Have
you ever woken up in the morning to the sight of a disgruntled partner, upset
that you gave them a long speech in your sleep? This is one example of the many
strange things we can do while we're supposed to be oblivious to the world.
Read on for our top five picks. Although it is not clear exactly how many
people experience parasomnias, or sleep disorders, it is likely that you — or
someone you know — have faced at least one such event at some
point. Parasomnias are often associated with unsettling actions or
behaviors, made all the more strange for being acted out in a person's sleep,
while they are completely unconscious.
However,
although some of the strange things that we do in our sleep may be connected
with the presence of a sleep disorder, others are, in fact, normal
physiological occurrences that are extremely common. In
this Spotlight, we look at five of the strangest things some people do while
they're fast asleep.
01. Sleep talking
Sleep talking, or somniloquy, is a common physiological
phenomenon, and it is reportedly more frequent in children and adolescents,
though it is not an unusual occurrence in adults.
As Shelly Weiss notes in the book Parasomnias, episodes of sleep talking
don't tend to last very long, and they don't, in fact, always include
intelligible speech.
"Sleep
talking is usually brief and infrequent, but can range from a person making a
few sounds during sleep that are brief and unintelligible, to full phrases with
understandable content or even frequent and long speeches which sound hostile
or angry."
A recent study conducted
by Dr. Isabelle Arnulf of the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris, France,
investigated what sleep talkers are likely to say, and found that, in 10
percent of cases, sleep speech is rich in swear words and negative content.
In fact, swear words featured 800 times more often during
sleep discourse than they normally did in an individual's daytime talk. Dr. Arnulf notes that this may be because
sleep talking likely occurs in response to a negative dream situation that
makes such impulsive and unguarded speech excusable. Weiss explains that sleep talking episodes can
occur at any stage of sleep and that they are "only disturbing to
others," that is, to bed partners.
And I can confirm — my partner's sleep talking
episodes, in which he usually expresses distress, never fail to unsettle me.
But since he never remembers these occurrences the morning after, they don't
bother him at all.
But there are, according to Weiss, external
situations that "may precipitate" sleep talking, so if you know that
you — or your loved one — are prone to this, then eliminating these factors may
help.
They include feverishness due to illness, experiencing stress
and anxiety during day-to-day life, lack of sleep, or living with a sleep
disorder.
02. Sleepwalking
Sleepwalking, or somnambulism, is perhaps the
best-known type of parasomnia, having captured people's imaginations for years,
and featuring prominently in literature and movies.
This sleep disorder usually takes place during the stage three non-rapid
eye movement (NREM) sleep; this is a "deep sleep" period in which
brainwaves slow down, and breathing also becomes deep and slow-paced.
People cannot be easily woken at this stage,
which is partly what makes sleepwalking so unsettling, as the somnambulist is
physically active while still emerged in a deep state of slumber.
But the weirdness does not stop here. Specialists Frank Ralls and Madeleine
Grigg-Damberger write in Parasomnias that sleepwalkers may appear concomitantly awake
and "not there" to anyone witnessing their actions:
[Sleepwalking]
episodes often begin with the individual sitting up in bed, fumbling with
bedclothes, looking about in a confused manner before getting out of bed and
slowly beginning to walk around. The eyes are usually open, often wide open
with a confused 'glassy' stare..."
They also add that "[t]he person often walks toward
sound, light, or a particular room," and they may engage in complex
behaviors, such as changing clothes, opening doors, or using the bathroom. Sleepwalking behaviors. A related sleepwalking disorder is that of sleep-related eating, in which individuals get out of
bed, make their way to the fridge, and have a snack, all without actually
waking up. The eating behavior is usually compulsive, and
the person could wake up the next morning to find a mountain of incriminating —
and shocking — evidence, in the form of dirty wrappers and food containers, as
in this case study.
There are, however, some sleepwalking behaviors that are much
more dangerous than overeating. One such example is that of sleep driving, in which a
person drives a motorized vehicle technically on autopilot, while fully
unconscious of their actions.
Some scientists blame these episodes on a
short-circuitry caused by certain sleeping aids, the so-called "z-drugs" —
zolpidem and zopiclone — though it is not entirely clear to what extent these
are at fault.
Sleep texting?
