Sleepwalking: the incredible facts.

In a dream, paradoxically, you can not only sleep, but also do different things!

We all know perfectly well that sleep is an important component of life that affects our mental and physical health. Sleep helps to store and restore energy every day, but what exactly happens when we sleep? The body rests, some have sweet or strange dreams, and some ... sleepwalk. Such people are called somnambulists or sleepwalkers.

Somnambulism is a disorder in which a person sleepwalks. But sometimes it doesn't just end with walking. Many are known incredible stories about sleepwalkers who eat in their sleep, do the cleaning and perform activities that are atypical for the period of wakefulness. According to studies, from 1 to 15% of people are predisposed to somnambulism. What is this phenomenon?

Sleepwalking manifests itself during phases deep sleep. There are 5 phases of sleep plus a phase REM sleep; In the second phase, we spend almost 50% of our sleep time, 20% in REM sleep, and the rest of the time falls on the rest of the phases. The first phase is the easiest, during the second our eyes stop moving and brain waves are slowing down.

At what phase of sleep do people begin to sleepwalk?

Humans are thought to begin walking during the next two phases, phases three and four (but not during REM sleep), also called deep sleep, when brain waves begin to appear. During the last phase, there is no eye movement or muscle activity. Typically, somnambulism occurs within 5 to 15 minutes, although it can last more than thirty minutes, or as little as a few seconds. If the sleepwalker is left undisturbed, he will eventually go back to bed.

Why do people sleepwalk?

Somnambulism is explained by the fact that the "sleep center" in the brain, controlling the wakefulness and sleep of the body, blocks part of the brain and certain nerves during sleep. Usually the sleep center and the body are connected, but sometimes it happens that they are not - the brain is asleep and the body is awake.

However, when it comes to specific cases, science raises a white flag. Our bodies function according to cycles called circadian rhythms- cyclic fluctuations in the intensity of various biological processes associated with the change of day and night. Some scientists believe that slight variations in these cycles may be associated with sleepwalking.

Is sleepwalking dangerous?

Usually somnambulism is not dangerous as long as the lunatic is busy simple tasks. However, sometimes he can harm himself or others. Moreover, if sleepwalking occurs frequently, it can lead to health problems. There were cases when somnambulists left their homes and committed acts uncharacteristic for themselves - rapes and even murders were recorded.

Risk factors

Studies have shown that children are most often affected by somnambulism, and this disorder is more common in men than in women. It is known that somnambulism can be inherited, especially to close relatives. In addition, sleepwalking appears to be more common in identical twins. Sleep apnea, head trauma, arrhythmias, sleep deprivation, fever, nocturnal asthma attacks, alcohol, stress, and certain medications can also contribute to somnambulism.

Although the lunatic is sleeping, his eyes are open, his face does not express any emotions. Some people think that "walking" in a dream is dangerous because it can cause heart attack, brain damage or shock, but that seems to be just a myth. The best thing to do is to gently escort the sleepwalker to bed. When he wakes up, he will almost certainly not remember what happened to him.

The Incredible Stories of Sleepwalkers

Have you ever heard of "zzz mailing"? This word began to refer to a type of somnambulism, as soon as doctors reported the first cases of using the Internet in a dream. One 44-year-old woman turned on her computer in her sleep, went into her email and sent letters with invitations to visit - to drink and eat caviar.

A resident of North Wales, Lee Hedwin works as a nurse during the day, and at night he "turns" into an amazing artist. At night, he paints pictures, which he does not remember at all in the morning. "This is very strange feeling- wake up in the morning surrounded by paintings without remembering how you painted them " - Lee says.

Robert Wood, 55, a former chef, is famous for cooking while he sleeps. "I put the fryers on, turn on the lights and the TV at full volume - and it's all in a dream".

Rebecca Armstrong caught her husband Ian mowing the lawn naked. If this does not seem strange, then it should be noted that the case took place at 2 o'clock in the morning and Ian was sleeping sweetly at that time. Rebecca just turned off the mower, and when she told Ian about his nightly adventures in the morning, he couldn't believe it.

