Sleep-talking

Last updated
"Somniloquy" redirects here. Not to be confused with Soliloquy.For the album, see Somniloquy (EP).

Somniloquy, commonly referred to as sleep-talking, is a parasomnia in which one speaks aloud while asleep. It can range from simple mumbling sounds to loud shouts or long, frequently inarticulate, speeches. It can occur many times during a sleep cycle and during both NREM and REM sleep stages, though, as with sleepwalking and night terrors, it most commonly occurs during delta-wave NREM sleep or temporary arousals therefrom. [1]

Contents

When somniloquy occurs during rapid eye movement sleep, it represents a so-called "motor breakthrough" of dream speech: words spoken in a dream are spoken out loud. Depending on its frequency, this may or may not be considered pathological. All motor functions are disabled during healthy REM sleep and therefore REM somniloquy is usually considered a component of REM behavior disorder.

Presentation

Associated conditions

Sleep-talking can occur by itself (i.e., idiopathic) or as a feature of another sleep disorder such as:

Causes

In 1966, researchers worked to find links between heredity and sleep-talking. Their research suggests the following:

Sleep-talking by itself is typically harmless; however, it can wake others and cause them consternation—especially when misinterpreted as conscious speech by an observer. [2] If the sleep-talking is dramatic, emotional, or profane it may be a sign of another sleep disorder. Sleep-talking can be monitored by a partner or by using an audio recording device; devices which remain idle until detecting a sound are ideal for this purpose.

Polysomnography (sleep recording) shows that episodes of sleep talking that can occur in any stage of sleep. [1]

Stress can also cause sleep talking. [3] In one study, about 30% of people who had PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) talk in their sleep. [4] A 1990 study showed that Vietnam War veterans having PTSD report talking more in their sleep than in people without PTSD. [5]

Sleep-talking can also be caused by depression, sleep deprivation, day-time drowsiness, alcohol, and fever. It often occurs in association with other sleep disorders such as confusional arousals, sleep apnea, and REM sleep behavior disorder. In rare cases, adult-onset sleep-talking is linked with a psychiatric disorder or nocturnal seizure. [2]

Prevalence

Sleep-talking is very common and is reported in 50% of young children at least once a year. [6] A large percentage of people progressively sleep-talk less often after the age of 25. A sizable proportion of people without any episode during their childhood begin to sleep-talk in adult life. [7] Sleep-talking may be hereditary. [8]

In a study reporting the prevalence of sleep-talking in childhood, the authors reported that the frequency of sleep-talking differs between children. About half of the children have sleep-talking episodes at least once a year, but less than 10% of children present sleep-talking every night, whereas 20% to 25% talk in their sleep at least once a week. In addition, they did not find any difference between gender or socioeconomic class. [6]

However, valid estimation of the prevalence of this phenomenon is difficult as the sleep-talker either does not remember or are not aware of their sleep-talking. The same uncertainty exists concerning the age of onset because early occurrences may have escaped notice. Thus, there are disparate results regarding its prevalence in the literature. [9]

Treatment

Usually, treatment is not required for sleep-talking because it generally does not disturb sleep or cause other problems. [9] [10]

One behavioral treatment has shown results in the past. Le Boeuf (1979) used an automated auditory signal to treat chronic sleep-talking in a person who had talked in his sleep for 6 years. An aversive sound was produced for 5 seconds when he started talking in his sleep. Sleep-talking was rapidly eliminated, and the person demonstrated no adverse effects of treatment. [11]


With little treatment options, there are ways in which one can limit the frequency of sleep talking episodes by focusing on sleep hygiene. Some tips include the following:

In literature

Sleep-talking appears in Shakespeare's Macbeth , the famous sleepwalking scene. Lady Macbeth, in a "slumbery agitation", is observed by a gentlewoman and doctor to walk in her sleep and wash her hands, and utter the famous line, "Out, damned spot! out, I say!" (Act 5, Scene 1). [12]

Sleep-talking also appears in The Childhood of King Erik Menved, a 19th-century historical romance by Danish author Bernhard Severin Ingemann. [13] In the story, a young girl named Aasé has the prophetic power of speaking the truth in her sleep. In an 1846 English translation, Aasé is described thus:

She is somewhat palefaced; and, however blithe and sprightly she may be, she is, nevertheless, now and then troubled with a kind of dreaming fit. But that will wear off as she gets older. Her mother was so troubled before her; and I believe it runs in the family as I am not entirely free from it myself. I do not give much heed to such dreaming now; but she has never yet said anything, while in this state, that has not proved in a manner true; though she can discern nothing, by night or day, more than others may do when they are in their senses.

