Sleepwalking (also called noctambulism or somnambulism), under the larger category of Parasomnias, is a sleep disorder where the sufferer engages in activities that are normally associated with wakefulness while asleep or in a sleeplike state. Sleepwalking can affect people of any age. It generally occurs when an individual awakes suddenly from Slow Wave Sleep (SWS or sometimes referred to as "deep sleep"), causing the sleepwalking episode. In children and young adults, up to 25% of the night is spent in SWS. However this decreases as the person ages until none can be measured in the geriatric individual. For this reason, children and young adults (or anyone else with high amount of SWS), are more likely to be woken up and, for the same reasons, they are witnessed to have many more episodes than the older individuals.

Statistics

• Somewhere between 1% and 17% of U.S. children sleepwalk, and juveniles are seen to be those more prone to the activity.
• Some 18% of Americans are prone to the act, roughly 2 in 11 of the US population
• One study showed that the highest prevalence of sleepwalking was 16.7% for children of 11 to 12 years of age.
• Boys are seen to be more likely to sleepwalk than girls.

Activities such as eating, dressing or even driving cars have also been recorded as taking place while the subjects are technically asleep. Contrary to popular belief, most cases of sleepwalking do not consist of walking around (without the conscious knowledge of the subject). Most cases of somnambulism occur when the person is woken up (something or someone disturbs their SWS), the person may sit up, look around and immediately go back to sleep. But these kinds of incidence are rarely noticed or reported unless recorded in a sleep clinic.

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Sometimes i walk slowly but please be convinced, that's not sleepwalking.
genoa_to_geneva (Jay Boonmamanee) Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:18:22 -0000
Sometimes i walk slowly but please be convinced, that's not sleepwalking.
@perihadion Are you exhausted? I find when I have been getting very little sleep, I begin sleepwalking again ( I did it as a kid..)
Scarysecrets (Catherine Blake) Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:13:17 -0000
@perihadion Are you exhausted? I find when I have been getting very little sleep, I begin sleepwalking again ( I did it as a kid..)
Sleepwalking off the cultural cliff | eChurchWebsites Christian ...: Great article as usual from Melanie Phillips, ... http://bit.ly/4EDFIc
CCMSWebDesigns (Pastor Kevin Essett) Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:34:35 -0000
Sleepwalking off the cultural cliff | eChurchWebsites Christian ...: Great article as usual from Melanie Phillips, ... http://bit.ly/4EDFIc
It turns out that I was sleepwalking last night. What is wrong with my brain?
perihadion (Mary L. O.) Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:11:56 -0000
It turns out that I was sleepwalking last night. What is wrong with my brain?
#musicmonday Sleepwalking Through The Mekong (Morgan Page Remix)
CorinaCorinna (Corina Corinna) Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:58:48 -0000
#musicmonday Sleepwalking Through The Mekong (Morgan Page Remix)
Sleepwalking counter: 5
AnnikaInAmerica (Annika Brink) Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:58:06 -0000
Sleepwalking counter: 5

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