However, the most incredible and shocking story about sleepwalking can be considered the case of Kenneth Parks, who on May 23, 1987, at the age of 23, took a car in a dream, drove 23 kilometers to the house of his wife's parents, where he stabbed his mother-in-law, and tried to strangle his father-in-law. After testimony from several sleep experts, the jury acquitted Parks.

What to do if loved ones sleepwalk?

The concept of somnambulism comes from the Latin words somnus and ambulare, which means "sleep" and "walk". But among the people of eccentrics wandering at night, they call the beautiful and mysterious word lunatics. Why exactly? Yes, because our ancestors believed that all these dreams are directly related to the night luminary. Say, it is this that encourages the poor fellows to get out of bed and perform a variety of actions in a dream.

Today it is known for certain that the Moon has nothing to do with sleepwalkers. Yes, the human nervous system is in a certain connection with moon phases. Yes, for some reason people are in a more excited state during the periods of new moons and full moons. But no more. Somnambulism is one of many forms nervous breakdown and the moon is just a source of light. In the last century German professor Volker Faust, not without pride, announced his discovery - "a lantern can become a source for sleepwalking if it is located in front of a window." Modern doctors have found out that a person prone to sleepwalking does not need a light source at all. He will successfully “lunatize” in complete darkness.

Sleepwalking, being a mysterious and mysterious phenomenon, is surrounded by a mass of rumors and conjectures. For example, it is believed that a sleepwalker should never be awakened. Otherwise, he may be mentally damaged. In fact, waking up a sleepwalker is generally unrealistic. He sleeps so soundly at the moment of sleepwalking.

There are many cases described on the Internet when people in a state of somnambulism performed incredibly complex actions, for example, they drove cars and planes, had sex with a partner, and even killed and robbed people. All this is nothing more than fiction. In fact, a lunatic can get into a car and even set it in motion, but he is unlikely to be able to drive, even if a few meters, because all his reflexes are inhibited.

Another myth is that sleepwalkers are flexible and agile, like cats. Can at night eyes closed walk on a tightrope, and having fallen even from the fifth floor, they land on their feet without getting a scratch. A beautiful myth, it is a pity to debunk it, but it will be necessary. Approximately 25% of sleepwalkers harm themselves in one way or another during sleepwalking. Quite often they confuse windows with doors, as a result of which they fall out of them.

But what then to believe? What do we really know about this disease?

So. Sleepwalking is not rare mental illness as many people think. Sleepwalking is just a type of nervous breakdown. and mostly affects young children and adolescents. Among adults, lunatics are much less common - 1 person in 1000.

Sleepwalking usually happens no more than two or three times a month. A person begins to "lunatic", having slept for about an hour, during " slow sleep” or, as it is also called delta sleep.

The look of people in this state is frozen, expressing nothing, the pupils are constricted. After wandering around the apartment, a lunatic can drink water, go to the toilet, “chat” with relatives, feed the cat, and then return to bed and sleep until dawn. Be sure that in the morning he will not remember anything about his nightly eccentricities, and even think that you are playing him.

Usually in children, sleepwalking manifests itself after prolonged states of anxiety and tension. By the way, this problem affects only impressionable children, in whose brain there is a tendency to form foci of excitation. When the baby is worried about something, then there are bouts of sleepwalking. After all, it is not easy for a child’s brain to withstand the stormy influx of all kinds of information and impressions. So he continues to process information even at night, without resting.

In addition, in lunatics, the transition of sleep from one phase to another does not occur as in all people - smoothly, but rather abruptly. It is with a sharp change in phases that the brain experiences overload. If everything is normal, then in a dream the child sees scenes filled with actions, and the center of movements in the brain is blocked. For lunatics, this blocking is disabled. Nerve signals enter the muscles - therefore, the child begins to move in a dream - gets up, walks, etc.

