Blogpost 8: Sleeping Disorder: Sexsomnia or Sleep Sex

Making love in the middle of the night while both of you are half asleep is undoubtedly pleasurable. But what if you suddenly realize that your partner is still asleep; not just half asleep but fully asleep on the job?

Sleep sex or Sexomnia may sound like a fake word, but it is actually a sleep disorder that can adversely affect one’s self esteem and relationships.

Curiosity leads to knowledge. So, I read an article entitled "Sexsomnia Is Like Sleepwalking, But Instead of Walking You're Fucking" written by Wendy Syfret in motherboard.vice.com. According to the article that sleep sex causes people to engage in sexual acts while unconscious. These behaviors include masturbation, fondling of one’s partner, and even full sexual intercourse.It also tells that those who suffer from sexsomnia have confusion arousal and rarely remember the event. 

it only means that people who have a history of doing other sleep activities such as sleepwalking or sleep talking are more likely to exhibit sexsomnia episodes. Factors that may increase episodes of sleep sex are alcohol, sleep deprivation or even sleep apnea and other sleep disruptions. Sexsomnia episodes could be triggered by the contact with bed partner.

Blogpost 7: Sleeping Disorder: Bruxism (Teeth Grinding)

In my family, most of us has this disease. My mom slaps us when we're doing this while we are asleep. She said that slapping can remove this sleeping disorder, but it doesn't work.

According in this article entitled, "A Lineman in My Bed: Notes on Teeth Grinding" by Paul VanDeCarr from the website nytimes.com. This sleeping disorders are grinding teeth while we are asleep. Dr. Lavigne said that they are problems in upper and lower teeth but that theory was not proven because of lack of evidences. She said that stress is one of the cause of this sleeping disorder but not all people that are stress is grinding their teeth. They tested 2 anti-anxiety medications; buspirone and clonezepam. Nuspirone only made jittery, but clonzepam only made it worst. It said that bruxism has no cure but can reduce the disorder.

The author said that, “The better the pharmacological treatment works, the more fraught it is with difficulty.”

I've crossed an article entitled, "Bruxism makes alife a grind for sufferers" by Jessica Yadegaran from the website articles.chicagotribune.com. Like the previous article, bruxism has no cure. They tried to put muscle relaxant to reduce the tension. The deep ache was removed after a few visit. Streching out the muscle and applying ice can be like pain reliever. They said that people are not sleeping well are more prone to activate their jaw because teeth grinding is more likely on nighttime phenomenon.

Jessica Yadegaran said that, "listening to one's body can be the ultimate cure." Well, I agree on what she said because we can do anything. The only thing that made us suffer is our self.

I conclude that, to those who have this disease, I don't think that there is no cure. Only us is the cure of this disease, we can avoid this if we are motivate to remove this kind of disease.

Blogpost 6: Sleeping Disorder: Night Terrors

Examining someone while sleeping can be extremely interesting, but also scary and sometimes dangerous. Many people in this world, may not realize how important it is to analyze people while they are sleeping. Some may think that these people are just having dreams or nightmares. Actually, these people may have commonly known as night terrors.

Night terrors are severe and frightening partial arousal from sleep. Most people scream and cry while showing fear and anxiety. It was a sleep disruption that seems similar to a nightmare, but with a far more dramatic presentation.

So I read an article entitled "Sleep terrors (night terrors)" by Mayo Clinic Staff in mayoclinic.org. According to the article I read, they stated that night terrors strike children, usually between the ages of 3 years and 8 years. They rarely occur in older children, adolescents and adults.

It could be that a child who experiences night terrors may scream, shout and thrash around in extreme panic, and they may even jump out of bed. Their eyes will be open but they're not fully awake.And the child's breathing and heartbeat might be faster, he or she might sweat, thrash around, and act upset and scared. After a few minutes, or sometimes longer, a child simply calms down and returns to sleep.

The article says that "kids won't have any memory of a night terror the next day because they were in deep sleep when it happened — and there are no mental images to recall."

It means that night terrors are frightening if you witness them, they don’t cause any harm to the person having them, and usually pass within a few minutes.

As I read further another article entitled "Frequent Nightmares, Night Terrors May Indicate Mental Illness Later In Life" by By Jaleesa Baulkman, University Herald Reporter (j.baulkman@universityherald.com) in universityherald.com. According to the stated article it has concluded that children who experience night terrors are at risk of developing traits of psychosis in adolescence.

It explain that young children effected can develop to delusions, hallucinations, and other forms of psychosis before entering adulthood. That children between the ages of 2 and 9 who experienced nightmares were around one and a half times more susceptible to suffer psychotic episodes. Increasingly, children who were troubled with night terrors had a doubled risk of developing problems related to psychosis and that children of 12 years of age who experienced nightmares were more than three times more likely to suffer from some form of psychosis before the onset of puberty.