Walt Whitman wrote a now-lost novel based on Ingemann's romance, which he titled The Sleeptalker. [14]

In Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland, Chapter VII, The Dormouse talks in his sleep, or at least seems to, and even sings in his sleep:

'You might just as well say,' added the Dormouse, who seemed to be talking in his sleep, 'that "I breathe when I sleep" is the same thing as "I sleep when I breathe"!'

Here the Dormouse shook itself, and began singing in its sleep 'Twinkle, twinkle, twinkle, twinkle—' and went on so long that they had to pinch it to make it stop.

See also

Related Research Articles

A nightmare, also known as a bad dream, is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong emotional response from the mind, typically fear but also despair, anxiety, disgust or sadness. The dream may contain situations of discomfort, psychological or physical terror, or panic. After a nightmare, a person will often awaken in a state of distress and may be unable to return to sleep for a short period of time. Recurrent nightmares may require medical help, as they can interfere with sleeping patterns and cause insomnia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sleep disorder</span> Medical disorder of a persons sleep patterns

A sleep disorder, or somnipathy, is a medical disorder of an individual's sleep patterns. Some sleep disorders are severe enough to interfere with normal physical, mental, social and emotional functioning. Sleep disorders are frequent and can have serious consequences on patients’ health and quality of life. Polysomnography and actigraphy are tests commonly ordered for diagnosing sleep disorders.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that develops from experiencing a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on a person's life or well-being. Symptoms may include disturbing thoughts, feelings, or dreams related to the events, mental or physical distress to trauma-related cues, attempts to avoid trauma-related cues, alterations in the way a person thinks and feels, and an increase in the fight-or-flight response. These symptoms last for more than a month after the event. Young children are less likely to show distress, but instead may express their memories through play. A person with PTSD is at a higher risk of suicide and intentional self-harm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sleepwalking</span> Sleeping phenomenon combined with wakefulness

Sleepwalking, also known as somnambulism or noctambulism, is a phenomenon of combined sleep and wakefulness. It is classified as a sleep disorder belonging to the parasomnia family. It occurs during slow wave stage of sleep, in a state of low consciousness, with performance of activities that are usually performed during a state of full consciousness. These activities can be as benign as talking, sitting up in bed, walking to a bathroom, consuming food, and cleaning, or as hazardous as cooking, driving a motor vehicle, violent gestures and grabbing at hallucinated objects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder</span> Medical condition

Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder or REM behavior disorder (RBD) is a sleep disorder in which people act out their dreams. It involves abnormal behavior during the sleep phase with rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. The major feature of RBD is loss of muscle atonia during otherwise intact REM sleep. The loss of motor inhibition leads to sleep behaviors ranging from simple limb twitches to more complex integrated movements that can be violent or result in injury to either the individual or their bedmates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Night terror</span> Sleep disorder causing feelings of panic or dread

Night terror, also called sleep terror, is a sleep disorder causing feelings of panic or dread and typically occurring during the first hours of stage 3–4 non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep and lasting for 1 to 10 minutes. It can last longer, especially in children. Sleep terror is classified in the category of NREM-related parasomnias in the International Classification of Sleep Disorders. There are two other categories: REM-related parasomnias and other parasomnias. Parasomnias are qualified as undesirable physical events or experiences that occur during entry into sleep, during sleep, or during arousal from sleep.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nightmare disorder</span> Medical condition

Nightmare disorder is a sleep disorder characterized by repeated intense nightmares that most often center on threats to physical safety and security. The nightmares usually occur during the REM stage of sleep, and the person who experiences the nightmares typically remembers them well upon waking. More specifically, nightmare disorder is a type of parasomnia, a subset of sleep disorders categorized by abnormal movement or behavior or verbal actions during sleep or shortly before or after. Other parasomnias include sleepwalking, sleep terrors, bedwetting, and sleep paralysis.

