Sleepwalking - What Should You Know About It?

The sleepwalking disorder is more common in young children and the frequency is less in the case of adolescents and adults. Children of age group 3 to 7 years are most likely to experience episodes of sleepwalking.

The sleepwalking disorder does not exhibit any racial or ethnic preference. Sleepwalkers can t respond during the event of sleepwalking and they usually do not remember anything about the episode of sleepwalking. In a few cases, they may reply to your questions but the answers do not make any sense.

Sleepwalking is associated with a number of factors such as i) Genetic factors that is if a person has the first-degree relative who sleepwalk, he or she is more likely to get affected by sleepwalking than someone with no sleepwalkers in the family. ii) Environmental factors such as sleep deprivation, chaotic sleep schedule, alcoholism, and magnesium deficiency can lead to sleepwalking. iii) physiological and medical factors like stress, fever, arrhythmia, obstructive sleep apnea, few psychiatric disorders, and nighttime seizures may contribute to sleepwalking. Specific conditions such as menstruation and pregnancy may increase the frequency of sleepwalking episodes.

The symptoms of the sleepwalking disorder include a quiet walk around the room, an agitated running or attempt to escape, open eyes with a glassy stare look and dilated pupil, slow or no response if someone asks something or gibberish response, and inability to recall anything that happened during the sleepwalking episode.