Sleepwalking sleep disorder can be found in approximately 14% of children and only about 1% of adults. Sleep walking is also known as somnambulism and, although many people will do it once or twice in their lives, it’s very rare that you will find someone who does it with the frequency necessary to consider it a sleep disorder. However, for those who do suffer from somnambulism, the effects aren’t only a lack of sleep, but there can also be dangerous aspects to sleepwalking.

Before treatment can even be explored, it’s important to know what causes sleep walking and better understand it. With the sleepwalking sleep disorder, the brain does not wake up at the same time. The part of the brain that controls movement is awake and a sleepwalker can see what they are doing, but the part of the brain responsible for understanding and recognition is still sleeping. This is what causes a sleepwalker to get up and move around, but not respond to their name or conversation. This is also what causes the condition to be potentially dangerous for many.

What Causes Sleep Walking In Children?

The causes of sleep walking sleep disorder vary in children and adults, but for children, the cause is usually as simple as immature sleep cycles. When sleep cycles haven’t matured it can cause a disruption in sleep patterns until they are able to grow out of it. In fact, almost all children who suffer from sleepwalking will outgrow it in a very small amount of time.

What Causes Sleep Walking In Adults?

In adults, the causes usually have to do with stress, disrupted sleep, exhaustion and anxiety. In rare cases, sleep walking can be caused from conditions such as epilepsy. In the case of stress and anxiety, it is thought that the entire brain isn’t allowed to fully sleep in the first place, which is why somnambulism results.

Treatment for the sleepwalking sleep disorder can vary greatly depending on how much danger a person faces from the condition. It is widely recommended that when a child sleep walks, the best thing to do is take them back to bed and ensure that they are once again resting comfortably. In kids, the episodes generally don’t last for a long time and will resolve themselves.

In adults, it may be necessary to treat sleepwalking sleep disorder a little differently. The first step is to determine how much danger the individual is in. For instance, if the sleepwalker is at risk of getting in the car and going for a drive, then it may be necessary to take other safety measures to protect against this such as hiding the car keys. When this begins to happen, it is important to seek treatment for this condition so that the sleepwalker doesn’t hurt themselves or anyone else.

There are behavioral treatments and prescriptions that can be used to treat sleepwalking sleep disorders, but these should only be used in extreme cases. If you are concerned about an ongoing sleepwalking situation, you should consult your health-care professional to see what you can do to treat the condition.

Sleep walking disorder is most common in preteen youngsters and happens often enough to be a common concern among parents. If you find your child wandering around in the dark rest assured it isn’t unusual and you’re not alone in your worries. Fortunately most children outgrow Sleep walking disorder by their teens.

What Is A Sleep Walking Disorder?

In spite of its name sleep walking, also called somnambulism, does not just involve walking. Those who suffer from sleep walking disorder can often be found simply sitting up in bed, or worst case scenarios walking around stairways, or outside. Those affected by sleep walking disorder do not usually realize they are doing it and will often react with surprise when you tell them of their nightly wanderings. There have even been reports of people sitting up and answering questions in their sleep, laying back down, and having no recollection of the conversation when awake.

While superstition suggests it is bad to wake up a sleep walker in reality it has no effect on them other than the fact that they are often disoriented for a few minutes. Because this condition often occurs in the deepest stages of the sleep cycle then can be very difficult to wake up while sleep walking.

What Causes Sleep Walking?

There are many things that can trigger sleep walking disorder. They include general lack of sleep, sleep that gets interrupted frequently, illness, fever, some medications, general stress. In spite of many beliefs there is no connection between sleep walking and mental illness. It is a very normal response to any of the above conditions. There is no reason to worry about a sleep walker physically or mentally but great care should be taken to not allow them to harm themselves during a bout of sleep walking. If someone you live with experiences repeated sleep walking events it is a good idea to guard stairways with gates, and be sure to make doors to the outside inaccessible.

How To Help A Sleep Walker

There are several things you can do to make a sleep walker more relaxed. There is no real cure for sleep walking disorder but following the list below can lessen sleep walking events:

• Avoid all caffeine based drinks including hot chocolate and sodas several hours before bedtime.

• Set regular bed and naptime schedules that are appropriate for the sleep walker’s age group.

• Stop all liquids several hours before bedtime.

• Provide a quiet and peaceful room for your sleep walker.

The best method for dealing with a sleep walker when you find them wandering about is to lead them back to bed and tuck them in. They will usually fall right back to sleep and you can rest assured it is a temporary condition.

There is still a great deal that isn’t known about sleepwalking, but we do know it occurs during the stage of sleep when a person should be dreaming. This gives credit to that fact that people really may not remember what they do while sleepwalking. Some individuals only sleepwalk once in a while and others do it all the time. Parents often lose sleep when their children sleepwalk as they want to protect them from dangers.

Statistically, up to 18% of the population has experienced a sleepwalking episode at one time or another in their life. For children who will outgrow the problem it should go away around the time they go through puberty due to chemical changes in the brain. Boys and men are more likely to suffer from problems with sleepwalking than girls for women.

For those that do sleepwalk regularly, they may continually feel tired. This is because they body doesn’t really get the rest that it should. An episode of sleepwalking can last from a couple of minutes up to a couple of hours. For some people the issues of sleepwalking seem to get continually worse as they get older. Some children with this problem simply outgrow it though as they get older.

Some researchers believe that sleepwalking is the result of a hereditary gene, but this has not been proven. Others believe it has to do with the level of stress that a person has or their diet. Some types of prescription medications have been linked to possibly triggering sleepwalking episodes in people that have never experienced it before. For those that have, it can increase the length of their sleepwalking episodes ore cause them to occur more often.

There has been some research to indicate that sleepwalking is an early sign of mental health problems that a person may experience later in life. However, it is hard to really document this because so many professionals doing the assessments for mental health issues don’t ask about sleepwalking that has occurred in the person’s life. Also, since mental health problems can be heredity it can’t be linked only to the episodes of sleepwalking.

For most people, sleepwalking really isn’t a dangerous activity. It is important to lock all the doors and windows in the home though. This is extremely important for children as you don’t want them wondering around outdoors while you are inside sleeping. You may find it is a good time to install a home alarm as an added precaution.

Since many researchers believe anxiety and stress can lead a person to sleepwalking, hypnosis may be a good source of treatment. It can help the individual unleash those feelings and freely explore them. Sometimes counseling or group therapy can help but if they person doesn’t realize the underlying issues they can’t successfully address them. With hypnosis though those feelings locked deeply inside can be reached.

Some people are able to self treat their sleepwalking issues as they recognize emerging patterns. For example some people find they sleepwalk after consuming alcohol or when they have been going on very little sleep for several days. Being aware of these triggers can help you make lifestyle changes to avoid them.

Getting your body in the routine for sleep can be helpful too. Establish a regular bedtime ritual such as reading a book or taking a relaxing bath. Try to go to bed each night at the same time. Get up at the same time each morning too even if you don’t need to be anywhere. This will help your body to determine when it is appropriate to sleep and when it isn’t.

Medication and restraints should be a last resort for sleepwalking treatments only after all other efforts have failed. While it may sound harsh to strap a child or an adult to their bed at night it may be the only way to keep them from hurting themselves due to sleepwalking. These methods should only be used when the sleepwalking is occurring almost every night and there is a fear that the individual is going to harm themselves or others due to it.