Sleepwalking Essay

Sleep walking, is a behavior that originates during deep sleep and results in walking. My youngest sister use to sleep walk. It was the funniest thing growing up, until one day she scared my mother and I sitting in the living room watching a movie, when suddenly my sister ran through the whole house and made it back to the bed unharmed. Sleep walking can also cause people to urinate on the selves or somewhere else and the triggers for this is sleep deprivation and certain medication; In adults Hypnosis, could be used and sometimes antidepressants can help reduce the incidents.

Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) causing uncontrollable and sometimes inappropriate napping. Though the naps are often refreshing their frequent occurrences can severely impair daily social functioning. Apart from EDS the cardinal symptoms are; hypnagogic hallucinations, sleep paralysis, sleep onset rapid eye movement periods (SOREMP) and approximately 50% of all patients also suffer from cataplexy; sudden episodes of emotionally triggered muscle weakness (Saper et al., 2001, Schenck et al., 2007). In healthy individuals sleep normally progresses from light drowsiness to deep sleep and after approximately 90 minutes it will transition into rapid eyes movement (REM) sleep. With the

Somnambulism or sleepwalking is a major reason many people wake up with unexplainable bruises or are wearing an outfit they don’t remember putting on. Sleepwalking falls under the wide umbrella of sleep disorders called parasomnias, or anything that can go amiss during sleep. Although the category is similar, somnambulism differs from night terrors. Sufferers are not in fact acting out their dreams but simply moving due to confusion in the central nervous system (Guilleminault, 2006). Many facets go into explaining what sleepwalking actually is and what is transpiring in the brain. General knowledge about somnambulism is important due to the reality that so many Americans are affected. Knowledge of this topic should begin with the causes of this sleep disorder, where and when it occurs, what happens during an episode, the many things that can go wrong, and what to look for to see if you or someone you know could suffer from sleepwalking.

John Mersch’s article is exceedingly explanatory in revealing facts, definitions, symptoms and treatments for sleepwalking.The feature describes glassy eyes, slow responses, and clumsy behavior as responses that a sleepwalker would provide. The report gives statistics such that, “Approximately 15% of children between 4-12 years of age will experience sleepwalking.” (Mersch, paragraph 2 under ‘What are the causes, incidence, and risk factors of sleepwalking?’). When Mersch states, “Each sleep cycle (stages 1,2,3,4 and REM) last about 90-100 minutes and repeats throughout the night. (Mersch, paragraph 3,under ‘What are the causes, incidence, and risk factors of sleepwalking?’) he is ultimately saying that the two stages of sleep everyone encounters

8 REM is the rapid eye movement stage of sleep (Dauvilliers et al.). 9 REM is the last stage of sleep. During REM your eyes try following the dreams actions (Dauvilliers et al.). Neurotransmitters are released during REM (Dauvilliers et

Non-Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Arousal Disorders (NREM sleep arousal disorders) has six diagnostic criteria. The first criterion requires individuals to present recurrent episodes of incomplete awakening from sleep, that includes sleepwalking or sleep terrors. The second criteria require individuals to present no or little dream imagery that is remembered. The next two criteria require individuals to present amnesia for the episodes and the episodes to cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. The fifth requirement is that the disturbance is not caused by substance use. The last requirement is that coexisting

Sleepwalking is commonly seen in older children. It ranges from getting out of bed to prolonged and complex actions. "Sleepwalking occurs relatively often among children; one can even cause it intentionally simply by picking up a child or adult in deep sleep and standing them on their feet" Borbely (1986). In adults, sleepwalking could indicate a personality disturbance. For instance, a good amount of adults that sleepwalk are suffering from depression. It is thought that this condition is hereditary and can be brought on by stress, also by not getting enough sleep or a high fever.

Our awareness of the complexity of sleep expanded in 1953 with the discovery of rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep by Aserinsky and Kleitman. Sleep was no longer considered a homogenous state, but rather a dynamic process of cycling between two distinct states, non-REM and REM sleep. Under normal circumstances the boundaries between non-REM, REM and wakefulness are well declared. Dissociative sleep disorders involve a breakdown of these boundaries (Mahowald and Schenck 1992), and provide a unique window on the neurophysiological mechanisms responsible for each state. Narcolepsy, a disorder of the boundary between wakefulness and REM sleep, is probably the most studied disorder of this nature. The following is a review of another recently

Like a nation of zombies we are sleepwalking towards a future where there is no physical interaction between us. To grow as human beings we need to look into each other's eyes, to see by the expression there what someone is really thinking and feeling. Without the comfort of its mothers arms a baby will not thrive - similarly we all need quality time together to develop as caring, fully rounded people mentally. Are we now so addicted to electronic gadgetry that we cannot put it down long enough to really pay attention to what our children are doing and saying or what our partners need? If we do not address this issue now then our humanity will be lost and the future is a bleak and emotionless place indeed!

