5 main reasons why sleepwalkers should not be woken up

Author Yana Filimonova

03/19/2013 15:00 (Updated: 06/14/2021 00:34)

Health » Health and prevention » Psychotherapy

Sleepwalking (scientifically, somnambulism) is a disease so mysterious that it has acquired a mass of myths and legends.

Professor Antonio Zadra and his fellow scientists from the University of Montreal in Canada debunk some popular myths about sleepwalking. For example, the idea that somnambulism occurs only in children and adolescents is incorrect. It is also wrong to think that sleepwalkers often cause harm to themselves and others (although sometimes this cannot be avoided). What is the “true face” of sleepwalking?

A quarter of somnambulists suffer from sleepwalking after adulthood

"He'll outgrow it." With these words, doctors usually reassure the parents of a child who has been diagnosed with somnambulism. These ideas are based on the knowledge that with age, the proportion of deep slow-wave sleep decreases, during which sleepwalking attacks occur. However, the belief that somnambulism certainly goes away during puberty is nothing more than a myth.

The statistics are encouraging, but do not guarantee a 100% cure for sleepwalking with age: a quarter of somnambulists still suffer from sleepwalking even after adulthood.

Main features of somnambulism

The term “somnambulism” comes from Latin and is the result of combining the words “somnus” - sleep, and “ambulare” - to walk. This disorder is very common in children, but can also appear in adults , which involves performing acts of mobility during sleep : from simple movements to getting out of bed and walking.

Technically, this type of disorder falls under the group of parasomnias, that is, phenomena that occur during nighttime sleep without affecting sleep-related processes.

Like other parasomnias, sleepwalking is a consequence of activation of the nervous system, which leads to changes in the activity of the musculoskeletal system. As a rule, episodes of sleepwalking are observed in the stage of slow waves of REM sleep , that is, in the first third of the night. The duration can range from several minutes to half an hour, but, as a rule, does not exceed 15 minutes.

Other features of an attack of sleepwalking are open eyes , difficulty waking up the sleepwalker and a state of confusion in the morning hours when a person cannot remember anything that happened.

It is necessary to pay close attention to the so-called “conscious sleepwalking”, because this may be a manifestation of disorders of another kind, and, in particular, epileptic manifestations must be excluded.

Sleepwalking should not be confused with another similar phenomenon - somniloquy, that is, speaking out loud in a dream. This is a very common phenomenon, often present together with other parasomnias, but can also be an isolated symptom.

Prevalence of sleepwalking

Depending on studies and population size, the incidence of sleepwalking is thought to range between 1% and 15% , and the disease does not appear to have a gender preference.

However, somnambulism is, first of all, a disease of children . It is believed that every child had at least one episode of sleepwalking, even accidental (in 6% cases of night walking are periodically repeated).

Such a phenomenon as sleepwalking can occur at any age, but, as a rule, is noted between 4 and 8 years of age , when the first episode occurs.

What do sleepwalkers do in their sleep?

Typically, sleepwalking activities performed by sleepwalkers include: sitting on the bed, getting up, opening the door, but more complex activities can occur, such as washing hands, walking to a parent's bed or siblings' room, dressing and undressing, turning off and turning on lights. , and even cooking.

The scientific literature has described cases of aggressive behavior when sleepwalkers committed crimes.

This is in any case, “aggressive sleepwalking” is very rare, the sleepwalker himself bears a much greater risk, performing actions that threaten his safety , for example, going out onto the balcony, leaving the house, acting with sharp objects and, finally, fear and inadequate reaction if someone will try to wake him up.

Sleepwalkers can remember what happened to them

“I don’t remember anything.” The myth says that somnambulists cannot remember anything from their nocturnal adventures. However, this is not always the case.

Somnambulism in both children and adults has the same symptoms:

• part of the brain is asleep,
• some are awake.

The waking part is responsible for appropriate behavior:

• a person opens and closes doors,
• washes hands,
• goes up or down stairs,
• his eyes may be open,
• he can even recognize people.

At the same time, consciousness is changed, and reactions to the environment are unusual and illogical. However, since part of the brain is still awake, the somnambulist sometimes remembers what happened. Some can even record what they thought or felt at that moment, although such an improvement in memory in somnambulists occurs again with age.

How does sleepwalking manifest?

