Somnambulism, commonly known as sleepwalking, remains a puzzling and sometimes frightening phenomenon to confused roommates, concerned parents, and many others. This mysterious occurrence leaves a lot of room for misunderstandings and disagreements on how to address and respond to the behavior of those affected. Somnambulism can cause sleep disorder and insomnia and to prevent this one can use CPAP mask.
From getting a glass of water to making a sandwich, or even driving a car, sleepwalkers can carry out a wide range of surprisingly complex tasks. Some have even been acquitted of serious crimes by proving that they were sleepwalking. In fact, in a 1987 murder trial, Ken Parks was acquitted of charges for murder and attempted murder of his in-laws. Physicians argued that he could not be held culpable because he was sleepwalking!
Sleepwalking is seen in somewhere between 1 to 15% of the population and is most commonly observed in children. The chances of exhibiting sleepwalking are influenced by genetic factors and environmental factors— such as sleep deprivation— and have been correlated with medical conditions such as asthma. Most factors that interrupt normal sleeping patterns can also increase the likelihood of sleepwalking.
What’s really happening?
Somnambulism is a type of parasomnia, a disorder consisting of abnormal behavior during sleep.
Our sleep cycles consist of four stages: three non-REM (rapid eye movement) stages, and the REM stage. Sleepwalking occurs in the third NREM stage, at which point the person is in a deep sleep, but their muscles are not yet immobilized. Sleepwalkers are completely unaware of their actions and will not remember their late-night adventures the next day, which poses issues of culpability in cases where others are put in harm’s way, like the aforementioned murder case.
Read More: https://sqonline.ucsd.edu/2019/05/sleepwalk-the-walk-sleeptalk-the-talk/#comment-29314
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