What Causes Sleepwalking in Adults?

Sleepwalking is a weird phenomenon of getting out of bed by yourself and then going back to bed to continue sleeping. It is a sleep disorder neurologically. The symptoms are usually walking around the home in the state of half awake, but some patients will leave the home or make some dangerous actions.

Somnambulate is a common physiological phenomenon. There are various ways of sleepwalking, both ordinary and bizarre.

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To treat sleepwalking, psychotherapy and medication must be performed simultaneously. Undesirable mental factors should be removed, anxiety, fear and nervousness should be eliminated, and the environment should be improved to pay attention to the combination of work and rest and physical exercise; at the same time, appropriate dosages of sedative and sleeping drugs such as diazepam and hypnotic should be supplemented according to their age Tong, Li Mianning, etc. According to reports, under the guidance of a doctor, oral imipramine before bedtime also has a good effect. Waking him up in time when sleepwalking just started is also an effective measure.

Sleepwalking is a weird phenomenon of getting out of bed during sleep and then going back to bed to continue sleeping. Although this phenomenon is called sleepwalking, it has nothing to do with dreaming. Because, according to the records of the electroencephalogram, the patient's brain waves during sleepwalking are being displayed in stage 3 and stage 4 of sleep; showing positive stages of sleep. Dreams are not dreaming during the sleep stage, so this word should be called "walking in sleep" more in line with facts.

Most of the sleepwalkers are children, aged 6-12 years old. Sleepwalking is not seriously ill, and it has nothing to do with emotional distress. The sleepwalker was still asleep during the actions after getting out of bed. After waking up, he knew nothing about his actions at night.

The strange phenomenon of sleepwalking is that the parties can engage in very complex activities during the operation, open doors and take streets, take appliances, avoid obstacles, and avoid collision injuries. After the activity, return to bed by yourself and continue to sleep.

A few years ago, a boy from Taipei Normal University had a sleepwalk at night. He actually removed the lampshade from the ceiling on a double bed and never fell under the bed and was injured. If there are sleepwalking children in the home, don't worry too much, just pay attention to the safety of the home and lock the portal carefully at night.

As for the cause of sleepwalking, it is unknown. However, according to psychologist research, sleepwalkers' family members often also sleepwalk. Therefore, sleepwalking may be genetically related. There was a case where a family was reunited during the holiday, and they stayed in their own beds in each room at night. The next morning, they found that the whole family was sleeping in the living room without any knowledge. ^[4]

Studies have shown that sleepwalking is primarily the result of human cerebral cortex activity. The activity of the brain includes two processes of "excitation" and "inhibition". Normally, when people sleep, the cells in the cerebral cortex are in an inhibited state. If at this time one or more groups of nerve cells that control movement are still excited, sleepwalking will occur. The scope of sleepwalking is often the environment in which sleepwalkers are most familiar and the actions they often do repeatedly. Sleepwalking is often the subject of much talk. People are very surprised by the phenomenon of sleepwalking, and at the same time have a series of obvious prejudices against sleepwalking.

Common people think that sleepwalkers are about to ram around like blind people. In fact, sleepwalkers have eyes half-open or full-open, and they walk in the same posture as usual. Ordinary people also think that sleepwalkers are bold and dare to do some thrilling actions. Of course, sleepwalkers occasionally fall and bruise due to distraction.

Ordinary people also have a prejudice that they can't just awaken sleepwalkers, because sleepwalkers will be scared if they wake up suddenly. In fact, the sleepwalker is difficult to be awakened. Even if he is awakened, he will not go crazy, but just feel confused. For some offensive sleepwalkers, they should be awakened in time. Some people think that sleepwalking is actually dreaming, but psychologists have observed that sleepwalking often occurs during non-rapid eye movements when there is little dreaming.

Psychoanalytic theory

1. General characteristics of sleepwalking: Sleepwalking is clearly a mutated state of consciousness. The patient loses contact with his surroundings, and he seems to live in a private world. His emotions are sometimes very exciting, and he even says a lot

Because sleepwalking may appear certain dangers and may cause uneasiness to others and affect the mental and physical health of the parties, prevention and treatment must be carried out.

First of all, children are prone to sleepwalking without being too frightened, most of them increase with age,

In recent years, studies by the Night Tour Lab have shown that night terrors and sleepwalking are both sleep disorders. Sleepwalking does not occur during dreams, but occurs during the deep sleep stages of the 3rd to 4th stages of sleep. So sleepwalking usually occurs in the first 2 to 3 hours after falling asleep. The four major causes of sleepwalking are:

Studies have shown that brain activity includes two processes, "excitation" and "inhibition." Normally, when people sleep, the cells in the cerebral cortex are in an inhibited state. If one or more groups of nerve cells that control movement are still in an excited state, sleepwalking will occur.

According to statistics, the number of sleepwalkers accounts for about 16% of the total population, and 10% to 15% of children have sleepwalked at least once, especially those lively and imaginative children, who have appeared several times. Most children no longer sleepwalk when they grow up, but about 2% of children continue to sleepwalk until adults. It is related to psychological problems or emotional fluctuations, and has nothing to do with dreaming, because people do not sleepwalk when they dream.

When the child was asleep, his eyes were still open, but his eyes were dull, as if he could see nothing. Sleepwalkers can leave the house, ranging from minutes to an hour. Except for the children wandering around in a deep state of sleep, sometimes hurting themselves because they are not protected, sleepwalking itself does no harm to people. Parents must find ways to prevent their children from hurting themselves during sleepwalking. This doesn't mean you have to lock him up and keep him from coming out. It might be more dangerous than letting him walk around. What we can do is to put things in a place where it is not easy for the child to get hurt, or you know that the child sleepwalked from the beginning. If you are an older child, you can discuss solutions with him.

Place an alarm If your purpose is to wake your child, you can hang a bell on his door, or install a buzzer with electronic eyes, and the alarm will sound when the child gets up and walks. If the child is very young, he can tie the door chain of his house higher, but let the door open a proper wide slit so that he cannot easily drill out and call others in an emergency. Alternatively, a security gate can be installed at the entrance of the stairs. But never lock your child in the room.

Relaxation exercises are done before bedtime. When the child is completely relaxed, let him imagine that he is sitting next to the bed and is about to sleepwalk, but he wakes up when he touches the floor. Or make him imagine he woke up as soon as he held the doorknob. Explain the practice method to the child first, then let him imagine that he is proud, happy, and praise the child for cooperation.