The range of manifestations of somnambulism is quite wide. Sometimes a person simply gets out of bed for a short time, after which he goes back to bed and continues to sleep. But it also happens that he gets up, gets dressed and tries to leave the apartment. If he succeeds, he can go quite far from home. Usually somnambulists return safely, but quite often such a “walk” can end in injury or mutilation.

The most common manifestations of sleepwalking are:

1. The person gets up, sometimes turns around and puts his feet on the floor, after which he sits on the bed for some time as if he had woken up and was about to get up. But then he just lies down and sleeps on.
2. The sleepwalker gets up and leaves the room. Sometimes he can leave the house, get into the car and even start it. In this case, he can pre-dress or go out in pajamas.
3. The person talks, but usually says incoherent and completely absurd things. His eyes are open, but his gaze is “absent.” If you ask him a question, he responds with some kind of nonsense or does not answer at all.
4. If the episode of sleepwalking does not end with injury, the person returns to bed or falls asleep in a new place. When he wakes up in the morning, he cannot remember what happened. At the same time, he feels overwhelmed and poorly rested, even if his sleep time should have been enough for him to get a full night's sleep.

Episodes of somnambulism can occur at different intervals. For some people - about once a month, for others - 3-5 times a month. More frequent manifestations are rare, although medicine knows cases of daily episodes of sleepwalking.

Sleepwalkers have a special logic

A sleepwalker automatically repeats actions that are familiar to him from his waking state. This is wrong. The study's authors, Professor Antonio Zadra and his fellow scientists from the University of Montreal in Canada, believe that

• The essence of somnambulism is partial sleep, when the brain does not fall asleep completely. Therefore, there is still a logic in the actions of sleepwalkers, but a special, “dreaming” logic.

A 28-year-old man says: “Now I do not suffer from somnambulism, but in childhood and adolescence my relatives saw me walking in my sleep several times. One night, my mother discovered that I was pouring water from a vase of flowers on the floor onto the floor. She didn’t immediately realize that I was sleeping. When asked what I was doing, I did not respond. But when she told me to get a rag and wipe up the water, I leaned over and began to “mop” the floor with my empty hand. In fact, I dreamed that I was watering indoor flowers, and then that I was wiping the floor.”

Sleepwalkers Don't Crash into Walls Because of a GPS-Like System in the Brain

Researchers from New York University have found that the brain's navigation cells remain as active during sleep as they are during wakefulness.

This reinforces the theory of the brain's GPS system, discovered last year, which consists of distinctive clusters of cells that provide a person with a sense of direction. The study authors focused on the head direction system in mice, which serves as a kind of compass for them, reports medikforum.ru. Brain cells in this system are activated more actively when the rodent's head is turned in a certain direction.

The researchers found that these neurons remain active during sleep. They studied brain activity in mice during REM sleep, the phase during which we dream. Scientists have discovered that during deep sleep, mice's specific head compass moves at the same speed as it does during wakefulness.

During periods of slow-wave sleep, during which brain activity was significantly reduced, neuronal activity increased 10-fold, so the mice “looked around themselves” even more carefully than in the waking state. The discovery of American scientists can serve as the basis for the development of new methods for treating navigation problems, which are one of the first significant symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and other neurological disorders.

Somnambulism is a painful condition in which people perform certain actions while in a state of sleep, informs ru.wikipedia.org. In this case, human behavior appears purposeful and adequate. But in fact, he performs actions unpurposefully or in accordance with what he is dreaming at the moment.

Sleepwalking usually occurs during incomplete awakening from a deep phase of slow-wave sleep, while the brain is in a state of half-sleep, half-awake. The eyes of a somnambulist are usually open. He can perform various movements, avoid obstacles, sometimes perform complex actions, and give answers to simple questions. However, the actions are not conscious and for most people they are not remembered upon awakening. Waking most sleepwalkers is very difficult - it is best to carefully guide him back to bed.

The term “sleepwalking” is associated with the ideas of many ancient peoples about the influence of lunar cycles on the human psyche. Due to uncontrolled actions in sleep, people can cause physical harm to themselves of varying degrees of severity. It happens that somnambulists fall out of windows, mistaking them for doors.

A rare aggressive form of sleepwalking can take an unpredictable turn. A sleepwalker can be violent towards people who are trying to help him or who simply get in his way. Sleepwalkers usually sleepwalk for a short time, no more than an hour. Then they return to bed. Not everyone actually goes. Some, for example, sit or just stand.

