My Experiences as a Sleepwalker

The shadows flickered and danced across the wall from the changing light being projected from a computer as it was displaying a movie. The fan lightly hummed as it was disturbing the air in the room. Some feet belonging to a person that was laying on their stomach, moved them back and forth under the covers bending at the knee. Shadows play a nasty trick on the mind when groggy and disoriented. A shady figure stands up, and moves silently across the room, towards the open closet. The unsuspecting victims feet, caught in a terrifying bind.

Sleep walking is more common in children from the ages of 4 - 8 years old. Around 17% of children are victims of the sleeping disorder. About 4 - 10% of adults are prone to sleep walking.

What causes sleep walking? When does it occur? How can can one lower the chances of sleep walking?

Since coming to college I have been able to find out what triggers my sleep walking. Hopefully I can provide some insight to lowering or reducing sleepwalking occurrences.

Is waking a sleep walker dangerous? No, the only reason why that may have come up as being dangerous is because the waker ended up getting slapped or punched because the sleepwalker was startled from being in an unknown/different environment after waking up.

Common Causes of sleepwalking:

• Lack of sleep
• Alcohol
• Stress
• Anxiety
• Medication
• Medical Disorders

Common Symptoms:

• Confusion after waking up
• Eyes being open during sleep
• Not remembering sleepwalking
• Sitting up and appearing awake
• Walking while asleep
• Talking while asleep

How can I Prevent from sleepwalking?

• Avoid using alcohol
• Try to lower stress or anxiety
• Get some more sleep!

If it continues to persist after trying some of these things and it still bothers you. Contact a doctor to find out what other things may work. For some people, sleeping medication has been provided to help people have a deeper sleep.

Most of the time, sleep walking is not dangerous. Some people get hurt from being unbalanced and groggy from being asleep.

The story in the introduction was in fact me, the shady figure capturing my roommates feet. I am currently going to a college where the courses are rigorous and intense. I am getting my BSCS degree in 2 years rather than the full 4 like most colleges. So there is a lot of stress that comes when finals comes up. What I have noticed is that stress ends up causing my episodes. Most of the time it is shadows or sounds that officially end up making me react.

There have been times where I go get a drink of water and don't realize I am doing it until I turn on the water. If the question comes up to asking how it feels. If there has been a time where you have been pushed off a cliff and you feel the rush of the imaginary wind and then hit the ground and your body reacts as if you hit the ground. Your heart is racing from the experience as it felt real. It is a similar experience. I once had a short dream like that where I thought someone was chasing me. I ended up stumbling out of bed thinking if I could get to the door I would be safe. Once i got about halfway there the "person" chasing me ended up tackling me. Which ended up in me falling to the ground from not being able to walk while being groggy.

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