What causes sleepwalking?

[Mirador]

Graupel,

Please don't believe everything you read, the astral body does not 'loosen' and your physical body does not 'become paralized', and also there're no exceptions to the rule. Make up your own rules as you trod, run, skip, or fly in your path.

Mirador

[RandomName]

Im pretty sure that people that have a huge extra amount of energy after they fall asleep and very vivid dreams tend to also be sleepwalkers. I help walked in my sleep twice in my life, on one occasion I tried to go out my backdoor and the other occasion I woke myself up after bumping my head, a terrifying experience beleive me. The idea of sleepwalking scares me simply because people have been killed this way. One man killed himself when he had a dream about jogging and he was sleep-jogging it out I guess. He was hit by a truck and killed. He had the dream several times and he had explained it to his mother when he was visiting her. She saw him go out the door at 4am thinking he was just going to have a morning walk. he never came back...

As for the astral body loosening, that is on;y if your body has enough energy for it. I think having TOO much energy is what causes the sleepwalking, pretty sure. If you sleepwalk, GET HELP PRONTO.

[Sleepwalker]

my doc said that stress among other things causes it, i used to sleepwalk much worse as a younger childi still occsionally do and its one of the scariest things when you wake up sleepwalking,i thought i was lucid dreaming and tried to run threw a door, to make long story short i hurt my head was was wiggin out- funny and sad lol

[hypnotist]

Hi

Sleep walking is when you drift of to sleep and enter Delta Brain Waves, which is profound sleep where you dream, then you drift up from that deep state of sleep into Theta Brain waves (which is Lucid Dreaming Stage - and a Hypnotic State). Which is call'd also Somnambulilsm which Stage Hypnotist put their subjects in.

When you have stress (a problem that your solveing) and you reach Theta your Concious and Sub Conscious mind are at an equal level.
So your subconsious mind is trying to solve the problem and your conscious mind is controling your body.

In that state you can see negative or positive hallucinations, thinking the door is open but its not.  Or not seeing something that is there.

I hope this helps.

Sincerely Frank (Hypnotist) If you need more help cantact me with this e-mail address hypnotist41@aol.com

[RandomName]

I honestly do beleive that what you say is not 100% accurate, because if that is the case, someone who is $#@!ed up upstairs may try to fix "their problems" with violence/killing.

[Greytraveller]

Sleep walking is usually Prevented by sleep paralysis. Nearly everybody experiences sleep paralysis yet few people realize it. The theory is that sleep paralysis prevents us from getting up while still in sleep and acting out our dreams.
So sleepwalking results from a lack of sleep paralysis. Without sleep paralysis there is no mechanism to prevent the person from moving about.
When considering this it should be apparent why sleep paralysis is benficial to OBEs. That is because sleep paralysis affects only the physical body and Not the astral/ethereal body thereby making it easier to separate those 2 bodies and achieve a proejction.

[Laurel]

Hi. According to an article on eMedicine (http://www.emedicine.com/neuro/topic638.htm), sleepwalking seems to have a genetic component but is aggrivated by environmental factors. Children most frequently sleepwalk or have other sleep behavior disorders. Most people grow out of it by late adolescence. Even though sleepwalking and other sleep behavior conditions are often harmless, occasionally people will do things like eat inappropriate foods or objects or otherwise injure themselves or family members. Also, sleep disorders interrupt the normal sleep cycles and can cause excessive sleepiness during the day. Depending on the form of sleep behavior, they can be treated with various medications if the behavior is disruptive or dangerous. Most sleep doctors would recommend evaluation by a sleep specialist if sleepwalking is not outgrown after childhood or if the behavior happens frequently or is dangerous.

Many sleep disorders can be lessened by practicing "good sleep hygiene" (i.e. going to sleep at the same time every night and waking at the same time every morning, getting enough sleep every night, avoiding stress before bed) and also practicing stress management in daily life.

Laurel
(I work in a sleep lab!)

[Laurel]

Oh, I wanted to clarify:

Sleepwalking usually does happen during deep, non-REM sleep.