Are sleepwalkers dangerous to others and themselves?

The actions of a sleepwalker can be dangerous for himself and for others . Usually, episodes of somnambulism are so short that the sleepwalker does not have time to do something truly threatening, as the exciting plots of books and films tell:

• open the window and go out onto the ledge,
• take a weapon
• cut yourself with a knife...

However, the idea of ​​sleepwalking as a dangerous disorder is still not far from the truth: if in the example described above the young man had dropped and broken a vase, in his sleep he could well have walked over its fragments and cut himself.

Rules for living with a sleepwalker

Do you live under the same roof with people who suffer from sleep activity? You will have to awaken in yourself such qualities as attention, sensitivity, forethought and understanding. After all, the life of your loved one and such a strange person depends on your actions.

How to protect a somnambulist from injury

Learn to calculate steps, analyze events and understand what details become dangerous for people in a state of sleepwalking. Tune in that you will have special preparation for bed every day:

1. In the evening, clear the apartment of everything that interferes with movement. Remove chairs, electrical wires, and carpets from the room of a person suffering from somnambulism. After all, when he walks in his sleep, he can trip over obstacles, fall and get hurt.
2. Hide sharp and breakable objects securely.
3. Get window bars! It's not as aesthetically pleasing, but safety comes first.
4. Close the front door and put the keys away (in a place that the person prone to sleepwalking does not know about).
5. Turn off household appliances (if you turn on an empty microwave for a long time, it will explode).

It is forbidden!

For safety reasons, tie the patient to the bed. This will bring nothing but extreme stress and serious psychological trauma. The best solution is to seek advice and help from qualified specialists working in the field of psychology.

If a child suffers from sleepwalking, provide him with a quiet evening, engage him in quiet games, and read books. When falling asleep, complete silence is important for such children. Warm tea made from lemon balm, valerian and lavender helps you relax before bed - it stabilizes sleep rhythms. Place a cloth bag of hops under your pillow - this herb has a calming effect.

Dangerous Lunatic - Kenneth Parks

One of the most impressive examples of dangerous sleepwalkers was the Canadian Kenneth Parks.

In May 1987, this 23-year-old man walked out of his home in a Toronto suburb in a dream, started his car, and drove more than 20 kilometers to his father-in-law's house. Getting out of the car, he took a tire iron from the trunk and opened the door with the key he had. Once inside, he strangled his father-in-law, Dennis Woods, and beat his mother-in-law, Barbara Ann Woods, before stabbing the woman to death with her own kitchen knife. Parks then returned to the car, drove to the nearest police station and stated: “I think I killed someone.” The surprising thing is that Kenneth Parks was asleep all this time.

It is clear that at first investigators were deeply skeptical of Parks's assertions that he committed the double murder in his sleep (with his eyes open and being able to drive) and did not remember anything. However, further investigation, as well as a psychiatric examination, an interview with Parks' relatives and examinations of the criminal himself confirmed that he was indeed one of the most dangerous lunatics of his time.

Medical studies showed that Parks was characterized by unusually deep sleep. Analysis of his brain waves showed that he experienced sleep stages more frequently than most people. He also suffered no physical pain during the attack - this despite tearing several tendons that later required surgery. Parks only came to his senses at the police station.

His relatives said that as a child he often spoke in his sleep, sometimes walked, and until the age of 11-12 he constantly woke up in a wet bed. (An earlier 1974 study of 50 sleep-aggressive adult sleepwalkers found that many of them wet the bed as children and walked around without waking.) One night, one of Parks' brothers grabbed his leg at the last moment as he was about to exit through the window. Similar symptoms occurred in his relatives in three generations.

True, some other details from Parks’ life did not put him in the best light. Almost a year before the attack, he became addicted to gambling. This took a toll on his marriage, and he ended up stealing $30,000 from his job to pay off his debts. Two months before the attack, the misconduct came to light and Parks was fired. A few weeks of abstinence were enough for him, after which he began to gamble again, and once even forged his wife’s signature to get money. The wife and her parents quarreled with Parks. Three days before the attack in a dream, he decided to improve: he visited the Anonymous Players Club for the first time and decided to reconcile with his wife’s parents, with whom he was, apparently, quite close. Parks was so nervous about the upcoming meeting that he even lost sleep because he was preparing for the upcoming conversation.

