What is sleepwalking?
Sleepwalking is also called somnambulism and is one of the most common sleep orders that people can experience.
There are many known sleep orders that can affect the time of your rest and can have a bad effect on your body. In some instances, you might encounter the sleep talking condition. Someone you know might be talking while they are sleeping. There is also what they call sleep paralysis.
Another person you might encounter is a sleepwalker or somnambulist and you must understand what caused this sleep disorder and how to address this.
Based on the article in Healthline, sleepwalking can be caused by medications, genetics, or health conditions that disrupt your sleep. This happens in the deepest part of your nonrapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. Often, this occurs within 1 to 2 hours of falling asleep.
Under this state, you might sit up, walk around, and even perform ordinary activities but you are sleeping. Your eyes are open but you are still in a deep sleeping state.
Although this might belong to sleeping disorders, the American Psychiatric Association does not consider this a disorder unless it happens so often enough that it will cause distress and disturb your ability to function well during the day.
This condition occurs more often in children than in adults. Often, sleepwalking is outgrown by the teen years. However, it’s not always the case. Some children still experience this even when they become adults. In rare cases, a person becomes a sleepwalker during adulthood.
Several factors may trigger this condition. One of these factors is stress. Stressful events during the day can affect your sleep at night. To address this issue, make sure to avoid things that will make you stressed and you can also do some activities such as yoga, breathing exercises, and regular exercises.
Sleep deprivation can also cause somnambulism. People who have chronic migraine are also prone to have this condition. Illness that can cause fever can also be a factor in sleepwalking.
Other factors that might cause this condition are breathing disorders, Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), Parkinson’s disease, restless leg syndrome, and certain medications like sodium oxybate, benzodiazepine, antidepressants, antipsychotics, and beta-blockers.
If you become a sleepwalker during your adult years, you may want to consider consulting a doctor about this, and if this happens too often and already affects your daily routine. A certain test or sleep study will done and your doctor may prescribe medications.