One dies in Mumbai after falling from building due to sleepwalking; What is this disease? Why do people walk in their sleep? What the experts say….

What exactly is sleepwalking?

Sleepwalking is a sleep disorder. One of the many sleep problems; What we call Parasomnia. Sleep is of two types. REM and NREM.

Dr. Rashmi Joshi says, “NREM is deep sleep. The sleep that occurs two hours after going to bed is called NREM sleep. ‘Sleep walking’ is a disease seen in between. It is most common in children. One in five children may have sleepwalking; But as children grow older, the disease tends to subside. People with sleepwalking wake up suddenly. Interestingly, their eyes are open; But basically they are asleep. They get up, walk, and go back to bed; But this does not happen in every case. At times they can perform complicated actions.”

Last year, a minor resident of Kandivali fell to his death from the tenth floor while walking in his sleep. He went on a trip with his family to Singapore. This unfortunate incident took place in a hotel there.

About why some people walk in their sleep, Dr. Rashmi Joshi has given some reasons.

• If you have a family history of sleepwalking or any other sleep-related illness, you may be genetically predisposed to it.
• If you are going through stress, big or small difficult situations in life, you can get this disease.
• If you have a fever or any kind of infection, you are more likely to sleepwalk.
• Apart from that, this disease can occur even if drugs are consumed.
• People who have a habit of frequent shortness of breath at night can also develop this disease.
• People who have trouble breathing while sleeping (Obstructive sleep apnea) have this disease
• This disease is also seen in people who move their legs during sleep (Restless sleep disorder).

Dr. During a conversation with Rashmi Joshi, I told her about a case that happened before me, “It was four or five years ago. When I was staying at the hostel, someone rang my doorbell around 12.30 pm. I looked through the window, and there was Priyanka (name changed). I opened the door. Then she came into the room and said “Give me the charger”. There was no expression on her face. I gave her the charger; But she stood still like a statue. “Don’t you want to sleep?” I asked her. When she didn’t say anything, I asked her again, “What happened? All right?” But, she didn’t say anything. I looked at her, she was standing like a statue and staring at one of the walls in my room. I thought she was thinking something deep. When I tried to wake her up, after a few moments she said, “What am I doing here in your room? And what time is it?” Then I told her that you came to ask for charger, she was very confused. I put her on the bed and gave her water. After a while she told me that she has a habit of sleep walking.”

After hearing this case Dr. “Sleep walking is when they wake up, walk and come back to sleep,” says Rashmi Joshi. This is a normal process; But this does not happen in every case. Often such people are not fully alert when they sleepwalk. Their eyes are open. If you see them pass by you, they won’t even look at you. They are asleep and therefore will not recognize you. In between sometimes they do complicated things. Like waking up, opening the closet, putting on a dress, sometimes cooking and eating, sometimes picking up the keys, going out of the house and driving the car and then coming back and coming to the bed and sleeping again etc. These symptoms are dangerous. They don’t remember anything when you wake them up by sounding or touching them while they are sleepwalking. Then such persons are very confused. What’s more, in some cases they may even attack you.”

“Sleep walking is a 10 to 15 minute process or less; But when they wake up the next day, they don’t remember anything,” says Dr. Rashmi Joshi continues.

What precautions should be taken?

Dr. Rashmi Joshi has said some important things.

1. The safety of people suffering from this disease is very important. It is necessary to think about how they will stay safe.
2. If you see these people walking around, it can be a challenge to understand them and get them to go back to sleep. At such times it is expected to talk to them lovingly without being angry with them.
3. If a person is self-harming or harming others in their sleep, seek professional advice immediately. You can tie them up until the time of the experts.
4. We have ‘sleep centres’. A ‘sleep study’ is done there and we get to know what caused the disease? It is very important to go to the sleep center and get information about it.
5. It is important for people who are dealing with this disease to set a proper bedtime. If these people begin deep sleep two hours after falling asleep, it can be predicted what their sleep walking time might be. These people can be awakened during deep sleep; This will prevent them from walking in their sleep.
6. Do not sleep in bright light. Avoid caffeinated liquids after 5 pm. Have a light meal at night. Drink water half or an hour before going to bed. Before going to sleep, go to Lagushanka. Do yoga nidra before sleeping.
7. If the habit of sleepwalking does not decrease after all the above measures, then take pharmacotherapy. Psychologists and neurologists can provide this therapy. It includes both benzodiazepines and antidepressants. This can reduce their habit of sleepwalking.

Dr. Rashmi Joshi says that many films like ‘Conjuring’ have also shown the disease of sleepwalking. She adds, “Such people just get up and walk. A person is not dreaming when sleepwalking. This is actually happening with that person. While dreaming, we feel that thing is happening to us; But while sleepwalking the person has no idea where he is going. Sometimes we remember the dreams we had in our sleep the next morning; But a sleepwalker remembers nothing. Security becomes a very important aspect for such people. They can even jump out of a window by mistaking the road in their sleep for the reason that a young man in Mumbai fell from the sixth floor. So the safety of these people is very important.”