The human body is sometimes able to present its owners with real surprises. For example, a person feels absolutely healthy, is no different from others, but this is during the day, and at night he suddenly gets up, begins to walk like a somnambulist, perform some kind of action, and all this - without waking up.
And then it turns out that he suffers from a mysterious malaise - sleepwalking. The article will talk about who the sleepwalkers are, what are the causes of sleepwalking, are there any methods for its treatment.
Sleepwalking - what is it?
Somnambulism is the medical name for a painful psychological sleep disorder, which is popularly called sleepwalking. This term refers to the unconscious and purposeful movement of a person during sleep. Waking up, he absolutely does not remember what he was doing. And he is very surprised to hear from others about his nightly “walks”.
Previously, there was a widespread belief that dreaming is closely related to the full moon. But modern medicine refutes this opinion. According to statistics, about one out of a thousand adults show symptoms of somnambulism to varying degrees. And in children and adolescents, such a disorder is even more common.
Causes of sleepwalking in adults
Doctors have been studying this problem for a long time, but so far they have not come to unambiguous conclusions about what exactly makes some people walk in an unconscious state. The following hypotheses are put forward:
- Disturbed phase of slow sleep. True, it is not clear what leads to these violations.
- Immaturity of the nervous system. This partly explains sleepwalking in children.
- Sleep deprivation (the body does not need it). This assumption is considered closest to the truth. With this type of disorder, the sleep phases seem to overlap each other and thus may seem to be absent. In fact, the phases of sleep cannot disappear, just one phase exists against the background of another (the slow phase in the REM phase and vice versa). As a result, the lines between sleep and awakening are blurred. That is, all the time a person walks in a dream, he continues to wake up, but cannot do this.
- Emotional fatigue, too much nervous excitement, psychological disorders. These factors can cause sleep deprivation with all the ensuing consequences.
- Various mental disorders. It is known, for example, that the development of paranoid schizophrenia is often preceded by a severe sleep disorder. Such a person cannot fall asleep for days, from time to time falling through from fatigue into a kind of semi-comatose state.
Symptoms of somnambulism
What are sleepwalkers? What are the signs by which a person can be classified in this category? This parasomnia (sleep disorder) is manifested by the following symptoms:
- periodic walking in a dream with open or closed eyes, the commission of simple, familiar to a person actions;
- movements while walking in a dream are inhibited, robot-like;
- noticeably narrowed pupils;
- a frozen look, as if immersed in itself.
A lunatic may not exhibit any particular motor activity. Sometimes he just gets out of bed or sits without moving in space. In this state, the individual may be several minutes, or even an entire hour. Sometimes in a state of somnambulistic activity, the lunatic is even able to conduct a simple verbal dialogue. The attack of activity ends with the person returning to his bed and is already normal, sleeping calmly until the morning awakening.
Manifestations of sleepwalking usually occur in the first third of the night, but sometimes (very rarely) nevertheless there are cases of sleepwalking activity and during daytime sleep. A lunatic during his "travels" cannot be woken up. Waking up suddenly, a person can be very scared. It is recommended that you simply take him to bed and sit next to him until he falls asleep normally. However, it is very difficult to wake a person in a state of somnambulistic activity. He may not feel even strong tweaks, not hear loud sounds.
Is sleepwalking dangerous
By itself, somnambulism is not some kind of dangerous disease, it does not negatively affect the body. What are sleepwalkers? Mentally unhealthy people? Not at all! Often their physical and mental health can be envied by those who sleep at night with a strong, sound sleep. Nevertheless, sleepwalking poses a certain danger both for the person suffering from such a sleep disorder, and for those around him.
Without being aware of his actions, the lunatic can cause serious injury. There are cases when such people fell out of the window or fell from the roof. In a number of scientific works, facts are described when lunatics even committed murders, fortunately, this happened extremely rarely.
Security measures
If the family has a person suffering from sleepwalking, you need to take care of safety measures for him. To do this, the following is recommended:
- close all windows tight at night;
- turn off electrical appliances;
- remove all dangerous sharp objects;
- take care that the lunatic does not bother any light source (night light or moon light), this can provoke an attack of somnambulism.
Sleepwalking in children
Causes and treatment of sleepwalking - these topics are very important for parents. As mentioned above, children are often "sick" with sleepwalking. Therefore, parents are very worried, noticing that their child is walking in a dream. But with age, this usually goes away. Most often, somnambulism is observed in children in the age category from 4 to 10 years.
Doctors attribute this to large loads that negatively affect the fragile nervous system. Teenagers are also prone to dreams, because the puberty period is replete with strong emotional outbursts. As a rule, by the age of 20, when both the reproductive and nervous systems are fully formed, the emotional background is back to normal, and nightly adventures are a thing of the past.
What to do if a child walks in a dream
First you need to analyze what can provoke this condition. If the child is too emotional, and the family has a restless nervous atmosphere, then this in itself can be a trigger for sleep disturbance. Medication here is unlikely to help.
Another provoking factor is outdoor games before bedtime. If a child runs late on the street, and then immediately goes to bed, his nervous system simply does not have time to turn on the inhibition. Computer games and late watching movies or TV shows also contribute to sleep disorders.
Having drawn conclusions, it is necessary to take measures. It is necessary to establish an emotional climate in the family, replace evening active games with quiet reading of books, etc. Well, of course, you need to discuss the problem with a pediatrician and a child psychologist.
How to treat
The treatment of sleep disorders in adults with somnambulism can be lengthy, it does not always lead to success. This problem is poorly solved with sedatives and antidepressants. Scientists believe that the best treatment is to level out the overall emotional background. General dry recommendation: stress should be avoided. Moreover, to bring the nervous system into excessive excitement can not only negative emotions, but also joy beating over the edge.
In adults, the treatment of sleep disorders should consist of a whole range of measures:
- exclusion of alcohol;
- rejection of noisy parties with dances until the drop;
- taking a relaxing bath before bedtime, etc.
Final word
Now we know who the lunatics are. As you can see, it is quite possible to live with sleepwalking and feel good. Just need to follow a number of specific rules.