Sleepwalking / talking / nightmares?

Question

what are the causes of sleepwalking, nightmares and sleeptalking? for someone who hardly ever walks, talks sometimes, and has mild nightmares. just suddenly want to know why!!

Answer 1

SLEEP TALKING
Sleep talking (somniloquy) refers to any utterance made during sleep, from one word to entire sentences. It can be brought on by stress or some illness. It is relatively harmless although disturbing to room mates.

SYMPTOMS:
Speaking or muttering during sleep
Sleeper is not aware he is talking
Sometimes shouting, singing or moaning
May be associated with other sleep disorders
May be associated with physical or mental illness

TREATMENT
Avoid or eliminate stress.
Try relaxation techniques or meditation.
Have someone awaken you




SLEEP WALKING
Sleep walking (somnambulism) refers to everything from sitting up in bed to getting up and performing detailed tasks. The sleeper does these things as though in a trance. It's relatively harmless provided the walker is protected from harmful situations like upper story windows, bunk beds and stairs.

SYMPTOMS:

Rising from the bed during sleep
Blank face. Stares into space
Unresponsive when spoken to
Difficult to awaken
No recall of the incident
May consist of sitting up making walking motions, actually walking, or even performing detailed tasks.

TREATMENT
Again, as in nightmares, sleep talking, etc., stress can be a big factor.
Try relaxation techniques or meditation prior to bed time.
Avoid becoming over tired or fatigued.
Some drugs can cause episodes of sleep walking.
Avoid the use of alcohol.
If you sleep with someone, have them awaken you if you become restless.
If you sleep walk, make sure your surroundings are safe and obstacle free. Avoid sleeping upstairs or in an upper bunk




Nightmares
It's important to distinguish between nightmares and night terrors. The two occur during different stages of sleep. Night terrors occur during NREM sleep, cause screaming and thrashing about and are rarely remembered in detail.
Nightmares occur in REM sleep. They cause fear but rarely the screaming and other symptoms associated with night terrors. Nightmares can be remembered as well or badly as any other dream.


Just Bad Dreams?
A nightmare is in effect "just" a bad dream, albeit a very intense one. However nightmares can be extremely distressing and should not be discounted.
During a nightmare the pulse may increase and the body sweat - physiological responses to a very real feeling of fear. Nightmares usually result in the sleeper waking with a feeling of fear or anxiety however this soon passes.

It's wrong to say "only children have nightmares". Certainly children seem to have more nightmares, however most adults still have them on occasion. One difference seems to be that adults are better at ignoring their nightmares. By next morning adults often forget that they had a nightmare - or at least manage to suppress the memory.


What Causes Nightmares?
There's no single cause of nightmares. Sometimes physical factors can be involved, such as illness and/or medication. Sometimes a nightmare reflects some unusual stress or trauma in the waking world. Sometimes it is just a result of small, niggling worries that have been ignored for too long.
Nightmares rarely cause any direct physical harm beyond interrupted sleep. However they can still have an indirect impact. Even if you put the nightmare aside as "just a bad dream", you can find yourself going through the next day feeling unusually irritable, moody or depressed. An unresolved nightmare can lead to a bad day.

One suggestion is to try to "neutralise" the nightmare before going back to sleep. Lie back and visualise a positive, peaceful and happy alternative to the nightmare. If you were being chased, perhaps you turn and face the pursuer, only to discover it's a cuddly teddy bear just having fun. If you were falling, perhaps you float gently down onto a thick feather mattress covered with silk sheets. Even if you can't think of a specific alternative to the dream, be sure to conjure up pleasant scenes and emotions.

If you find that you tend to have repeated nightmares about the same theme, you might want to consider addressing this via lucid dreaming.

Answer 2

Hello CrazyPixie! Good question this.....sleep and sleep disturbances is a whole subject all on its own and can be quite complex.
Sometimes nightmares are caused by something that you have seen or something that has happened to you and it has stuck in your subconscious. It has stuck there, so to speak, because whatever the event was has upset, horrified, or even psychically injured you. Its a sort of playback of what happened. Sometimes the mind actually places you in an event that you were not actually involved in - say that terrible Tsunami for example. You may have nightmares where you are standing on a beach and a wall of water is racing towards you....

Sleepwalking has been linked to anxiety, trauma etc and normally is just a passing phase. Talking in one's sleep can be the vocalisation of a nightmare... you are calling out for help in your dream and in reality - although you are not aware of it. It can also be linked to when a person has a problem to solve, IE where am I going to get the money for the next installment on the mortgage?for example and they keep going over and over it in their mind, even when asleep, and it sort of spills over if you follow.
It's all perfectly natural and is not usually indicative of any serious, underlying mental psychosis...

Sleep disorders are also linked to certain medications, and certain illnesses such as cancer, whereby sufferers, due to anxiety about their condition ,can fall foul of sleep disorders. Those who are bi-polar are susceptible to this condition to...

Hope this helps.......

Answer 3

Don't ever take the sleeping pills route!!

1. They will damage your liver big time and you can get into serious health problems.

2. You will get hooked up on them and you won't be able to have a normal life any more if you don't take your pills everyday.

The sleeping pills industry is damaging our health by capitalizing on our ignorance, and by distracting people from effective and natural ways to deal with this problem. I had been taking prescription sleep medications [Ambien] for over 5 years. It stopped working and I simply took more. Still did not work. Nights were very difficult - medication put me to sleep but I would wake up after 2–3 hours with a strong sympathetic response (fast pulse, pounding heartbeat, wide awake alert). It was a very difficult cycle to break. I was really in bad shape due to lack of sleep.

After years of struggling I was able to cure my insomnia naturally and pretty fast. I followed the Sleep Tracks sleep optimization program, here is their official web -site if you want to take a look: http://www.insomniacure.net

Ohhh..and Good Luck!

Answer 4

As someone who has sleep walked out a first floor window I would also be pretty interested to know. Hit the concrete outside my friends bedroom window at 4am in my pants in the rain. Needless to say, his mum wasn't too sure what had been going on when she answered the front door to let me back in.
Other sleep walking highlights include waking up on a balcony in a court yard at uni (at 6.30 am), starkers, with one of my housemate's towels around my waist. Was rather cold as it was January and I have no idea how long I had been out there!

Please explain!

Answer 5

SLEEP TALKING
Sleep talking (somniloquy) refers to any utterance made during sleep, from one word to entire sentences. It can be brought on by stress or some illness. It is relatively harmless although disturbing to room mates.

SLEEP WALKING
Sleep walking (somnambulism) refers to everything from sitting up in bed to getting up and performing detailed tasks. The sleeper does these things as though in a trance.

Answer 6

Okay - no expert here but here goes
a change in environment
someone new has come into your circle
something is worrying you
a change in lifestyle
loss or grieving
a work issue
unresolved issue
health issue
I hope that helps and Good Luck!

Answer 7

I don't know about sleep walking, but i've heard my dog have dreams/nightmares before. Like in the middle of her sleeping she will sometimes kind of moan or whimper or her legs will kick lol :)

Answer 8

1

Answer 9

just what they are thinking about while they are sleeping or something they thought about earlier i believe it could have been a long time ago and your mind just thought about it i have slepwalked i did it to get a coat because i was cold in my sleep i talked in my sleep about my cousin because our family reuon was coming up

Answer 10

I think this is used as a cover story more than a reality. There are lots of stories but you have to be very upset to do it.

Answer 11

these are some times symptoms, for an underlining / undiagnosed disorder such as depression. usually caused by repressed trauma (something bad not remembered).