What Should You Know About Sleepwalking?

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.

Sleepwalking disorder is also known as somnambulism or noctambulism. Jet lag is a temporary sleep disorder which occurs as a result of variation in the body s circadian rhythm resulting due to traveling across multiple time zones. Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder which causes excessive sleepiness, hallucinations, and episodes of cataplexy in few cases. Obstructive sleep apnea is caused due to partial or complete obstruction of the upper airway. It results in interrupted sleep, as breathing repeatedly starts and stops unknowingly, while the person is sleeping.

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.