Sleepwalking

1. Sleep walking is basicaly exactly what the name entails. Sleepwalking is when the person is asleep and in often times sit up and appear to be fully awake but not.

Some sleepwalkers can do activities such as walking around, move funiture, or even go to the restroom, or in some extreme cases people have even driven cars!
Sleepwalking episodes can last for half an hour or even longer, but for most the time only for a few minutes.

2. Symptoms of sleepwalking include:

• Eyes open while asleep
• May have blank look on face
• Sit up and appear awake during sleep
• Walking during sleep
• Performing other activities of any type during sleep
• Not remembering the sleep walking episode when they wake up
• Acting confused or disoriented when they wake up
• Rarely, aggressive behavior when they are awakened by someone else
• Sleep talking that does not make sense

3. Causes of sleepwalking

• The cause for children sleepwalking is usually unknown
  • Most causes for children include, fatigue, lack of sleep, and also anxiety
• The cause for adults can be due to but not limited to
  • Mental disorders
  • Reactions to alcohol and drugs
  • Medical conditions such as partial complex seizures
• In the elderly, sleepwalking may be a symptom of an organic brain syndrome (OBS) or REM behavior disorders
  • Organic brain syndrome (OBS) is a general term that refers to diseases that cause decreased mental function, mostly in the elderly
• Sleepwalking tends to run in families
• Common with children of the ages 4-8

4.

• For the most part people do not need further examinations and testing. If the sleepwalking occurs often, the doctor may do an exam or tests to rule out other disorders
• If you have a history of emotional problems, the doctor might also want you to have a psychological evaluation to look for causes such as excessive anxiety or stress

5. Treatment of Sleepwalking are:

• Most peolple believe that a sleepwalker should not be woken up due to the confusion and disorientation but from my resources there are no problems with waking a sleepwalker
• There is no true treatment for sleepwalkers
• Sleepwalkers are often injured if walking over powercords or other objects that while awake are easy to avoid
• Some sleepwalkers try to prevent incidents by blocking doorways, moving tripable objects before sleep, and whatever else they feel will prevent injuries from happening
• Avoid the use of alcohol or depressants if you sleepwalk
• Avoid getting too tired and try to prevent insomnia, this can trigger a sleepwalking episode
• Minimize stress, and anxiety, which can worsen the condition


Created by: Chirstopher Schmitt for the teacher of Psychology; Mr. Justin Davie
I'm Christopher Schmitt and I approve this message