Did you ever wonder about why people sleepwalk or have u done it yourself? That was the question that I set out to answer after my roommates (one, Erin being in out class :P) told me that I sleep walk and talk. After doing some research, I found out that sleepwalking is semi-common in children because 15% of children tend to do it. It is fairly uncommon to find sleepwalking a problem in adults however, because on;y 1% of adults are known to sleepwalk. So now that you know how many people sleepwalk, how about I try to answer why people do it. The causes of sleepwalking tend to be stress or anxiety, lack of sleep, eating before sleep, or it could be psychological problems. Ok, do not be scared if you sleepwalk, that does not necessarily mean you are crazy. I have found that anxiety seems to be the number one cause of sleepwalking and if you think about it, it makes sense because children are the most likely to sleepwalk and they are the most likely to experience anxiety at night because of night terrors and childhood fears. Adults experiencing stress in their life due to work, school, family, or friends can experience sleepwalking. People suffering from Psychological disorders like Schizophrenia can experience sleep disorders also due to their feelings of anxiety from heightened suspicions and paranoia.
Another interesting fact is that sleepwalking tends to be hereditary, so if no one in your family sleepwalks, you can feel pretty confident that you will not either. As it turns out, my mother and her father both have been known to sleepwalk and sleeptalk. How about we talk about what happens that makes you sleepwalk. Sleepwalking occurs during either stage 3 or 4 of the sleep cycle, which usually is about 90 mintues after falling asleep. Because of stress or other problems, the sleep cycle gets disturbed causing a delay in the progression of the sleep stages. Because of the delay, your body may become half awake and half asleep. During this time, people can physically do tasks that are repetitive (they would be able to do them without thinking) like getting dressed, making the bed, opening drawers, etc, without being aware mentally of their actions. It can be a scary topic because there are some incidents where people have committed violence while supposedly sleepwalking and I feel it is imperative to find a way to understand how and why this is happening or if it is just a new tactic by lawyers to help their clients get off scott free.
This really interests me and if anyone has any other information about sleepwalking please let me know! I also may be interested in looking into a job as a sleep specialist, so if anyone knows of anyone who is a sleep specialist and knows what the job entails, please let me know! Thanks! :)
Posted by TrishaWehrle at November 27, 2004 12:18 PMTrisha,
I really liked your psychological research topic. It was really interesting and informational. I can't give you any info on the subject, but personally I think sleep walking is scary in general. My youngest brother sleep walks and it freaks me out b/c he'll just randomly sit up in bed, look around, and just stand up or walk aimlessly in his room. If you try to talk to him he just mumbles and doesn't make sense. Eventually he goes back to bed, but it's both funny and freaky in a way!
Trisha:
The thing you said above make me recalling that scary dreams that i had in my childhood. There use to be scary things or creature happend in my dreams when i was little. They were vety scary in my memory though i didn't remember what they were. I guess i had a naughty childhood. i also heard about sleepwalk. It is creepy that you have a roommate who does sleepwalk at night; Usually people cannt wake up the sleepwalk person by talking to him or hit them up. When i was 12 or something, my coach took the team to a contest, and i was staying with one of my teammate. At night, he fell asleep right after he laid down, while i was still up. Later on, he began to talk to himself, i totally freak out by his sleep-talking. Suddenly, he got up and talk towards me, he goes like,"You own me five dollars..." I was like what the hell is going on.
The next day, i told what happend to him last night, he didn't remember at all. Jez,What a creepy dream. It was the ture story, and i didnt made it up ,believe it or not!
i knid of agree with you that sleepwalk has something to do with genetic,anxiety and terror. However when we fall asleep, the body is resting, but the mental part dont shut down, and it is still functioning.that's the reason why some people have dreams , sleepwalk or sleep-talk. Human body only have 2-3 hours rest during a night, it usually begins from 4-6am, i mean completely rest, both physically and mentally.
i have become interested in finding out more about sleepwalking as I am a VERY active sleep walker.It is very possible to commit acts of violence during sleep, I have repeatedly hit a girlfriend while sleeping in one episode, I have also incured injuries from falls and from banging into things. Not to mention some embaressing situations like walking outside a girlfriend house. feel free to contact me if you want more info, I am also seeking info. BLAMO
ps october2005
Trisha:
Your information was very interesting to me! I suspect that I sleepwalk (I wake up most mornings with fresh bruises/cuts) and my dad did as a teen as well. I'm very interested in the causes/treatments of sleepwalking.
Thanks again!
Posted by: Sara at December 10, 2005 3:30 PMhey this post was very helpful! thank you! i think i have been sleepwalking as well.. i wake up with bruises and cuts and the sort all the time and i can pretty much walk around the house and match them up to the height of the tables,counters, chairs, etc. but i was wondering about the why part of it. and your post was helpful in that aspect bc i am under a lot of stress because of school and work and i have a lot of anxiety at night bc of my fear of intruders. i also tend to eat before bed as well. so i guess mine is a combination of things. thanks again for the post. it was very informative and helpful.
Posted by: marsha at May 6, 2006 1:40 AMHey, this clip was really helpful. ;) Me and my sister were trying to look up some information on Sleepwalking. We were just wondering what it meant and why people do it. My sister does it all the time, but she never remembers doing it. ;) But after really looking into it, I don't really think that some people really know think that some people even know that they sleepwalk. I just think it is weird because they like are asleep and walking, but like they don't run into anything half the time. ;) Like if I see people sleepwalking it freaks me out a little bit. I am kind of gettiing better at it because my sister does it all the time. like sometimes I will sleep on the couch, and I will be talking on the phone and I will see her walk through the kitchen and start turning in lights. ;) I don't really know what people sleepwalk for. So, I guess I will keep on looking!! ;)
Posted by: Rachel Rae at August 11, 2008 5:39 PM