Fortunately, as we grow and adapt nervous system to the outside world, attacks of somnambulism, as a rule, come to naught. Experts say that by the age of 13, children completely get rid of nighttime obsession.

Things are worse with adults. Indeed, in this case, sleepwalking is a harbinger serious illnesses such as epilepsy. Do you wander at night? Go to the doctor, go special examination, including an encephalogram of the brain. Most likely, the diagnosis will be confirmed - the presence of a focus of epileptic readiness in the temporal lobe.

However, other options are also possible. Single cases of sleepwalking in adults can be caused by severe stress, chronic sleep deprivation and even high temperatures.

Today, scientists are confident that this disease is hereditary and occurs due to specific changes in certain genes. It has not yet been possible to isolate the gene responsible for the development of somnambulism, but researchers have some guesses. They believe that the adenosine deaminase gene is to blame - it is he who determines the phase of slow sleep, in which sleepwalking attacks occur.

Parents whose children suffer from sleepwalking need to remember a few simple things: do not be scared and do not wake the child. Waking up abruptly, he will probably be frightened and shocked. Carefully move the baby to the crib. If the attacks are repeated often, do not take your eyes off the child at night. In a state of sleepwalking, the baby can get hurt. Sleepwalking in itself is not dangerous, however, the child should block access to stairs, glass doors and windows, remove all piercing and cutting objects away.

Sleep is a very important component of the life of any person, which has no small impact on both the physical and mental health of a person. Thanks to sleep, a person can restore depleted energy reserves. So what happens when a person sleeps? Some people dream, while others suffer from such a phenomenon as sleepwalking. Such people are called lunatics or somnambulists.

Somnambulism is a disorder characterized by walking during sleep. A lunatic can perform a wide variety of actions at this time: eat, clean, talk and do the most various activities. According to a study, from 1 to 15% of people have a predisposition to sleepwalking.

Sleepwalking occurs when a person enters deep sleep phases. It is customary to distinguish between 5 phases of sleep and one phase of REM sleep. The second phase of sleep occupies most of the pastime in a dream - 50%. The REM sleep phase takes up 20% of the time, and the remaining 30% of the sleep time falls on the rest of the phases. The easiest is the first phase of sleep. During the second, the person's eyes stop moving and the brain waves slow down.

It is generally accepted that somnambulism manifests itself when a person is in phases of deep sleep - the third and fourth, during which brain waves begin to appear. Somnambulism takes an average of 5 to 15 minutes, although in some cases it can take a few seconds or more than half an hour. If the lunatic is not touched, by the end of this phenomenon he will return to bed again.

Why do people sleepwalk? Sleepwalking is explained by the fact that the part of the human brain responsible for sleep blocks certain nerves during sleep. The sleep center and the body are usually connected, but in lunatics the brain is asleep and the body is awake.

Somnambulism is not dangerous in most cases, however, if the lunatic performs simple actions. But in some cases, a somnambulist can harm both himself and other people. In some countries, cases of rape and even murder of other people by a sleepwalker have been recorded, which is not typical for them in ordinary life. In addition, frequent manifestations of sleepwalking can even cause health problems.

According to statistics, children are more likely to suffer from sleepwalking than adults, also among sleepwalkers more faces male than female. Also, scientists have found that sleepwalking is a hereditary disease.

Sleep apnea, head trauma, fever, arrhythmia, nocturnal asthma attacks, stress, alcohol, and certain medications contribute to somnambulism.

Despite the fact that the lunatic is sleeping, his eyes remain open, and his face does not convey any emotions. The sleepwalker, for his own safety, is best carefully carried to bed.

And here are some interesting cases Sleepwalking: Lee Hedwin, a North Wales resident and health worker, paints at night and doesn't even remember doing it himself in the morning.

Robert Wood, a former chef, loves to cook at night. During an attack of somnambulism, he gets up, turns on the TV loudly and puts deep fryers on.

Rebecca Armstrong found her husband Ian at two in the morning doing a strange thing: in the nude, during sleep, he mowed the lawn, and in the morning he could not even remember what had happened.

