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Moonstruck? Why people sleepwalk

2021-06-08T23:23:14.578Z


Children in particular get up at night and wander around. That usually stops at some point. Adults who sleepwalk should, however, have the cause clarified.


Children in particular get up at night and wander around.

That usually stops at some point.

Adults who sleepwalk should, however, have the cause clarified.

Often sleepwalking begins with people suddenly straightening up in bed at night.

You look around, seem confused.

Sometimes they lie down and go back to sleep.

However, if you get up, you only half perceive your surroundings.

They move furniture or run out onto the street.

The risk that sleepwalkers will hurt themselves and others is high.

Sleepwalking is not uncommon for children. According to the German Society for Sleep Research and Sleep Medicine (DGSM), up to 30 percent of all girls and boys experience at least one episode of sleepwalking, and up to four percent sleepwalking frequently. Often the parents are then very worried, in contrast to their offspring. “

Sleepwalkers themselves are not aware of their nocturnal excursions and cannot remember them the next morning,

” says Professor Thomas Penzel, scientific director of the Interdisciplinary Sleep Medicine Center at the Berlin Charité.

According to Penzel, who is also chairman of the DGSM, the cause of sleepwalking in children is probably a

temporary disorder of the brain

.

“As a rule, this is still not dangerous and grows out over time.” According to the DGSM, sleepwalking persists into adulthood in one percent of children.

Sleepwalking: How to Take Precautions to Protect

It is important to take precautions to protect the child. "The main thing is to secure doors and windows," says Roland Wenzelburger. The neurologist with a practice in Altenholz near Kiel is a member of the Professional Association of German Neurologists (BVDN). It can also be helpful to place an

alarm mat in front of the child's bed

. If it gets up at night, the parents are woken up and can stop the sleepwalking offspring.

When addressing the child, you should "

absolutely remain calm,

" says somnologist Penzel.

It is advisable to wake sleepwalkers as gently as possible and to call them by name.

You talk to her reassuringly and lead her back to bed.

If the child sleeps more often and is therefore very often tired and unable to concentrate during the day, parents should seek medical advice.

Then it is important to sound out possible triggers for sleepwalking, for example stress * at school, and to identify possible solutions.

It is rather unusual for sleepwalking to appear for the first time in adolescence or even later in life.

Triggers could be a nocturnal breathing disturbance (sleep apnea syndrome) or restless legs (restless legs syndrome) during sleep.

+

When sleepwalkers get out of the house, it can become dangerous for them.

© Kai Remmers / dpa

Other causes of nocturnal restlessness

It is possible that

disturbances of

consciousness occur

at night as a result of taking

sleeping pills, heart medication or psychotropic drugs

.

Then it could happen that those affected get up half asleep and half awake.

However, such disturbances of consciousness are to be distinguished from classic sleepwalking as well as exceptional states of mental illness and nocturnal epileptic attacks.

“REM sleep behavior disorder must also be differentiated from sleepwalking,” says Penzel.

REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement) is a phase of sleep that - as the English term suggests - is characterized by rapid (rapid) eye movements.

If the REM sleep behavior disorder occurs, the person concerned moves because of a dream they have experienced and, for example, lashes out.

Here, too, there is a sometimes high risk of injury

.

If such situations pile up and they burden you and your relatives, it is time to have a sleep medicine clarify which disorder is actually present.

If the diagnosis is REM sleep behavior disorder, a drug is usually prescribed that patients take at bedtime and that reduces muscle activity during REM sleep.

+

With electrodes on the head and body, doctors try to find the cause of the nocturnal excursions in the sleep laboratory.

© Jens Büttner / dpa

Medication as a trigger for sleepwalking?

If the use of certain drugs is suspected of being the trigger for sleepwalking, the drugs are put to the test and a check is made to see whether they can be exchanged for equivalent drugs.

If it is stress or conflict situations that cause sleepwalking, cognitive behavioral therapy may be helpful

.

Relaxation methods such as autogenic training or meditation before bed also help to reduce physical and psychological tension.

(dpa)

* Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.

+

Doing relaxation exercises before bed can help you sleep more soundly at night.

© Zacharie Scheurer / dpa

Read more

: Perfect sleep time graded according to age: You really need that much sleep.

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With these eight tricks you will never sleep badly again

Source: merkur

All life articles on 2021-06-08

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