Sleepwalking (Somnambulism or Noctambulism ) is a sleep disorder in which a person walks or engages in other activities while still asleep or sleep like state.
Sleepwalking can affect people of any age. However highest prevalence of sleepwalking was seen in children of 11 to 12 years of age. It generally occurs when an individual awakes suddenly from deep sleep. While most sleepwalking incidents are short and not dangerous, some can involve self-injury and are much more dangerous for the sleeper.
When a person sleeps his highest prevalence of sleepwalking was seen in children of 11 to 12 years of age. brain passes through five stages of sleep. The sleep cycle is catagorised in number 1,2,3,4 and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. One complete sleep cycle lasts about 90 to 100 minutes. Experts say that a person experiences about four or five sleep cycles during an average night's sleep.
Sleepwalking often occurs during the deeper sleep of stages 3 and 4. During these stages, it's more difficult to wake someone up, and when awakened, a person may feel groggy and disoriented for a few minutes. Children tend to sleepwalk within an hour or two of falling asleep and may walk around for anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes.Some of it causes are lack of sleep or fatigue, interrupted sleep, abnormal heart rhythms, illness or fever, certain medications, stress or due to organic brain syndrome (in elderly).
Home treatment for Sleep Walking:****
There is no particular treatment for sleep walking. However some methods like hypnosis (for both children and adults), psychiatric intervention and medications such as, benzodiazepines, diazepam or lorazepam have been helpful in reducing the amount of sleepwalking. Some of the best home treatments are listed below,
Get adequate sleep.
Establish a regular sleep and nap schedule and stick to it - both nighttime and wake-up time.
Try relaxation exercises or meditation.
Make sure bedroom is quiet, cozy, and conducive to sleeping.
Avoid alcohol intake before going to bed.
To keep yourself safe follow these safety measures,
Remove anything from the bedroom that could be hazardous or harmful.
Remove obstacles from the room and throughout the house to prevent a stumble.
Install safety gates outside the room and at the top of any stairs. The best method is to place an alarm or bell on the bedroom door.
Make sure the bedroom is on the ground floor of the house.
