Talking in your sleep? It means there's a health problem

A team of researchers studied the state of people during sleep and concluded that 1/5 of the inhabitants of our planet talk in their sleep. Experts noted that children most often talk in their sleep, in most cases this condition does not require treatment, but sometimes it can be associated with the development of epilepsy.

Regarding adults who talk in their sleep, scientists have identified two types - clear speech, mainly in the shallow phase of sleep, and quiet, incomprehensible mumbling at the stage of the deep phase. But regardless of how a person talks in their sleep, this indicates an excess of emotions during the day.

The study also mentioned sleepwalking, which affects every fifth child aged 8 to 12 years and 4% of the world's adult population. According to some data, up to 30% of people have experienced such an attack of sleepwalking at least once in their lives. Scientists have not yet been able to determine what causes sleepwalking attacks; some experts associate it with mental disorders, others with genetics.

Experts note that if one of the parents suffered from sleepwalking, then the child's risk of developing the same disorder increases by almost 50%. If both parents suffer from sleepwalking, then the probability of the child developing sleepwalking increases by 60%.

During a sleepwalking attack, a person can walk in his sleep, perform any actions, for example, do household chores and even get behind the wheel and drive a car. There are even cases of murder during a sleepwalking attack, the first such cases were described in the 17th century, when one of the knights killed his friend in his sleep, the last case was recorded in 2003, when a young man beat his own father to death.

But the most “harmless pranks” of sleepwalking include changing light bulbs, smoking cigarettes, hiding in closets, filling cups with water, writing letters, etc., but most often people talk in their sleep.

Usually sleepwalkers do not remember what happened at night or that they got out of bed at all. But, according to scientists, all actions during a somnambulistic attack are accompanied by clear logic, for example, a person begins to wash dishes because it seems to him that they are dirty or he sees that a fire has started and tries to put it out.

In some cases, dreams occur during an attack of sleepwalking, and up to 40% of sleepwalkers may cause some kind of harm to themselves during such moments.

During puberty, up to 75% of young people may suffer from somnambulism, in some cases this disorder develops in response to nervous exhaustion of the body, stress, serious health problems. Scientists also note that about half of sleepwalkers experience drowsiness during the day, their reaction is inhibited, which is due to the fact that the deep phase of sleep in somnambulism is abnormal. During the deep slow phase of sleep, the body rests, but in sleepwalkers this stage is divided into several short episodes lasting 3 - 10 seconds, while nervous excitement is observed, as a result, the body does not rest, and in the morning and during the day the person feels tired and sleepy.

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