Despite the seemingly far-fetched nature of his alibi, Parks was acquitted. Some features of his condition: neuroticism and insomnia are typical for sleepwalkers, we will talk about this below.

What is sleepwalking

The word “sleepwalking” (or scientifically “somnambulism”) comes from the Latin language. It is translated as “walking in a dream.” According to doctors, sleepwalking is a disorder of sleep processes. The disorder is associated with partial awakening of a person, and the reason for this is neurophysiological processes.

Somnambulism is a common phenomenon. According to medical statistics, 2-3% of the world's population speak and move in their sleep. And of the total number of people traveling at night, 8 out of 10 people are children.

How we sleep.

In a healthy person, after falling asleep, the phase of “slow” sleep begins, which lasts 1.5-2 hours. During this period, muscle tone is maintained in the human body, there are no dreams, and the sleeper periodically changes position. Then the time for REM sleep begins. In this phase, the muscles of the body relax, and dreams come to the sleeper. Over the entire period of sleep, the phases replace each other and repeat.

How does the disease appear?

If the nervous system during sleep is not able to control the brain areas that regulate human movement, sleepwalking occurs. Academician Pavlov, studying this problem, found out that in the process of healthy sleep in a person, nervous inhibition covers the cortex and subcortex of the cerebral hemispheres. And sleepwalking people leave the subcortex of their hemispheres “orphaned” when they sleepwalk.

Scientists were able to determine the moment of the onset of somnambulism, using a device that records brain bioelectrical activity (electroencephalograph). It turned out that sleepwalking begins at the stage of deep slow-wave sleep.

The brain of a person prone to sleepwalking is partially active, the sleeper moves in space, performs actions, actions, and is even capable of a simple discussion. The sleepwalker's eyes open. A sleeping person hears, touches, sees, maintains balance. But the feeling of fear in people when they sleepwalk is stopped, it is weakened. Therefore, somnambulists perform dangerous tricks that they would never risk doing in a normal state. After waking up, a person does not remember night walks.

Why "sleepwalking"?

This term appeared due to the strong human belief that walking and talking in a dream is influenced by the activity of the phases of the Moon. Who are sleepwalkers according to popular belief? Mentally ill people who liked to wander at night, especially during the full moon. This statement is erroneous, although the Moon can influence the human psyche.

Causes of sleepwalking

Unknowing people are sure that sleepwalking is a rare mental illness. This is wrong. Somnambulism is a type of nervous disorder. This problem affects sensitive, impressionable people with individual brain characteristics. In adults, the causes of sleepwalking lie in:

• Chronic fatigue.
• Long stressful situations.
• Insomnia, disordered sleep.
• Prolonged experiences.
• Congenital suspiciousness, anxiety.
• Increased personal emotionality.

Recent studies have proven that the cause of somnambulism is also hidden in genetics (if parents suffer from sleepwalking, the likelihood of a child developing a nighttime disorder reaches 60-65%). Epilepsy also becomes the culprit of sleepwalking. In this case, attacks of “sleepy activity” begin in the morning, they are of the same type and require appropriate treatment. In 2 cases out of 10, manifestations of somnambulism depend on physical and mental pathologies. These include:

• Abuse of alcohol and energy drinks.
• Holding your breath during sleep (apnea).
• Convulsive states.
• Complicated migraines.
• Head damage.
• Neuroinfections.
• Neuroses.

Childhood somnambulism begins as a result of immaturity of the nervous system; sleepwalking disappears with age. Attacks are provoked by emotional experiences, childhood phobias, impressionability, stress, and unpleasant situations.

In adolescents, somnambulism is provoked by age-related sensitivity (a period of crisis when the body is subjected to the greatest stress due to rapid development). Children's sleepwalking is often accompanied by enuresis (urinary incontinence) and nightmares. According to observations, boys are more susceptible to sleepwalking.

Features of the behavior of a sleepwalker

How do sleepwalkers behave?

When a sleeping person is overtaken by an attack of somnambulism and he begins to travel at night, his behavior changes. The movements are automated, sometimes smooth and soft, like a cat's. Looking into the eyes of a sleepwalker, you can notice that his pupils are constricted, and his gaze is frozen and cloudy, unseeing. A sleepwalker does not always make active, long movements at night - in 4 out of 10 cases he simply sits up in bed, sits and talks. The state of somnambulism lasts from 5-10 minutes to 1-1.5 hours.

