Before now I thought "sleep walking" referred to some sleeping and walking around unconscious of the fact that they're doing that. The picture that comes into my mind is usually that of someone putting his or her hands forward and walking with closed eyes.... Well I got to find out that it's more that what I imagined and I will like to share that with you.
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Somnambulism (the formal name for sleepwalking) happens to be a behavioural disorder which occurs more in children than in adults. This disorder causes those suffering from it to walk around mostly at night and carry out many other activities without having a knowledge of what they're doing. Imagine sleeping on a bed and waking up inside your call in the middle of a distance far from your house? That would leave you scared and confused right? So it's safe to say people who sleep walk tend to be confused and scared when they wake up considering the fact that they really have an idea of their actions.
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Sleepwalking could be classified as parasomnia; those unwanted behaviours involving physical actions carried out during sleep (**bedwetting is another example of parasomnia**).
It is said that Somnambulism occurs only in lighter and deep stages of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and not during REM sleep due to the prevention of the body from acting out dreams by muscle atonia.
###### Causes
Lots of things can be held for triggering sleep walking. Some of them include:
* Hereditary: Before we rule out other causes it's good to point out that this condition might just be passed down to the individual by a family member.
Other causes are:
* Sleeping in an unfamiliar or noisy environment.
* Drugs: Some medications like sedatives can result in the occurrence of sleep walking.
* Stress and depriving ourselves of sleep can also cause sleep walking. Also interrupted sleep can also facilitate the occurrence of sleep walking.
* It is also said that conditions like menstruation and pregnancy could increase its occurrence.
* Headaches
* Watch out for head injuries too.
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##### Symptoms
The symptoms of sleep walking include sitting up on the bed, Walking around the room or house, Doing "invisible" dishes, preparing or eating food, waking up with no memories or little of the event.
Other symptoms like driving a car, leaving the house, becoming violent can also occur but rarely.
##### Treating Sleep Walking
Before i go into treatment I must state that the individual might get injured during sleep walking and so it is advisable to prevent that. The car key should be kept out of reach to avoid driving in that state, breakable and sharp objects should be kept away from the bedroom to prevent breaking things.
For Treatment:
Mostly, children who sleep walk tend to outgrow it during their adolescence age.
Since sleeping disorders are sometimes responsible for sleep walking, their treatment could also stop or reduce the frequency of sleep walking.
Also, practicing healthy sleep hygienes. Before bedtime, you can practice some relaxing routines too. Self medication is not an option here so you have to see your doctor.
Some people have the belief that it is not good to wake up someone who's sleep walking. There's no medical damage done. It could leave the individual confused but that's just about it. You can also lead them gently back to bed....
<center>😊😊😊 Thanks for reading</center>