Why Do People Sleep Walk

The frequent nature of sleep walking in children often causes the question "Why do people sleep walk?" The reasons for sleep walking in children and adults are basically the same.

Discover causes of sleepwalking

From the time when a person falls asleep until they awaken, sleepers cycle back and forth between two types of sleep:

• Non-rapid eye movement (NREM)
• Rapid eye movement (REM)

The body functions very differently between the two types of sleep:

• NREM makes up about 75 percent of a person's total sleep time including:
  • Falling asleep
  • Lightly sleeping
  • Body temperature dropping
  • Breathing becoming slower
  • Muscles becoming relaxed
  • Body systems resting

• REM sleep, the remaining 25 percent of sleep time, first occurs about 90 minutes after a person falls asleep. Throughout the night, the cycles of REM sleep get longer and the sleep gets deeper. During REM sleep:
  • The brain becomes very active
  • Dreams occur
  • Muscles relax and become immobile

Sleep walking (also called somnambulism) typically happens during a NREM sleep, usually during the first third of the person's sleep cycle. When it occurs, a sleeping person becomes able to sit up in bed, look and move around, walk and perform other actions as if they are awake.

Sleepwalkers usually do not walk around with their arms extended forward as depicted by sleepwalkers in the movies. Instead, they usually appear to be making very normal motions. For example, people who sleep walk may:

• Sit up in bed and look around the room
• Try to speak
• Walk around the room
• Perform complicated physical activities such as move furniture, get dressed or undressed or go to the bathroom
• Leave the room to walk around the house
• Walk out of the house
• Get in a car and drive

The sleep walking activities may only last a few seconds or they can last for as long as 30 minutes. The sleep walker may appear awake, with open eyes; however, they are not awake and they will be difficult to awaken. Once awake, the sleepwalker will not remember sleep walking when asked about the event.

Sleep walking is one of the most commonly reported sleep disorders:

• Up to 15 percent of adults sleep walk
• Sleep walking is more common in young children than teens or adults
• Sleep walking children are likely to have obstructive sleep apnea or wet the bed
• Sleep walking tends to run in families, with 80 percent of children having a family member with a history of sleep walking

One-time sleep walking is very common for children. As many as 15 to 40 percent of children between the ages of about three to seven sleep walk at least once in their lives. Only three to four percent of children will sleep walk on a regular basis.

The overall cause of sleep walking is unknown. It is believed that sleep walking is caused when the sleeper's pattern of alternating REM and NREM sleep cycles is suddenly broken for any reason.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, an educational source of information on sleep disorders, sleep walking is viewed by the medical community as a behavior disorder; however, it is not considered to be a psychological or psychiatric problem.

Sleep walking in children can be caused by:

• Breathing problems such as those caused by sleep apnea
• Fatigue
• Inadequate sleep
• Fever or illness
• Anxiety

Sleep walking in adults can be caused by the same factors as those listed above for children plus the following:

• Sedatives and certain other medications
• Reactions to drugs
• Alcohol
• Getting too tired
• Sleep deprivation
• Insomnia
• Stress, anxiety and conflict
• Medical conditions which cause partial seizures

If you or a family member sleep walks, knowing the general answers to the question "Why do people sleep walk?" is not enough. It is best to consult a physician for answers to what is triggering the sleep walking in your specific situation. Sleepwalking can be dangerous if the person trips, falls or injures themselves walking or driving.

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