Sleepwalking in Adults Can Be Hazardous to Your Health. Stop Sleepwalking Now!

Sleepwalking in adults is a somewhat ‘different critter’ than sleepwalking in children.  The causes are generally different, and so are the behaviors.  Kids seldom exhibit dangerous behavior while sleep walking.  Adult sleepwalkers, on the other hand, are likely to perform very hazardous activities during their late night forays.

It’s estimated that, as many as 30% of kids will experience at least one sleepwalking episode.  By the late teens, most of them will have stopped sleepwalking, although a small percentage of these children will continue sleepwalking as grown-ups.

Sleepwalking in adults can onset at any time, from the late teens, even up into the 70’s.  There are numerous possible causes for sleepwalking in adults…and once in awhile, adult sleepwalking can be diagnosed as idiopathic…NO!  That does not mean you’re an idiot, it’s a medical term meaning, “we were unable to determine the cause!”
The #1 most common cause of sleepwalking in adults is stress or anxiety.Mental, emotional, even physical stress can trigger sleepwalking events.  I have suffered from occasional sleep walking episodes all my life.  A couple of my very most horrible,  dangerous, sleepwalk incidents occurred during one of the worst periods of stress in my life.  My boss (a doctor) had been arrested at the office in front of patients, thrown in jail, and we couldn’t get him out.  I was trying to be supportive of his wife and small children.  My job was going to be gone soon.  He left us with a horrible legal mess to untangle, while we had to deal with the FBI, CID of the Inspector General’s Office, and various other federal and state agencies.  An FBI agent following you around the office, while holding his hand on his gun…is more than a little scary! You get the picture…talk about being in the stress zone!  (And in case you wondered, no, I didn’t get in any trouble—he did what he did, four years prior, before I even worked for him!)

That whole ordeal dragged out for 3 or 4 months.  During that time frame, I had numerous sleepwalking episodes, some of them pretty serious.  One night, I placed a crossword puzzle book and pen in the microwave oven, and set it for 20+ minutes.  The metal point of the pen actually melted into the glass tray.  Another time, I burned myself with an overheated microwave heat pack.  On the funny side, there was the night I put several slices of bread in the bathroom sink, and filled it with water.

In addition to stress, many other things can lead to sleepwalking in adults.

Geneticsare another common cause.  It is believed that individuals with close relatives who sleepwalk are about ten times more likely to sleepwalk than the general population.

Hormonal Changesduring adolescence, pregnancy, PMS, and menopause can be a trigger for sleepwalking.

Alcohol or Drug Use/Abuseoften causes sleepwalking events, sometimes with strange or embarrassing behavior.

Sleep Deprivationis another common cause of sleepwalking in adults and children.

New Surroundings, such as visiting overnight with a friend or relative, staying at a hotel, or moving into a new home can cause a person to sleep walk.

Some medical conditions and medications are known to cause sleepwalking.  Quite often people who sleepwalk also suffer from other sleep disorders.

Sleepwalking in adults can be hazardous to your health, and life.  People have been seriously injured, even killed while sleepwalking.  In some extreme cases, sleepwalkers have committed serious crimes, even murder.

In many cases, it is possible to stop adult sleepwalking.  New treatments in recent years have helped many people who suffer from this disorder.