Sleepwalking: What You Should Know About It

Sleepwalking is also known as somnambulism is a type of  parasomnia. A parasomnia includes undesired interruption in ones sleep.  Sleepwalking happens when you get up from your sleep, and walk around your house. You are actually still in a state of sleep when you are sleepwalking around. It can, likewise, include a progression of other complex activities. You are likely to suddenly get up from sleep and sit on your bed, looking around like you are dazed or confused. Another type of sleepwalking involves abruptly rising in the midst of sleep and running away. Apparently, the patients feel that there is an acute threat, and they must escape from it by running away.

There are more features of sleepwalking. Here is a list of facts on sleepwalking which you should know.

1. You may talk or yell as you are sleep walking. Your eyes are normally open and have a look of confusion. The eyes also seem to be glassy. You may perform some activities, which are not supposed to be done at night.
2. Strange, peculiar and weird actions are carried out while sleepwalking, in inappropriate places. Urinating in a garbage can, rearranging your furniture or jumping out of the window are common weird activities, which can be observed in sleepwalkers. The patient turns very violent and arrogant.
3. In uncommon cases, a patient will get into a car and set out for some unknown location. The patient may even choose to get separate for a long duration. Exposure of inappropriate body parts is also observed in sleepwalkers. Grown ups may dream or fantasize while they sleepwalk.
4. Some people tend to eat during sleepwalking phase.
5. Waking up a sleepwalker is a very difficult thing to do. When a patient finally wakes up, he is in a state of utter fix and confusion. No memory of the events that happened during sleepwalking remain, and a patient cannot recall anything. Adult patients may sometimes recall very few traces of what might have happened. A clear memory of the events is rarely found in sleepwalkers.
6. At times, the patient becomes so violent that he may attack anyone who tries to wake him up. This is seen more in men. The sleepwalking may end abruptly, and the patient will find himself in an unknown place. The last memory that he might recall is going to sleep in bed. Some patients return  to their beds after a stroll automatically, without waking up.
7. Sleepwalking usually occurs in the first ot the third half of a person's sleeping phase.

Sleepwalking is an unhealthy phenomenon and measures should be taken if you find someone to be sleepwalking.