REM stands for Rapid Eye Movement and is associated with a greater level of sleep paralysis and vivid dreams (though you can dream in other stages of sleep) that you may or may not remember when you wake up. Researchers guess that REM sleep is a time of psychological repair, while slow wave sleep is a time of physical rejuvenation.

Some people have REM behavior disorders in which they act out their dreams to so degree. Normally your brain prevents you from moving (much) during REM, but sometimes this doesn't happen. Some people with REM behavior disorders get violent in their sleep, but most of the time they just sit up in bed or lay where they are as they appear to be play acting activities like driving (moving the steering wheel, for instance) or running (moving their legs in a "running" motion) or holding one side of an argument aloud. A lot of my patients with REM behavior disorders dread going to sleep because their dreams are vivid and stressful, involving danger or even violence. (So you've got to stay away from them while they're in REM--they may unintentionally punch you!)

People who do unusual things in their sleep are not psychotic or mentally unbalanced as a rule. Sleep disorders are not mental disorders. Most people with sleep disorders appear to be reasonably well-adjusted and have a clean bill of "mental health."
Laurel

[Sleepwalker]

last night I stayed with my freind, I awoke in the middle of the night walking around his room feeling confsued, I thought that I was some were else and felt lost and I was looking for a door and when I finally found one I opended it up and I saw my freinds hallway then realized that I was still in his house and went layed down and went to sleep. Just thought id share-

[dino333]

I heard a few people mentioning sleep paralysis and would just like to add that some alien abduction accounts are people who are experiencing sleep paralysis in the waking state. There have been bright lights assosiated with it as well as the feeling that the person is being touched of prodded.

[Nick]

Graupel,

There seems to be a lack of answers on the internet regarding this. My friend has a son who sleepwalks, and we were just talking about it. He is doing some research, and if he turns something up I'll let you know. Meanwhile, regarding your specific question of sleepwalking and sleep paralysis, the post that Greytraveller wrote is one that I agree with.

Also, here's something on sleepwalking in general from a website:

Sleepwalking ~

Sleepwalking, or somnambulism, is a common arousal disorder that is especially prevalent among children. Sleepwalkers (somnambulists) are aroused out of their deep sleep during motor activity, which usually includes, but is not limited to, walking. A sleepwalker can go back to sleep some place other than bed, depending on how far he or she has walked. Sleepwalkers are usually unaware of their activity. Some cases of autonomic (independently functioning) behavior that occur with sleepwalking involve dressing and even eating. What causes sleepwalking is not known, though most people have sleepwalked on at least one occasion. Sleepwalking poses no serious health threat to those who experience it, although the risk of injury, however minor, is a matter of concern. Injury prevention is the primary objective of sleepwalking management.
Sleepwalking is currently being reevaluated in a social and legal context, where the criminal actions of sleepwalkers in certain cases are being judged.

Incidence
Sleepwalking affects approximately 1% to 17% of children and is more frequently seen in boys. The incidence of sleepwalking decreases with age. Although the exact prevalence of sleepwalking in adults is not known, it is estimated to be as high as 10%. The cause for decreased incidence in adults is also not known. Evidence from casework and published sleep diaries indicates that sleepwalkers often feel they are alone with their condition. This is not the case.


Current Research on Sleepwalking ~
Currently, there is nonspecific medical evidence that suggests that there may be psychiatric issues involved in sleepwalking and that the actions of sleepwalkers in certain cases may not be autonomous and need to be reevaluated.

For example, in Britain, a man actually killed someone while sleepwalking. The issue is whether or not to acquit the defendant on the basis of autonomic actions or to find him insane and, therefore, release him to treatment for mental illness. Subsequently, there is controversy surrounding an individual's right to plead insanity in cases like this, which complicates our perspective of agency in sleepwalking behavior. Sleepwalking is not currently defined or treated as a mental illness.

Future research may involve the development of a medical-legal definition of sleepwalking. Of course, cases like this are rare, but the media coverage of it is greatly responsible for public recognition of sleepwalking.



Very best,

[Graupel]

I heard that when you go to sleep, that your astral body loosens and your physical becomes paralyzed.  But what is the common phenomenon of "sleepwalking" that contradicts any such paralization or loosening of the astral body?

Is sleepwalking just an accident where the body does not completely go to sleep, and an exception to the rule?