Though no scientific studies have yet been
conducted to address this issue, apparently sleep texting is not uncommon,
especially among adolescents.
Over the past few years, various media outlets
have reported cases of teenagers embarrassed to find out they had sent text
messages to their friends or their crushes while asleep.
One young woman told The
Atlantic that she woke up one morning to find that she had
made plans to see her ex-boyfriend, which she didn't remember and immediately
regretted.
Sleep specialists have declared that this is a new feature in
terms of sleep disorders, and the behavior is not yet listed in specialized
textbooks.
The specialists blame it largely on the fact that many teenagers
have poor
sleep hygiene, having become glued to their smartphones, texting
away late into the night, and allowing notifications to disturb their slumber.
03. Sleep starts
Many of you are probably familiar with the
phenomenon of sleep starts, or "hypnic jerks."
These
are characterized by a sensation of falling from a great height, or tripping,
which causes the body to jerk and the sleeper to wake up — literally "with
a start."
Weiss
notes that sleep starts "frequently occur in normal people and at any
age," with a prevalence of approximately 60–70 percent in adults; they are
not considered a type of sleep disorder.
Typically,
the muscle contractions last for less than 1 second, and they occur as
a person is about to transition to a state of sleep, or during a stage of light
sleep.
Some
less common accompanying sensations listed by Weiss include "an auditory
sound such as an utterance," and the terrifying perception of a "loud
bang or flash of light," also known as "exploding head
syndrome."
Although
sleep starts are a normal occurrence, scientists suggest that certain factors
may increase their likelihood. According to Weiss, these include, "fatigue,
emotional stress, sleep deprivation,
vigorous exercise, and stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine."
04. Sexual acts
Some of the most controversial unconscious acts performed
during sleep are those of a sexual nature, especially when the individual
attempts to involve an unwitting co-sleeper.
These acts are characteristic of a parasomnia known as "sexsomnia"
in which individuals "display sexual vocalizations, masturbation,
fondling, or intercourse/attempted intercourse during sleep — followed by
morning amnesia."
Similarly to sleepwalking, sexsomnia takes
place during the NREM stages of sleep, and, according to a case report published
last month, "only 95 clinical cases" have been documented until now.
The report authors also add that most of these cases feature male sleepers.
In some cases, sexsomnia is just an
embarrassing occurrence, but in other, more extreme examples, the sleepers can
end up sexually assaulting a sleeping partner.
But due to the fact that they remain
unconscious throughout these acts, and they cannot remember them the following
morning, violent sexual acts committed during sleep remain deeply challenging
when brought to court.
The authors of one case report note
that, in the instance that they evaluated, the patient affected by sexsomnia managed
to gain some control over these night-time occurrences by attending
psychotherapy sessions targeting stress management.
05. Acting out dreams
Finally, the parasomnia known as rapid eye
movement (REM)
sleep behavior disorder is, much like sleepwalking, characterized by the
performance of fairly complex actions while in a state of sleep.
However, there are also several differences between the
two sleep disorders.
As its name suggests, REM sleep behavior
disorder takes place during the REM stage of sleep, when most of the dreaming
happens.
Individuals with this behavior disorder tend
to "act out" or physically respond to whatever takes place in their
dreams, which isn't always great news.
As Sujay Kansagra and Bradley Vaughn write in Parasomnias, "Dream content is [...] reported
to become more violent with [REM sleep behavior disorder] onset, and involves
the subject being attacked or having to defend a position or others."
Kansagra and Vaughn also note that most
individuals with this disorder are over 50 years of age, though its incidence
and prevalence rates are unclear.
Such troubled sleepers may make chaotic
movements that correspond to their dream content, but fortunately, they are not
usually physically violent, either toward themselves or others.
However, violent behavior is more often present
in men than it is in women with REM sleep behavior disorder. This parasomnia can be induced by an
individual's first use of antidepressant medication,
but stimulants such as alcohol, coffee, and chocolate can also be at fault.
Moreover, Kansagra and Vaughn point out that
more than 50 percent of individuals with narcolepsy — another sleep-related disorder — also
report the symptoms of REM sleep behavior disorder.
If you or someone you know live with a sleep
disorder and would like to learn more about it and how to manage it, you may
find it useful to access the webpages on "sleep and sleep disorders" curated by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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