The main symptoms, causes and treatment of somnambulism

Somnambulism, a dream or it is also called sleepwalking, is a state of altered consciousness with a combination of the phenomenon of wakefulness and sleep. Behavior of the patient with this disease looks purposeful, while it is completely unconscious. When a person wakes up in the morning, he only has vague memories of his night activities, and in most cases, memories are completely absent. Somnambulism occurs when the braking of the nervous system is not widespread in the area of ​​the brain that determines motor functions.

What is it?

The most striking example of action is when a person who sleeps without waking up, talks, gets up, sits down in bed. Episodes of somnambulism usually appear in an hour and a half since the person falls asleep, with the entry into force of the phase of slow sleep. This is the classic picture of the dream: the sleeper rises and begins to perform certain stereotyped and coordinated movements, his eyes are open at the same time. It is not ruled out that his actions can also be antisocial.

If a person is in a state of somnambulism, then his pupils are narrowed, he has a look called frozen. There is no spontaneous transition to wakefulness from the somnambulistic state, the episode ends more often in that a person returns to the normal state of his sleep after fifteen minutes, but there are cases when the somnambulistic condition lasted up to fifty minutes. When a patient with somnambulism wakes up in the morning, he does not believe the stories of his relatives that he behaved in this way.

The problem of somnambulism is most common in childhood and adolescence, since it is at this period of a person's life that the nervous system is rather fragile.

Children experience many overloads caused by a tense learning program, stresses caused by this violation. Childhood is often observed, and as the child grows older, it disappears. The peculiarity is that night walking usually occurs during periods of particularly difficult times when a person has certain difficulties. It is very important to note that in these children mental health is normal.

There is a close connection between night terrors and somnambulism. They are considered as a disorder of awakening - after the deepest stages( stages 3 and 4) of sleep. Many patients have hereditary complications from these conditions( one of them), and in the anamnesis both of these conditions.

Both disorders are most common in early childhood, and this indicates that in the development of their etiology the main role is played by ontogenetic factors.

In addition, there are cases when the onset of both conditions coincides with a febrile illness. And if, at the end of childhood, they persist or are first manifested in adulthood, these two conditions are combined with psychological disorders.

These conditions can also appear for the first time at a later age or at an early stage of dementia.

Symptoms of infection are:

• eyes, during sleep open;
• is a blank facial expression;
• during sleep may look awake and sit down;
• during sleep walking;
• does not remember the event after waking up;
• on awakening, disorientation, confusion;
• in a dream talks without a purpose and is unclear.

Reasons for the occurrence of

There are several reasons for this disease. For example, in many cases, the twilight state of consciousness is thus manifested. In this state, people do not remember their wanderings in a dream, in spite of the fact that in doing so he performs ordered actions. All his night walks are further amnesed. In addition, when discussing the subject of the causes of sleepwalking, it must be remembered that such a state can be the first symptom of epilepsy, as the equivalent of( non-convulsive) seizures. Another possible option is the phenomenon that occurs with hysteria - the twilight obscuration of consciousness. There are also unexpected reasons, for example, poisoning the human body with poisons, which are secreted by worms.

Sleepwalking is not a rare disease. As studies show, about 2 percent of the earth's population go to sleep from time to time. If an adult suffers from a debasement, then this problem is more serious, and requires increased attention. In this case, the causes are the following factors: depressive and stressful conditions, anxiety, in some cases in adult patients, sleep associated with epilepsy. This is why older people who suffer from somnambulism need medical care.

You need to know that sleepwalking is not a sign of insanity. In this state, it is very difficult to awaken a person, it will be more correct in such a situation to gently take the patient to bed and put him back. The danger is that about 25 percent of sleepwalking sleepwalkers get a different kind of trauma.

There are cases of lunatics falling out of windows, which they considered by mistake to be a door. According to the stories of some people, in this state they drove a car, ruled an airplane. Of course, this is all an exaggeration, included in the category of myths. The patient is unable to drive, and also perform complex other actions, since he does not have fast reflexes, the accident is imminent.

Treatment of

If a person has signs that speak about somnambulism, then a neurologist's consultation is needed, and further examination and treatment is adequate. Antidepressants, tranquilizers, and also hypnotherapy can be prescribed.

In cases where somnambulism is associated with epilepsy, then anticonvulsant drugs are prescribed. This disorder nevertheless can be treated. And that the treatment was the most effective, doctors recommend conducting an electroencephalogram, dopplerography and other studies. The patient should also visit the ophthalmologist, since the examination of the fundus is necessary.

In practice, there are cases of sleepwalking, which are not required to be treated, but these are isolated cases.

In the presence of neurotic disorders, they need to be disaccustomed, and also eliminated, namely to translate into a less important form that does not hurt the psyche. Soothing and restorative preparations can be prescribed. If the seizures become more frequent, this indicates that there are organic disorders and urgent help is needed-specialist advice.

It must be remembered that sleepwalking is a potentially dangerous condition. A lot of cases of getting a person injured in a fall, while he woke up. In order that accidents do not occur, it is necessary at night to reliably close the windows and doors of the bedroom, in which there is a person who suffers from sleepwalking. It is necessary to switch off all electrical devices and take all possible precautionary measures. The attack of sleepwalking can only be interrupted by a benevolent, quiet voice, in the same way as one can awaken a sleepy person. It is unacceptable to self-medicate sleepwalking, as this will lead to severe mental disorders.