Sleep Driving

Introduction

Sleepwalking and Sleepdriving

Sleepwalking (also called noctambulism or somnambulism) is a sleep disorder where the sufferer engages in activities that are normally associated with wakefulness while asleep or in a sleeplike state. Sleepdriving is a form of sleepwalking. Sleepwalking can affect people of any age.

Statistics

Somewhere between 1% and 17% of US children sleepwalk, and juveniles are seen to be those more prone to the activity. An unknown number of persons sleepdrive, but that number may be increasing due to the increased use of sleep drugs like Ambien.

Some 18% of Americans are prone to the act, roughly 2 in 11 of the US population 

One study showed that the highest prevalence of sleepwalking was 16.7% for children of 11 to 12 years of age. 
Boys are seen to be more likely to sleepwalk than girls. Activities such as eating, dressing or even driving cars have also been recorded as taking place while the subjects are technically asleep. Most cases of sleepwalking, however, usually consist of walking, without the conscious knowledge of the subject. Accidental urination is also reported to occur during sleepwalking, especially in cases involving children.

Sleepwalkers engage in their activities with their eyes open so they can navigate their surroundings, not with their eyes closed and their arms outstretched as parodied in cartoons and Hollywood productions. The victims' eyes may have a glazed or empty appearance and if questioned, the subject will be slow to answer or unresponsive. Police report this same glazed, empty appearance in sleepdrivers.

While sleepwalking itself does not inherently pose a health concern, accidents may happen as the subject is performing actions without the control of conscious mind. If the walker commits a criminal offence while asleep, the defense of automatism may be available.

A common myth surrounding this disorder is that one should never wake a sleepwalker while he is engaged in the activity. In truth, there is no implicit danger in waking a sleepwalker, though the subject may be disoriented or embarrassed when awakened. In fact, when a sleepwalker is a danger to himself or others, (for example, when climbing up or down steps or trying to use a potentially dangerous tool such as a stove or a knife), waking him is advisable. It has even been reported that people have fallen out of windows while sleepwalking and died as a result.

While sleepwalking, conductor Harry F. Rosenthal has sat up in bed, conducted, and vocalized instruments, according to his wife.

Sleepwalking is a major theme in the classic silent German Expressionist film Das Kabinett des Dr. Kaligari (English title: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) 1919.

In Shakespeare's famous play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is mentioned to be a sleepwalker, leading up to her eventual madness and suicide.

Conclusion