Sleepwalking

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For other uses, see Sleepwalker.

**Sleepwalking**
*Classification & external resources*
ICD-10	F51.3
ICD-9	307.4

Sleepwalking (also called noctambulism or somnambulism), under the larger category of parasomnias, is a sleep disorder where the sufferer engages in activities that are normally associated with wakefulness while asleep or in a sleeplike state.

1 Explanation
2 Hazards
3 Dealing with Sleepwalkers
4 Trivia
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Explanation

Sleepwalking can affect people of any age. It generally occurs when an individual awakes suddenly from Slow Wave Sleep (SWS or sometimes referred to as "deep sleep"), causing the sleepwalking episode.^{[citation needed]} In children and young adults, up to 25% of the night is spent in SWS.^{[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]}

Statistics

18% of the world's population is prone to sleepwalking.^[1]
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.^{[citation needed]}

Activities such as eating, bathing, dressing, or even driving cars, whistling, having sex ([1]) and murder ([2], [3], [4]) have also been recorded as taking place while the subjects are technically asleep^{[citation needed]}. 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 parodied in cartoons and Hollywood productions. 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.

[edit] Hazards

Sleepwalkers are more likely to endanger themselves than anyone else. 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 fallen out of windows, and died, or were injured as a result^{[citation needed]}. However, sleepwalkers will only engage in behaviors they normally perform when awake. Sleepwalking should not be confused with psychosis. There have been some recordings of extremely dangerous sleepwalking, this may include the subject thrashing about in their sleep and jumping out the window. This may be a result of a particularly strange dream or just through some strange neurological activity. Scientists are currently researching the cause of this problem.

[edit] Dealing with Sleepwalkers

Often the best way to deal with a sleepwalker safely is to direct them back to their bed before they injure themselves. However, the person will often keep getting up until they have accomplished the task that has caused them to sleepwalk in the first place. For instance, if a sleepwalker is demonstrating the common behavior of cleaning while sleepwalking, help them, or pretend to help them clean. Often saying things like, "Now we're cleaning. We're almost done. O.K., it looks like you got it all cleaned up now", will help the sleepwalker feel like they have accomplished their task and they can then be led back to bed and will most likely stay there for the rest of the night. As sleepwalkers do not tend to remember anything said or done by them or other individuals while sleepwalking, there is no need to worry about embarrassment to you or the individual by doing and saying such things. The same pattern can be used for dealing with, driving, eating, bathing, or any of the other common sleepwalking behaviors listed above.

Sleepwalkers are highly susceptible to suggestion. 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 they are accustomed to hearing about or doing. If the sleepwalker is also talking in their sleep, it may be helpful to try to get them to tell you what they are trying to accomplish. Ask them very simple questions that can be answered in short, simple replies. If you ask them a question that requires a long answer or explanation, they will probably not respond or will respond in a way that does not make any sense. Talking during sleepwalking varies from person to person and may or may not be useful in dealing with a sleepwalker. Because sleepwalkers are unaware of their present surroundings, they are often likely to divulge information that they would not otherwise divulge. They may also exhibit behaviors which would be very embarrassing such as trying to eat invisible foods, cleaning invisible counters, or even trying to bathe or have sex. Be sensitive to the sleepwalker's feelings and do not mention such things the following day. If you feel you should mention their sleepwalking to them for safety reasons, try to do so without mentioning the embarrassing behaviors they may have engaged in.

[edit] Trivia

Sleepwalking is a major theme in the classic silent German Expressionist film Das Kabinett des Dr. Kaligari (English title: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) 1919.
In Shakespeare's famous play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is mentioned to be a sleepwalker, leading up to her eventual madness and suicide.
In Dario Argento's Phenomena (1985), the protagonist, Jennifer Corvino (Jennifer Connelly) is a sleepwalker, and witnesses one of the film's murders in her sleepwalking state.
In the film adaption of Silent Hill (film), the protagonist's daughter suffers from sleepwalking, and is apparently medicated to prevent the condition.
Sleepwalking is the name of an album by Gerry Rafferty. ddd