But the most tragic was the case of Kenneth Parks, who on May 23, 1987, in a state of sleepwalking, started the car, drove 23 kilometers to the house of his wife's parents, where he stabbed his mother-in-law and tried to strangle his father-in-law. Sleep experts testified at the trial, after which Parks was acquitted.

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Everyone knows the definition of sleepwalking, so we will not dwell on it. Most of us have probably done this at some point in our lives. This is a fairly common occurrence that is generally harmless and occurs very rarely. But for some people, sleepwalking can be a scary thing. Keep reading for 10 scary but real cases of sleepwalkers.

Kenneth Parks

Let's start right away famous case sleepwalking-crime. Kenneth is a Canadian who started suffering from insomnia in his early 20s. He developed it after he lost his job and accumulated a bunch of debts on gambling. On May 23, 1987, Parks got out of bed, drove 10 kilometers to his wife's parents' house, killed his mother-in-law and wounded his father-in-law. After that, he himself came to the police in the same state of sleepwalking. The court believed, and the experts confirmed that Kenneth could have done this in his sleep, in connection with which he was found not guilty.

"Nameless" Australian woman

A woman from Australia suffered from sleepwalking. Although there is not much information about this case, but here is what is known. The woman had a boyfriend, but she regularly got up, left her house, and had sex with men she didn't know. This happened over the course of several months. At first, no one understood what was happening and why there were so many condoms around the house, but one night the boyfriend woke up and did not find his beloved next to him. After a short search, he found her on the street when she was half asleep having sex with a stranger. Luckily she was cured...

Timothy Brueggeman

Timothy Brueggeman from upstate Wisconsin, is the only person from this list, who has no history of sleepwalking, but rather suffered from terrible insomnia for many years. One summer, he drove his pickup truck into a tree after falling asleep at the wheel. After that, the doctors prescribed him sleeping pills Ambien. While this drug has been linked to hundreds of cases of sleepwalking, its manufacturers claim the drug is perfectly safe, as long as it's taken correctly. In January 2009, however, Brueggeman, after taking these pills for the first time, and what would turn out to be the last time, went to sleepwalk. He left the house in one underwear when it was terribly cold outside ... The next morning they found him in his shorts, frozen in a snowdrift not far from the house.

James Currens

James Currens was a sleepwalker for a long time, but his worst adventure happened when he was 77. In 1998, he got up and left the house, taking only his cane with him ... It probably saved his life. Leaving the house, he recovered towards the pond, but got stuck in the mud. Waking up, he found himself surrounded by alligators, and only a cane and loud screams, which attracted the police, helped him survive.

Jules Lowe

In 2003, Edward Lowe was found dead in his garden. Death came to an 83-year-old man after terrible beatings. A neighbor noticed Edward's body on the road and contacted the police, who arrested the man's son, Jules. Father and son drank before that night, but the cause of the tragedy was not alcohol, but sleepwalking. The Lowe family had a long history of sleepwalking, and everyone knew that all of the seizures were caused by alcohol. In court, the lawyers built their defense only on this. And he was acquitted...

Jan Luedecke

Jan Luedecke from Toronto was at the party. After a heavy night of drinking, he fell asleep on the couch. A few hours later, he was awakened by an unknown guy. It turned out that Yang had raped the girl in her sleep, so the guy told him, but Yang did not believe until he went to the bathroom and found the condom that was put on him. The court was initially skeptical of his defense, and even the doctor was not on his side. But he was saved from prison by one of ex girlfriends, who said that Yang, after drinking, becomes a lunatic-sex maniac.

Unknown 15 year old girl

The guy was walking home at 2 am in the town of Dulwich, England. On the way, he noticed a girl who, in pajamas alone, was sleeping on one of the spans of the crane. He called the firemen and an ambulance. The doctors asked her not to touch her, and the firefighters were already aware that some parents had reported the loss of their daughter, who suffered from sleepwalking. Fortunately, the girl was carefully removed from the crane, but no one will ever know how she ended up at a height of 40 meters.

