Why do people sleepwalk?

Question

I just experienced a strange event that happened last night at about 3:00 A.M. I was dreaming that insects were in my bed. Since I hate bugs this frightened me, so I ended up running downstairs. I woke up on my couch downstairs just to realize that I just sleepwalked.

This has happened me many times before, especially when I was younger. I have a dream and then I end up walking out of my bed and I wake up in a different place. So my question is...

Is sleepwalking normal for human beings and why do people sleepwalk?

Answer 1

Sleepwalking (also called somnambulism or noctambulism[1]), under the larger category of parasomnias or sleep disorders where the sufferer engages in activities that are normally associated with wakefulness while he or she is asleep or in a sleeplike state. Sleepwalking is usually defined by, or involves the person affected apparently shifting from his or her prior sleeping position and moving around and performing normal actions as if awake (cleaning, walking and other activities). Sleepwalkers are not conscious of their actions on a level where memory of the sleepwalking episode can be recalled, and because of this, unless the sleepwalker is woken or aroused by someone else, this sleep disorder can go unnoticed. Sleepwalking is more commonly experienced in people with high levels of stress, anxiety or psychological factors and in people with genetic factors (family history) or sometimes a combination of both.

A common misconception is that sleepwalking is an individual acting out the physical movements within a dream, but in fact sleepwalking occurs earlier on in the night when rapid eye movement (REM), or the "dream stage" of sleep, has not yet occurred.

A majority of people move their legs while sleeping; however, sleepwalking occurs when both legs move in synchronization, which is much less common.

Sleepwalking can affect people of any age. It generally occurs when an individual moves during slow wave sleep (during stage 4 of slow wave sleep - deep sleep)[citation needed] In children and young adults, up to 80% of the night is spent in SWS (50% in infants).[citation needed] However this decreases as the person ages until none can be measured in the geriatric individual.[citation needed] For this reason, children and young adults (or anyone else with a high amount of SWS), are more likely to be woken up and, for the same reasons, they are witnessed to have many more episodes than the older individuals.[citation needed]

[edit] Cause

This causes REM atonia, a state in which the motor neurons are not stimulated and thus the body's muscles don't move. Lack of such REM atonia causes REM Behavior Disorder.

[edit] Statistics

18% of the world's population is prone to sleepwalking.[2][3]

Somewhere between 1% and 16.7% of U.S. children sleepwalk, and juveniles are seen to be those more prone to the activity.[citation needed]

One study showed that the highest prevalence of sleepwalking was 16.7% for children of 11 to 12 years of age.[citation needed]

Males are seen to be more likely to sleepwalk than females.[2]

Activities such as eating, bathing, urinating, dressing, or even driving cars,[4] whistling,[4] and committing murder[5][6][7] have been reported or claimed to have occurred during sleepwalking. Contrary to popular belief, most cases of sleepwalking do not consist of walking around (without the conscious knowledge of the subject). Most cases of somnambulism occur when the person is awakened (something or someone disturbs their SWS), the person may sit up, look around and immediately go back to sleep. But these kinds of incidences are rarely noticed or reported unless recorded in a sleep clinic.[citation needed]

Sleepwalkers engage in their activities with their eyes open so they can navigate their surroundings, not with their eyes closed and their arms outstretched, as often parodied in cartoons and films.[citation needed] The victims' eyes may have a glazed or empty appearance and if questioned, the subject will be slow to answer and will be unable to respond in an intelligible manner.[dubious – discuss]

[edit] Hazards

Sleepwalkers are more likely to endanger themselves than anyone else[citation needed]. When sleepwalkers are a danger to themselves or others (for example, when climbing up or down steps or trying to use a potentially dangerous tool such as a stove or a knife), steering them away from the danger and back to bed is advisable. It has even been reported that people have died or were injured as a result of sleepwalking.[8].[9] Sleepwalking should not be confused with psychosis.

Sleepwalking has in rare cases been used as a defense (sometimes successfully) against charges of murder.

Main article: Sleepwalking murder

[edit] Dealing with sleepwalkers

Often the best way to deal with a sleepwalker safely is to direct the person back to the bed. However, the person may continue getting up until he or she has accomplished the task that prompted the sleepwalking in the first place. For instance, if a sleepwalker is cleaning - a common sleepwalking activity - assisting in the cleaning may help to end the episode. Telling the person "It looks like you have cleaned it all up" can help him or her to feel as though the "necessary" task has been accomplished. As sleepwalkers do not tend to remember anything said or done while sleepwalking, there is no need to worry about embarrassment to you or the individual afterward.

