Most sleepwalking episodes, particularly in children, are short lived and innocent and need no specific treatment. All that is necessary is to protect the youngster from harm. One should be very careful to lock the doors leading outside, using a child proof mechanism. Similarly, an alarm system that is triggered by the opening of the child’s bedroom door can be useful.

The child’s bedroom must be locked at carefully for potentially injurious objects or features. Windows are a potential source of danger, both from breaking glass and as a means of exit for the child. The room should contain no sharp objects, or piles of material that many topple and suffocate, or furniture that can be pulled over.

Adult sleepwalkers are as susceptible as children to the hazards mentioned above.

Most adult sleepwalkers are aware of the situations in which they are liable to do so. Situation in which the amount of deep sleep is increased, including fatigue, sleep deprivation, excessive use of alcohol or other sedative drugs, and increased stress of any kind. The danger is always greater when the sleepwalker is out of his usual environment, not only because of the disorientation during sleepwalking, but also because in the environment are often associated with a charge in sleep pattern.

We know that the chance of sleepwalking is increased in certain situations, and effort to prevent sleepwalking episodes have been devised on the basis of that knowledge. Because sleepwalking occurs on exiting deep sleep will also suppress the sleepwalking. Benzodiazepines and some antidepressants, such as imipramine, have this effect and are often useful for adult sleepwalking in strange or dangerous sleepwalking situations.

Preventing excessive fatigue in sleepwalking (especially children) will prevent the subsequent increase in deep sleep and help to decrease the chance of having a sleepwalking episode. Because stress is often a factor, and because a significant percentage of adult sleepwalkers have psychological difficulties, psychological counseling is often very effective, particularly for adults. Hypnosis has also been used to advantage, for similar reason.

Excessive alcohol can cause or aggravate a tendency to sleepwalker, as can some medications like beta blockers, lithium, amitriptyline, and certain sedative and sleeping pills.

Keywords: sleepwalking, somnambulism, sleep disorder, insomnia

Bookmark to:

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 17th, 2007 at 2:18 pm and is filed under Sleepwalking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.