Sleepwalking

"Sleepwalker" redirects here. For other uses, see Sleepwalker (disambiguation).

Sleepwalking (also called noctambulism or somnambulism) is a sleep disorderwhere the sufferer engages in activities that are normally associated with wakefulness while asleepor in a sleeplike state. Sleepwalking can affect people of any age.

Statistics

• Somewhere between 1% and 17% of USchildren sleepwalk, and juveniles are seen to be those more prone to the activity.
• Some 18% of Americans are prone to the act, roughly 2 in 11 of the US population
• One study showed that the highest prevalence of sleepwalking was 16.7% for children of 11 to 12 years of age.
• Boys are seen to be more likely to sleepwalk than girls.

Activities such as eating, dressing or even driving carshave also been recorded as taking place while the subjects are technically asleep. Most cases of sleepwalking, however, usually consist of walking, without the conscious knowledge of the subject.

Sleepwalkers engage in their activities with their eyesopen so they can navigate their surroundings, not with their eyes closed and their armsoutstretched as parodied in cartoonsand Hollywoodproductions. The victims' eyes may have a glazed or empty appearance and if questioned, the subject will be slow to answer or unresponsive.

While sleepwalking itself does not inherently pose a health concern, accidents may happen as the subject is performing actions without the control of conscious mind. If the walker commits a criminal offence while asleep, the defence of automatismmay be available (see automatism (case law)for a detailed discussion of the laws in various countries).

A common myth surrounding this disorder is that one should never wake a sleepwalker while he is engaged in the activity. In truth, there is no implicit danger in waking a sleepwalker, though the subject may be disoriented or embarrassed when awakened. In fact, when a sleepwalker is a danger to himself or others, (for example, when climbing up or down steps or trying to use a potentially dangerous tool such as a stove or a knife), waking him is advisable. It has even been reported that people have died while sleepwalking and falling out of windows as a result.

While sleepwalking, conductor Harry F. Rosenthalhas sat up in bed, conducted, and vocalized instruments, according to his wife.

Sleepwalking is a major theme in the classic silentGerman Expressionistfilm Das Kabinett des Dr. Kaligari (Englishtitle: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) 1919.

In Shakespeare'sfamous play Macbeth, Lady Macbethis mentioned to be a sleepwalker, leading up to her eventual madnessand suicide.

External links

• SleepDisorderChannel.net's article on Sleepwalking
• 'Sleepwalker' accused of murder - BBC news article dated 10 March 2005
• Teen 'sleepwalks to top of crane'- BBC news article dated 6 July 2005
• http://www.absm.org/Diplomates/listing.htm- A worldwide listing of doctors certified by the American Board of Sleep Medicinebg:?????????????

da:Søvngængeri de:Somnambulismus es:Sonambulismo fr:Somnambulisme it:Sonnambulismo nl:Slaapwandelen pl:Somnambulizm pt:Sonambulismo sk:Námesa?níctvo fi:Unissakävely

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleepwalking Wikipedia article Sleepwalking.