Somnambulists are highly suggestible. Anything they hear or see may trigger another behavior. Often something said by a person or even on a television will cause the sleepwalker to engage in the activity mentioned, provided it is one to which he or she is accustomed to hearing about or doing. If the sleepwalker is also talking, it may be helpful to ask what he or she is trying to accomplish. Ask very simple questions that can be answered in short, simple replies. If asked a question that requires a long answer or explanation, the sleepwalker is unlikely to respond coherently. Talking during sleepwalking varies from person to person and may not always be useful in dealing with a sleepwalker. Because sleepwalkers are unaware of their present surroundings, they may divulge information that they would otherwise keep secret. They may also exhibit behaviors which would be considered embarrassing, such as urinating in inappropriate places, trying to eat invisible foods, cleaning invisible counters, or even trying to bathe or engage in sexual intercourse.

[edit] In art and culture

The 19th Century German chemist and metaphysician Baron Karl Ludwig von Reichenbach made extensive studies of sleepwalkers, and used his discoveries to formulate his theory of the Odic force.

Sleepwalking has been found as a theme in many dramatic works. It is a major plot element in the classic silent German Expressionist film Das Kabinett des Dr. Kaligari (English title: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) 1920. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Lady Macbeth sleepwalks because of her overwhelming guilt and insanity. Italian composer Vincenzo Bellini's opera La Sonnambula is named after its heroine, a sleepwalker. In Dario Argento's Phenomena (1985), the protagonist, Jennifer Corvino (Jennifer Connelly), witnesses a murder while sleepwalking. In the film adaptation of Silent Hill, the protagonist's daughter suffers from sleepwalking. In the House episode Role Model, a woman has s*x with her ex-husband while sleepwalking and gets pregnant.

[edit] Legal defense

In 1846, Albert Tirrell was found not guilty of murder and arson, arguing that if he did do it, he was sleepwalking at the time, the first successful acquittal using a sleepwalking defense in American legal history.[10]

Kenneth Parks, a 49-year-old, drove his car 15 miles to his in-laws house in May 1987. There, he attacked his father-in-law leaving him unconscious and stabbed his mother-in-law, killing her. He then went to the police station saying, “I think I have killed some people”. He was bloody and his hand was heavily beat up. Parks was unable to recount anything about the murder, and he had no motives for committing them. He was unemployed, and stressed. He went to sleep that night thinking about how he was going to visit his in-laws the next day with his wife to tell them about his financial and gambling problems. After a year, he was found not guilty of murder or attempted murder. There was an appeal, but his acquittal was upheld. He was not even sentenced to time in a mental ward since “noninsane automatism”, (ie. Sleepwalking) is not legally viewed as a mental disorder. [11]

[edit] See also

Dream

Night terror

Nightmare

Sleep paralysis

Somniloquy (sleep-talking)

Sleepeating

Answer 2

Just hide the car keys before you go to bed!!

Answer 3

its a way of telling people you think about wied things when you are home alone

Answer 4

My sister was one.  I had to direct her to the bathroom or to the kitchen.  It's a normal, cause, whatever you represe at the waking hour, you live when you sleep.  It's said not to wake up anyone, but just gently direct them.  They could have a hearattack, cause they are in a sense dreaming or having a nightmare.  Their sprite won't have enough time to get back to the human level , therefore causeing fright.  IT IS THE OPINION OF PEOPLE, THAT I TALKED TO.

Answer 5

This happens to me all the time.

It's actually normal for me now!

I think it's starting to go away now though.

But, when I was younger it would happen to me all the time.

I think it started when I was six.

I don't know what my sister was doing in my room but I think she was doing something with the lights on she said I was sleeping and that I crawled out of my bed and I crawled to my door and started banging on it! I'm a deep sleeper so I that's why the lights didn't wake me up when she had them on.

I have no idea why people sleepwalk. But, I think they don't know they are sleepwalking because their deep sleepers, like me.

I think it is normal.

I know not a lot of people sleepwalk but I think it's normal.

Unless, your dangerous when you sleep walk!

I heard this man's sleepwalking was so bad he somehow got out of his house found his car keys and crashed into a tree!

Answer 6

It's more common more adolescent boys to sleep walk (although I have done it several times in my life time)  and it usually stops altogether  after  adolescence .

It's causes are associated with a number of   psychological

disturbances .

This can answer more of your questions better than I can

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=why-...

Answer 7

Well, I think you should definitely see a doctor or go to a sleep clinic.   They can probably give you a helpful medication. You could hurt yourself or someone else while you are sleepwalking.