Most often, attacks begin at the beginning of the night (the first third of the night), less often during daytime sleep. If a sleepwalker tends to walk in his sleep, accidents happen to him. A person confuses a window with a door and hurts himself, manipulates dangerous things, causing injuries to himself, drives a car in a dream, gets into an accident, and often resorts to violence.

There is a well-known case in America in the 80s when a man suffering from somnambulism got into a car in a dream, came to the house where his wife’s parents lived and killed them. The court found the criminal not guilty, since, while suffering from an attack, the sleepwalker did not remember and was not aware of his actions.

Somnambulists inflict unconscious damage to themselves in 25-30% of cases. There are known incidents when people climbed onto the roofs of houses, went swimming in nearby lakes, and went into shops. “Home” sleepwalkers wandered around the apartment, turning on household appliances and opening the refrigerator. In the morning, the sleepers calmly returned to bed and fell soundly asleep.

Clinical symptoms.

The nature of sleepwalking is varied. In medicine, somnambulism is characterized by the term “parasomnia.” Doctors record the following symptoms as clinical signs that indicate a person’s tendency to sleepwalk:

• Restless sleep with twitching of limbs.
• Frequent swallowing, smacking.
• Screaming and talking in your sleep.

In some patients, attacks are repeated every night, in others they are very rare and begin in moments of emotional upheaval and stress.

Who are sleepwalkers, and are there many of them?

I’ll tell you an interesting fact: sleepwalking as a phenomenon existed many centuries ago. And in those distant times, sleepwalkers were considered people who were overcome by evil spirits or spirits from the other world. Because of this, sleepwalkers were feared and treated with special caution. Moreover, sometimes they were sentenced to death: drowning or burning at the stake. In short, they equated sleepwalking with witchcraft.

Fortunately, in our time, sleepwalking is being studied by scientists and doctors, and people who sleepwalk are no longer prejudiced.

What is sleepwalking?

Contrary to the erroneous opinion of many people, sleepwalking or, as doctors say, somnambulism is not a serious disease and not a superpower.

Sleepwalking is a kind of neurological disorder that leads to the fact that at the moment when the brain plunges into the phase of slow and deep sleep, some of its parts awaken and contribute to the physical activity of a person.

As a result, he begins to walk or talk without waking up. At the same time, his eyes may be open, but the person will continue to sleep. At this moment he does not see the real state of affairs in front of him.

Somniloquy is the main reason why people talk in their sleep

In addition, sleepwalkers rarely turn on the light during their midnight wanderings, because they go out of habit, from memory.

Not only can they walk, but they will also join relatives who are awake. For example, there are known cases when sleeping sleepwalkers, after going to bed, went down to the family living room to watch a movie.

Sleepwalkers can also pour and drink water, heat up food and eat, or even go outside. They can also open the door from memory.

But the most interesting thing in this situation is that in the morning not a single sleepwalker will remember his adventures.

Sleepwalking in a person’s state at this moment is similar to hypnosis.

Most often, somnambulism is present in children of infant, as well as preschool and school age. Sometimes sleepwalking lasts until the onset of active puberty - the age of 13-15 years.

According to statistics, every fifth child in the world is prone to sleepwalking, and in total, about 40% of people have been awake at least once in their lives without leaving a state of deep sleep.

In adulthood, sleepwalking occurs in approximately 2% of the world's population.

Why is it impossible to wake up sleepwalkers, according to doctors?

I think you have heard more than once that sleepwalkers should never be woken up while they are walking around the house.
But do doctors agree with this opinion? In fact, experts in the field of sleep disorders research only half agree with this statement.

They claim that if you wake up a sleepwalker, nothing bad will happen. The person will not panic, and he will not die from shock or a heart attack.

However, doctors have a completely logical question: why wake up such a person? His condition after waking up will be similar to waking up after several annoying alarm calls. He will most likely be confused and then will not be able to sleep peacefully.

Therefore, doctors are unanimous in the opinion that sleepwalkers should not be awakened. The best option in this case is to take the person back to bed and let him get a good night's sleep. In the morning he still won’t remember anything, but he will be sleepy and rested.

But a sudden and unpleasant awakening is not the only reason why you should not wake up a sleepwalker. Psychologists and other specialists name additional factors due to which a person suffering from a sleep disorder should not be woken up.