Non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM), also known as quiescent sleep, is, collectively, sleep stages 1–3, previously known as stages 1–4. Rapid eye movement sleep (REM) is not included. There are distinct electroencephalographic and other characteristics seen in each stage. Unlike REM sleep, there is usually little or no eye movement during these stages. Dreaming occurs during both sleep states, and muscles are not paralyzed as in NREM sleep. People who do not go through the sleeping stages properly get stuck in NREM sleep, and because muscles are not paralyzed a person may be able to sleepwalk. According to studies, the mental activity that takes place during NREM sleep is believed to be thought-like, whereas REM sleep includes hallucinatory and bizarre content. NREM sleep is characteristic of dreamer-initiated friendliness, compared to REM sleep where it is more aggressive, implying that NREM is in charge of simulating friendly interactions. The mental activity that occurs in NREM and REM sleep is a result of two different mind generators, which also explains the difference in mental activity. In addition, there is a parasympathetic dominance during NREM. The reported differences between the REM and NREM activity are believed to arise from differences in the memory stages that occur during the two types of sleep.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oneirology</span> Scientific study of dreams

In the field of psychology, the subfield of oneirology is the scientific study of dreams. Current research seeks correlations between dreaming and current knowledge about the functions of the brain, as well as an understanding of how the brain works during dreaming as pertains to memory formation and mental disorders. The study of oneirology can be distinguished from dream interpretation in that the aim is to quantitatively study the process of dreams instead of analyzing the meaning behind them.

Sexsomnia, also known as sleep sex, is a distinct form of parasomnia, or an abnormal activity that occurs while an individual is asleep. Sexsomnia is characterized by an individual engaging in sexual acts while in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. Sexual behaviors that result from sexsomnia are not to be mistaken with normal nocturnal sexual behaviors, which do not occur during NREM sleep. Sexual behaviors that are viewed as normal during sleep and are accompanied by extensive research and documentation include nocturnal emissions, nocturnal erections, and sleep orgasms.

Dissociative disorders (DD) are conditions that involve significant disruptions and/or breakdowns "in the normal integration of consciousness, memory, identity, emotion, perception, body representation, motor control, and behavior." People with dissociative disorders also use dissociation as a defense mechanism involuntarily. The individual experiences these dissociations to protect themselves from traumatic stress. Some dissociative disorders are triggered by significant psychological trauma, though depersonalization-derealization disorder may be preceded by lesser stress, psychoactive substances, or no identifiable trigger at all.

Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) is a stress-related mental disorder generally occurring in response to complex traumas, i.e., commonly prolonged or repetitive exposures to a series of traumatic events, within which individuals perceive little or no chance to escape.

Parasomnias are a category of sleep disorders that involve abnormal movements, behaviors, emotions, perceptions, and dreams that occur while falling asleep, sleeping, between sleep stages, or during arousal from sleep. Parasomnias are dissociated sleep states which are partial arousals during the transitions between wakefulness, NREM sleep, and REM sleep, and their combinations.

Rhythmic movement disorder (RMD) is a neurological disorder characterized by repetitive movements of large muscle groups immediately before and during sleep often involving the head and neck. It was independently described first in 1905 by Zappert as jactatio capitis nocturna and by Cruchet as rhythmie du sommeil. The majority of RMD episodes occur during NREM sleep, although REM movements have been reported. RMD is often associated with other psychiatric conditions or mental disabilities. The disorder often leads to bodily injury from unwanted movements. Because of these incessant muscle contractions, patients' sleep patterns are often disrupted. It differs from restless legs syndrome in that RMD involves involuntary muscle contractions before and during sleep while restless legs syndrome is the urge to move before sleep. RMD occurs in both males and females, often during early childhood with symptoms diminishing with age. Many affected individuals also have other sleep related disorders, like sleep apnea. The disorder can be differentially diagnosed into small subcategories, including sleep related bruxism, thumb sucking, hypnagogic foot tremor, and rhythmic sucking, to name a few. In order to be considered pathological, the ICSD-II requires that in the sleep-related rhythmic movements should “markedly interfere with normal sleep, cause significant impairment in daytime function, or result in self-inflicted bodily injury that requires medical treatment ”.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catathrenia</span> Sleep-related breathing disorder

Catathrenia or nocturnal groaning is a sleep-related breathing disorder, consisting of end-inspiratory apnea and expiratory groaning during sleep. It describes a rare condition characterized by monotonous, irregular groans while sleeping. Catathrenia begins with a deep inspiration. The person with catathrenia holds her or his breath against a closed glottis, similar to the Valsalva maneuver. Expiration can be slow and accompanied by sound caused by vibration of the vocal cords or a simple rapid exhalation. Despite a slower breathing rate, no oxygen desaturation usually occurs. The moaning sound is usually not noticed by the person producing the sound, but it can be extremely disturbing to sleep partners. It appears more often during expiration REM sleep than in NREM sleep.

