Over his many years of research and experience as a sleep consultant Robert Lindeman has dealt with a number of troubling sleep disorders.

One sleep disorder in particular that effects a large number of his patients is sleepwalking.

SLEEPWALKING AS A SLEEPING DISORDER:

Sleepwalking is a common occurrence in the lives of humans, especially in youth. They often crawl out of bed and wake up in the living room or dirty up your kitchen without you knowing. However, sleepwalking can become a serious problem if it continues into adulthood. About 30% of all adults have said they have issues with sleepwalking that have been classified as having a serious sleeping disorder. This can be treated, but to understand the treatment, you should understand what sleepwalking entails. Below, Robert Lindeman describes some of the major aspects of sleepwalking and what people should look out for. 

What is sleepwalking?

Sleepwalking or somnambulism is an act that occurs when a person is asleep. During sleepwalking the sleeper will literally walk out of bed and either wander around the house or resort to more serious actions. Robert Lindeman has had patients undergo a wide variety of bizarre experiences while sleepwalking. People have been known to clean an entire room without waking up, repack cupboards, drive long distances, and other bizarre, even dangerous behavior that usually occurs when one is awake. Researchers have found that people who suffer from sleepwalking are generally sleep deprived and may lead very stressful lives. The sleepwalker thus remains in a deep sleep and it is generally very difficult to wake them up.

What are the symptoms of sleepwalking?

Robert Lindeman has examined that the symptoms of sleepwalking can differ from person to person. If you have a sleepwalker in the house you should be monitoring their behavior as best as you can. The most obvious sign of sleepwalking is walking in one’s sleep. Sleepwalkers also talk in their sleep, perform actions with very little or no memory of it, are difficult to arouse during an episode, exert inappropriate behavior such as urinating in closets, experience intense screaming (especially when having a night terror), and may get violent to those around them without them knowing.

What are the causes of sleepwalking?

As already stated one of the most common causes of sleepwalking is stress, but this is not the only cause. The range is very wide, and again it depends on the person who is sleepwalking. People can become sleepwalkers in a hereditary sense – a parent or grandparent could have suffered from somnambulism. It can be caused by sleep deprivation or a chaotic sleeping schedule. It could also be because the person is drunk or because he or she takes drugs such as sedative-hypnotics, neuroleptics, stimulants, or antihistamine. People can also sleepwalk if they serious medical conditions such as heart rhythm problems, fever, heartburn, asthma, seizures, or restless leg syndrome.

How can sleepwalking be treated?

There is no known medical treatment for sleepwalking. The only solution as recommended by experts such as Robert Lindeman is to try to relax your lifestyle. Make sure that you get enough sleep at night, try to limit your stress and engage in meditation exercises, and avoid any kind of stimulation before you go to bed. If this does not help, you might have to consider seeing a doctor. Sleepwalking might be a symptom of an underlying medical problem such as sleep apnea or gastroesophageal reflux.