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Sleep Walking
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Sleep walking is also called somnambulism and it involves a sleeping person getting up and walking around their home or outside their home. It is most common in kids ages 8 to 12 and is not considered serious unless the child doesn't outgrow the problem or if the child or adult puts himself or herself in danger unnecessarily by walking out into the cold or hurting themselves in other ways.
Sleep walking can involve unusual behaviors, some of which can be dangerous. Sufferers can urinate into closets or into garbage cans. They can also make attempts to climb out a window, which can be fatal, depending on the height of the potential fall. Protecting an individual from injuring him or herself is the job of family members who must "proof" the environment so it is safe for the sleep walker.
Sleep walking can be described as a parasomnia, which is a behavior experienced during sleep, which is not desirable and can be dangerous. Sleep walkers can do some of many different things, including simply sitting up with open eyes in bed, having a glazed expression on one's face, roaming around the house, turning on lights and opening doors, doing routine activities during one's sleep, speaking or moving in a clumsy way, screaming (in cases of night terrors) or being unable to be aroused while in that state.
The act of sleep walking usually happens during the deepest states of sleep and usually occurs in the early nighttime hours, within an hour or two of going to sleep. It doesn't often happen during a nap and is not remembered by the sufferer later. It can occur as often as several times per week and up to several days in a row.
Sleep walking usually occurs in children who outgrow the behavior during their teen years. It is not a dangerous condition but may need medical intervention if the behavior can lead to a bad end, such as an injury or death, if the episodes are becoming more frequent, if there are symptoms of other sleep problems, if they lead to sleep deprivation or persist until adulthood, and if the behavior leads to tiredness, stress, anxiety, or fever. Some medications trigger sleep walking in otherwise healthy people, such as Ambien.
Sleep walking can be associated with other neurological disorders such as seizure disorders, obstructive sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, and migraine headaches. Strokes and head injuries can lead to sleep walking and women in the premenstrual phase are more likely to develop sleep walking. The use of other types of sleeping medications or antihistamines can contribute to undergoing sleep walking and even some antibiotics are known to trigger sleep walking episodes. Sleep walking can be hereditary with more than one family member affected.
Doctors can diagnose sleep walking based on the history of the symptoms as noted by others in the family or household. Doctors will do a physical and psychological examination and will see if there is an abnormal heart rhythm, seizure disorder or panic attacks. Sometimes a sleep disorder clinic can show definite signs of sleep walking in an individual where the diagnosis is in question.
It is not always necessary to treat sleep walking, especially if the individual is a child that does not do anything dangerous while sleep walking. The treatment is basically to lead the child back to bed gently and make sure they stay there. It isn't a dangerous thing to awaken a sleep walker but it can disrupt sleep. The person, especially if it is a male, may attack those who awaken them.
Hypnosis works for some people who have sleep walking disorders. Changes in medication can attempt to cure the condition. If sleep walking occurs in an individual who has sleep deprivation symptoms during the day because of their affliction, doctors may use short term antidepressants or benzodiazepines to stop the pattern of behavior. If there is an underlying condition contributing to sleep walking, the treatment is directed at the underlying disorder.