Memory and trauma is the deleterious effects that physical or psychological trauma has on memory.

Incident stress is a condition caused by acute stress which overwhelms a staff person trained to deal with critical incidents such as within the line of duty for first responders, EMTs, and other similar personnel. If not recognized and treated at onset, incident stress can lead to more serious effects of posttraumatic stress disorder.

PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder, is a psychiatric disorder characterised by intrusive thoughts and memories, dreams or flashbacks of the event; avoidance of people, places and activities that remind the individual of the event; ongoing negative beliefs about oneself or the world, mood changes and persistent feelings of anger, guilt or fear; alterations in arousal such as increased irritability, angry outbursts, being hypervigilant, or having difficulty with concentration and sleep.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can affect about 3.6% of the U.S. population each year, and 6.8% of the U.S. population over a lifetime. 8.4% of people in the U.S. are diagnosed with substance use disorders (SUD). Of those with a diagnosis of PTSD, a co-occurring, or comorbid diagnosis of a SUD is present in 20–35% of that clinical population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Post-traumatic stress disorder after World War II</span>

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) results after experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event which later leads to mental health problems. This disorder has always existed but has only been recognized as a psychological disorder within the past forty years. Before receiving its official diagnosis in 1980, when it was published in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-lll), Post-traumatic stress disorder was more commonly known as soldier's heart, irritable heart, or shell shock. Shell shock and war neuroses were coined during World War I when symptoms began to be more commonly recognized among many of the soldiers that had experienced similar traumas. By World War II, these symptoms were identified as combat stress reaction or battle fatigue. In the first edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-I), post-traumatic stress disorder was called gross stress reaction which was explained as prolonged stress due to a traumatic event. Upon further study of this disorder in World War II veterans, psychologists realized that their symptoms were long-lasting and went beyond an anxiety disorder. Thus, through the effects of World War II, post-traumatic stress disorder was eventually recognized as an official disorder in 1980.

References

  1. 1 2 "Talking in Your Sleep". WebMD. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 National Sleep Foundation (19 November 2020). "Sleep Talking". National Sleep Foundation.
  3. ↑ American Academy of Sleep Medicine (2014) International classification of sleep disorders, 3rd edn. American Academy of Sleep Medicine, Darien
  4. ↑ Ohayon, M. M., & Shapiro, C. M. (2000). Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in the General Population. Comprehensive psychiatry, 41(6), 469–478.
  5. ↑ Inman, D. J., Silver, S. M., & Doghramji, K. (1990). Sleep disturbance in post-traumatic stress disorder: A comparison with non-PTSD insomnia. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 3(3), 429‑437. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.2490030311
  6. 1 2 Reimao, Rubens; Lefévre, Antonio (1980). "Prevalence of Sleep-Talking in Childhood". Brain and Development. 2 (4): 353–357. doi:10.1016/S0387-7604(80)80047-7. PMID   7224091. S2CID   4773570.
  7. ↑ Arkin, Arthur M. (1981). "5". Sleep Talking: psychology and psychophysiology. L. Erlbaum Associates. ISBN   9781315802992 . Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  8. ↑ Arkin, Arthur M. (1981). Sleep Talking Psychology and Psychophysiology. L. Erlbaum Associates. pp. 40–41. ISBN   0-89859-031-0.
  9. 1 2 Arkin, Arthur M. (1981). "4". Sleep Talking: psychology and psychophysiology. L. Erlbaum Associates. ISBN   9781315802992 . Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  10. ↑ National Sleep Foundation. "The Sleep disorders: Sleep Talking". National Sleep Foundation. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  11. ↑ Le Boeuf, Alan (1979). "A behavioral treatment of chronic sleeptalking". Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry. 10 (1): 83–84. doi:10.1016/0005-7916(79)90044-2.
  12. ↑ Shakespeare, William. "Macbeth". Shakespeare Online. Amanda Mabillard. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  13. ↑ Ingemann, Bernhard Severin (1846). The Childhood of King Erik Menved: An Historical Romance. London: Bruce and Wyld. p.  11 . Retrieved 21 February 2017. sleep.
  14. ↑ White, William (March 1963). "Whitman's First "Literary" Letter". American Literature. 35 (1): 83–85. JSTOR   2923025.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.