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Sweet dreams, peaceful dreams, colorful dreams – these most popular wishes for a good night could be supplemented with new ones: stationary dreams. Up to 30% of children around the age of eight have had at least one episode of somnambulism. It is a medical equivalent of sleepwalking, which looks like Leśmian terms, and the widespread use of sleepwalking.
This is my dream
Human sleep has two main phases: NREM (from the English non-rapid eye movement, i.e. slow eye movement) and REM (not from the name of the syndrome, but from the words rapid eye movement, i.e. rapid eye movement). Sleep begins with the NREM phase, which lasts about an hour, occurs shortly after falling asleep, and provides relaxation as it means deep sleep. Dreams recorded sporadically in this phase are less complex than those in the REM phase. REM lasts an average of 25 minutes, now the eyeballs are moving fast, breathing is quicker, and more formally attractive dreams appear. During the night, the NREM and REM phases alternate with each other several times, approximately every hour and a half. NREM sleep is divided into three stages. The first stage is so shallow that people feel that they are not asleep yet, the last, fourth stage is the deepest sleep. Between phases 3 and 4, especially in the fourth phase, various parasomnias, i.e. sleep disorders, including somnambulism, become active.
It is one of the so-called disorders of waking up and consists in partial awakening from the deepest sleep phase. It can be manifested by sitting on the bed and saying meaningless words, walking around the apartment and performing simple, automatic activities, e.g. preparing a meal, and in extreme cases, the somnambulist allows himself further trips, outside the house or apartment, and even trips by car. Since his eyes are open and he moves slowly but precisely, it gives the illusion of full awareness, therefore the witnesses of an attack of sleepwalking try to establish contact with the sleeping person. This may be minimal, but usually will not work. Such a night hike lasts several minutes and usually ends with returning to bed on one’s own. The sleepwalker can also be led into the bedroom, help him lie down, and suggest that he stay asleep. Most likely, this is what he will do, and in the morning he will be honestly surprised that something like this even happened: cases of somnambulism are unlikely to leave any memories. In somnambulic, because the witnesses of the events can arouse anxiety.
There are many known superstitions about sleepwalking, the most popular is probably that you cannot wake sleepwalking because it will be dangerous. Well, as dangerous as any human suddenly and brutally roused from a deep sleep, at best he will say: Let me sleep! Awakening a somnambulist may result in confusion, anxiety, but nothing beyond the normal behavior of a human awake in the middle of the night. The influence of the moon on the occurrence of wandering in sleep is also unexplored. It is true that the very name “sleepwalker” includes the Latin word luna, meaning moon, but the observation that somnambulists are more likely to walk under the full moon is not scientifically confirmed.
An adult sleeps like a baby
Somnambulism is primarily an affliction of children and adolescents. Approximately 17% of children under the age of 12 experience episodes of sleep walking, and at least one episode of somnambulism occurs in approximately 30% of healthy children, most often between the ages of 8 and 12. For three percent of children, night walks are frequent. Somnambulism may coexist with bedwetting or night terrors.
It is a completely normal phenomenon caused by the immaturity of the nervous system, it should not be a concern for parents, and pharmacological treatment is not recommended, which is introduced only in the case of frequent and life-threatening cases. However, attention should be paid to providing a child who has happened to move around the house while sleeping, safety: do not leave the windows open or even ajar, and it is best to put locks, lock the entrance door with a key, do not place objects in the passage that make it difficult to move or may cause damage. harm.
Usually, night trips end with adolescence, but it sometimes happens that as a result of stress, fever, long-term lack of sleep, as a result of taking neuroleptics or alcohol, episodes may also occur at a later age, but if their frequency is not high and they do not pose a potential threat for the somnambulist, no drug treatment is needed, although this should always be decided by a physician.
The red light comes on only when the first night walk appears only in adulthood, with no previous episodes in childhood. In such a situation, neurological diagnosis to rule out temporal lobe epilepsy and frontal epilepsy, although this does not mean that epilepsy attacks look the same as somnambulism. Sleepwalking episodes are also associated with breathing disorders.
According to the data of the Center for Sleep Medicine of the Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology in Warsaw, somnambulism affects only 1% of adults who, after excluding neurological diseases, use, for example, pharmacological reduction of sleep, i.e. preventing the body from falling into deep sleep, in which any disturbances appear. awakening.
Research shows that somnambulism in adults may be caused by taking certain medications (including ß-blockers), and may also be associated with schizophrenia, neurotic disorders and Tourette’s syndrome. One American personality test found that sleepwalking patients had difficulty coping with aggression. This could explain statistically the large number of brutal murders committed by somnambulists during an episode of sleepwalking. Interestingly, most of them were acquitted, which seems to be an interesting case in casuistry (you can read more about it here: https://www.edukacjaprawnicza.pl/index.php?mod=m_aktualnosci&cid=69&id=933)
So remember to tell someone “Go to sleep!” not to slip and say, “Go to sleep” …
Text: Julia Wolin
Medical consultation: Dr. Justyna Młodzikowska-Albrecht, neurologist
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