Sleepwalking
What is sleepwalking?
Sleepwalking is a disorder characterized by walking or other activity while
seemingly still asleep.
What are the causes, incidence, and risk factors of sleepwalking?
The normal sleep cycle involves distinct stages from light drowsiness to deep
sleep. Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is a different type of sleep, in which the
eyes move rapidly and vivid dreaming is most common.
During a night, there will be several cycles of non-REM and REM sleep. Sleep
walking (somnambulism) most often occurs during deep non-REM sleep (stage 3 or
stage 4 sleep) early in the night. It can occur during REM sleep near morning.
In children, the cause is usually unknown but may be related to fatigue,
prior sleep loss, or anxiety. In adults, sleepwalking is usually associated
with a disorder of the mind but may also be seen with reactions to drugs and
alcohol, and medical conditions such as partial complex seizures. In the
elderly, sleepwalking may be a symptom of an organic brain syndrome or REM
behavior disorders.
The sleepwalking activity may include simply sitting up and appearing awake
while actually asleep, getting up and walking around, or complex activities such
as moving furniture, going to the bathroom, dressing and undressing, and similar
activities. Some people even drive a car while actually asleep. The episode can
be very brief (a few seconds or minutes) or can last for 30 minutes or longer.
One common misconception is that a sleep walker should not be awakened. It is
not dangerous to awaken a sleep walker, although it is common for the person to
be confused or disoriented for a short time on awakening. Another misconception
is that a person cannot be injured when sleep walking. Actually, injuries caused
by such things as tripping and loss of balance are common for sleep walkers.
Sleep walking occurs at any age, but it occurs most often in children aged 6
to 12. It may occur in younger children, in adults, or in the elderly, and it
appears to run in families.
Next: What are symptoms of sleepwalking? »
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