Sleep Walking: Mental Confusion, Injury, And Oh Yeah, Embarrassment

Doing anything in my sleep freaks me out – talking, walking, being around total strangers – anything. (This is undoubtedly why I was never one to fall asleep in class.) I’m one of those people who likes to sleep curled up on my belly and completely covered from head to toe with nothing sticking out but my nose. (That actually says a lot about my personality, or so I read.)

Of course, I’m also one of those people who could sleep in any position, covered or not, in a moving vehicle. I don’t know what that says about my personality.

And, I once fell asleep in a movie theater, but, honestly – if it’s not Harry Potter, a movie should only be so long.

Anyway, back to the point.

Luckily, I’ve only sleep walked (slept walked? what’s the correct past tense form of that, anyway?) twice in my entire life. Once, when I was around four years old, and once when I was around 10 or 11 years old. And, thus far, I don’t think I’ve ever done or said anything too embarrassing in my sleep.

At least, no one’s told me about it.

After reading a recent Yahoo! News article, Why Do People Sleepwalk?, I discovered several reasons for somnambulism, or sleep walking:

• Sleep deprivation.
• Arousal or disruption to sleep, including sleep apnea.
• Family genetics.

Sleep walking can cause mental confusion, including periods of amnesia, and the biggest concern regarding sleep walkers is injuring themselves or others. (It’s nice to know someone’s looking out for sleep walkers, because my own personal concern is embarrassing the hell out of myself.)

The article goes on to offer several tips to help prevent sleep walking (and, in my case, extreme embarrassment), such as:

• Adopting better sleep hygiene.
• Sticking to a regular sleep schedule.
• Avoiding alcohol and caffeine, especially in the evenings.
• Medication.

So, what about you? Do you have problems with sleep walking? Ever tried any of these tips? Have any super embarrassing stories to share…?

Image: Newscom

Ken Jensen is currently rockin’ out in the This Is Why I ROCK! series here at Mental Health Notes. If you have a mental illness and are still living the life you love, head on over the the official announcement post and enter!