Lesley CusackLesley Cusack

Leslie Cusack is a 55 year old woman from Cheshire, England. This is one of those girls who is after six in the evening, and after midnight ... And at the same time she does all this in her sleep. She cooks in her sleep, uses a gas stove in her sleep, and eats great amount food, yes, yes, in a dream. At first I didn’t know why she was getting fat, but then everything fell into place. She is currently undergoing treatment for sleepwalking. Hope everything goes well with her.

Stuart Miller

Sleepwalking is more common in children than in adults. About 17% of children aged 4-8 have at least one experience of sleepwalking. With age, this figure drops to 5%. Stuart Miller was 8 years old when this incident happened to him. One night in September 1993, Stewart began his adventure. He lived in an apartment in high-rise building on the fourth floor, and that night, he "came out" of the bedroom window. The court ordered the owner of the building to pay $2 million to the victim to replace windows that had no protection. Stuart survived, but for the rest of his life he was chained to wheelchair.

Robert Ledru

Robert Ledru was one of the best detectives in France in the 19th century. He lived in Paris and one morning he was called to investigate the murder of Andre Monet. By all indications, a professional shot, but Robert also discovered that the killer had deprived himself of a toe, and he did it from the same weapon ... Everything was strange, but the strangeness was that ...

In the morning, Robert Ledru woke up in his boots with a bloody toe, and several cartridges were missing from his revolver. To his horror, he realized that it was he who killed Monet at the time when he was sleepwalking. Another interesting fact is that sleepwalking is believed to have been caused by the presence of syphilis in Robert. Understandably, the French police refused to accept this theory when Ledru turned himself in, so they decided to experiment.

They put him in a cell for night observation. And the very first night, he really started to sleepwalk. The next day they placed a pistol next to him. At night, Robert woke up, took a pistol and began to "shoot" at the guards. The police decided that he could not be held responsible for his actions, but still posed a danger to society. So he was exiled to a farm in countryside where he lived the last 50 years of his life with guards and a nurse.

What to do if loved ones sleepwalk?

Today it is known for certain that the Moon has nothing to do with sleepwalkers. Yes, the human nervous system is in a certain connection with the lunar phases. Yes, for some reason people are in a more excited state during the periods of new moons and full moons. But no more. Somnambulism is one of many forms of nervous breakdown, and the moon is just a source of light. In the last century, the German professor Volker Faust, not without pride, announced his discovery - "a lantern can become a source for sleepwalking if it is located in front of a window." Modern doctors have found out that a person prone to sleepwalking does not need a light source at all. He will successfully “lunatize” in complete darkness.

Another myth is that sleepwalkers are flexible and agile, like cats. They can walk on a tightrope at night with their eyes closed, and even falling from the fifth floor, they land on their feet without getting a scratch. A beautiful myth, it is a pity to debunk it, but it will be necessary. Approximately 25% of sleepwalkers harm themselves in one way or another during sleepwalking. Quite often they confuse windows with doors, as a result of which they fall out of them.

But what then to believe? What do we really know about this disease?

So. Sleepwalking is not a rare mental illness, as many people think. Sleepwalking is just a type of nervous breakdown. and mostly affects young children and adolescents. Among adults, lunatics are much less common - 1 person in 1000.

Sleepwalking usually happens no more than two or three times a month. A person begins to "sleepwalk" after sleeping for about an hour, during "slow sleep" or, as it is also called delta sleep.

Things are worse with adults. Indeed, in this case, sleepwalking is a harbinger of serious diseases, such as epilepsy. Do you wander at night? Go to the doctor, go through a special examination, including an encephalogram of the brain. Most likely, the diagnosis will be confirmed - the presence of a focus of epileptic readiness in the temporal lobe.

However, other options are also possible. Single cases of sleepwalking in adults can be caused by severe stress, chronic sleep deprivation, and even high fever.