can lead the nervous system into excessive excitement.

In adults, treatment of sleep disorders should consist of a whole range of measures:

• exclusion of alcohol;
• refusal of noisy parties with dancing until you drop;
• taking a relaxing bath before bed, etc.

Final word

Now we know who sleepwalkers are. As you can see, it is quite possible to live with sleepwalking and feel good. You just need to follow a number of certain rules.