January 21st - Put on Interim Suspension and open charges of A&B and B&E at night pending investigation for behavioral misconduct. In the early morning (4:15 AM~) of Saturday, January 21st, I allegedly walked into a female’s room (who I did not know prior to this other than passing conversation, having moved into this dorm two weeks prior) that was two doors down from mine and pulled her hair, and she apparently scratched me. I have absolutely no recollection of these events, and believe I was sleepwalking at the time of this incident due to a variety of circumstances: I was currently suffering from mononucleosis, I had some alcohol in my system at the time (stopped drinking 4 hours prior and was below the legal limit), this occurred two and a half hours after I went to sleep (1:30 AM~), my family has a history of sleep issues such as sleep apnea and sleep talking, and I have slept walk in the past through multiple doors and into family members bedrooms.

Sleepwalking , formally known as somnambulism, is a behavior disorder that originates during deep slumber and results in ambulating or performing other in-volute comportment while asleep. It is much more mundane in children than adults and is more liable to occur if a person is slumber deprived. Because a sleepwalker typically remains in deep slumber throughout the episode, he or she may be arduous to arouse and will probably not recollect the sleepwalking incident. This can be categorized under several distinct sleep-wake disorders and is incorporated in almost all books used by modern psychologists. An episode can last

“Dreaming and their subsequent emotional interpretation have been investigated and recorded since the beginning of recorded history”. (as cited in Palagini; Rodenlicht, 2010). Recent experimental investigations applied to neurobiological and psychological perspectives of sleep identify a greatly dynamic arousal state, which in turn predicts a variety of physiological responses. One of the key stages associated within sleep is known as REM (rapid eye movement) sleep; REM sleep at one stage was thought to be the primary dream period. However recent research and empirical evidence has shown that REM sleep does not have a direct relationship with dreaming, it is however purely and simply the stage of sleep which allows better recall of dreams.

During this stage, many people experience sudden muscle contractions preceded by a sensation of falling. In stage 2, eye movement stops and brain waves become slower with only an occasional burst of rapid brain waves. When a person enters stage 3, extremely slow brain waves called delta waves are interspersed with smaller, faster waves. In stage 4, the brain produces delta waves almost exclusively. Stages 3 and 4 are referred to as deep sleep or delta sleep, and it is very difficult to wake someone from them. In deep sleep, there is no eye movement or muscle activity. This is when some children experience bedwetting, sleepwalking or night terrors. Usually, REM sleep occurs 70-90 minutes after someone has fall asleep. The first period of REM typically lasts 10 minutes. Each REM stage gets longer, and the final one may last up to an hour. A sleeping individual's heart rate and breathing quickens. People experience more intense dreams during REM sleep, since the brain is more active. Dreams are constantly occurring throughout the sleep cycle so do not believe anyone who says they do not dream.

The exact cause of sleepwalking is unknown but it believe it is because of inheritance. If one of your family members has or had sleepwalking behaviour you are more prone to inherit it. Sleepwalking is very common among children and treatment is usually not necessary because it typically goes away by the teen years. If sleepwalking is caused by underlying medical condition like restless legs syndrome, sleepwalking will automatically stopped once the underlying medical condition is treated. For certain cases treatment is needed if it caused injury, discomfort or embarrassment.

It is fascinating that at this point, REM sleep, where dreaming is frequent, the body shuts itself down. If, as suggested in class, the I-function is active at this stage, it is interesting that all body movement is inhibited. During other stages in which there are synchronized EEGs, and the I-function is not supposed to be present, the body does not inhibit all motor activity. This seems to imply that when the I-function is present it will control the body as it sees fit. One of the more ubiquitous parasomnias is sleep talking or somniloquy. This disorder is characterized by often nonsensical or difficult to understand verbal vocalizations during sleep. The person may carry on conversations and seem to speak as if they are awake. This is not constrained to a specific stage of sleep; it is present in REM and NREM. Regardless of the stage of sleep, this is an extremely common disorder allows talking. Frequently we talk during the day, utilize our I-function when talking and remember what was talked about. This is not the case with somniloquy.