The reporter says that "Those who have experienced nightmares will be familiar with the sensation of waking suddenly with a sense of fear, worry and possible palpitations."

Sleep Terror Disorder is classically understood as a night terror, a type of parasomnia that is characterized by extreme terror and the temporary inability to regain consciousness. Night terrors occur in deep sleep cycles and those who experience them usually undergo violent thrashing and rapid body movements upon waking.

An advises that the best thing can do is promote a lifestyle that encourages healthy sleep habits, and an environment that provides the best quality of sleep for the child, removing all stimuli such as the television or video games from the room. Diet is also important should avoid sugary drinks at night before bedtime. Ultimately a healthy environment supports a healthy life, and the mental health of children is no exception to that rule.

Blogpost 5: Sleeping Disorder: Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS)

Imagine not being able to sleep through the night, being tired in the morning, going to a ton of doctors, and not getting any answers for years. What this is a creepy, unnerving, tugging, and crawling sensation in your legs. Some ways to relieve yourself of such pain is to walk around, massage your limbs, or to take a bath. 

Restless Leg Syndrome is a disorder of the part of the nervous system that affects the legs and causes an urge to move them.It was also a neurological disorder characterized by throbbing, pulling, creeping, or other unpleasant sensations in the legs and an uncontrollable, and sometimes overwhelming, urge to move them.

So I read an article entitled "Restless Legs Syndrome Center" in webmd.com. According to the article, RLS occurs in both men and women.Additional, restless leg syndrome run in families. Also, poor venous circulation of the legs (such as with varicose veins) can cause restless leg syndrome.


Although the incidence is about twice as high in women. It may begin at any age. They say that many individuals who are severely affected are middle-aged or older, and the symptoms typically become more frequent and last longer with age.

The webMD quoted that "For some people, symptoms may cause severe nightly sleep disruption that can significantly impair a person's quality of life." 

The accumulated sleep loss from restless legs syndrome can make you excessively sleepy during the daytime, cause you to be irritable and make concentration difficult. This may have a major impact on your professional and personal life. People with restless legs syndrome are more likely to have depression or anxiety.

As I read further another article entitled "Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS)" in helpguide.org. According to to the article, some drugs and medications have been associated with restless leg.

As an additional info., most research on the disease mechanism of restless legs syndrome has focused on the dopamine and iron system. These hypotheses are based on the observation that iron and levadopa, a  pro drug of dopamine that can cross the blood brain barrier and is metabolized in the brain into dopamine can be used to treat RLS.

The article quoted that "Experts believe that restless legs syndrome is caused by an imbalance of dopamine, a chemical that transmits signals between nerve cells in the brain."

It can make it hard to fall asleep and stay asleep which can lead to a variety of other issues. Since sufferers may feel tired and sleepy during the day, they can have difficulty at school, work, and completing other daily activities. Driving can also become extremely dangerous. A lack of sleep can also cause depression, mood swings, or other health problems.

Blogpost 4: Sleeping Disorder: Narcolepsy

Could you imagine standing around talking to your friends and just dropping to the floor and falling asleep? After seeing the movie?

Imagine you are reading a book and suddenly you realize that you have not taken in a word of the last three pages. Not only that, you can't make any sense of what you are reading now. While you performed the act of reading and turning pages, your brain has shut down. Without realizing it, you have just fallen asleep.

Narcolepsy is a sleeping disorder distinguished by overwhelming daytime drowsiness and sleep attacks. The disorder makes it difficult for you to stay awake for long periods of time, in spite of any situation.

I read an article entitled "Narcolepsy Information" in disabled-world.com. According to the article as many as 200,000 Americans have the disease, but only about 50,000 are diagnosed. Additional to the article, stated that the narcolepsy causes its victims to experience serious problems in their professional and personal lives. People may perceive them as exhausted and their performance at school or work may suffer.

That's why when I am supposed to be awake, my brain tells me I'm tired. Even after enough nighttime sleep, I still find myself falling asleep at inappropriate times and places. Some people also experience hallucinations, sleep paralysis, a sudden loss of muscle control, or automatic behaviors performed without full awareness.

As I read further in the said article, it also sated that narcolepsy also often affects intimate relationships. Extreme sleepiness may cause low sex drive or impotence, and people with narcolepsy may even fall asleep while making love.

These problems may be further complicated by emotional difficulties. Intense feelings, such as anger or joy, can trigger some symptoms of narcolepsy, causing affected people to remove themselves from emotional interactions. 

Another article entitled "What Is Narcolepsy? What Causes Narcolepsy?" in medicalnewstoday.com. According to the article, Narcolepsy can occur in both men and women at any age, although the symptoms usually are first noticed in teenagers or young adults. There is strong evidence that Narcolepsy may run in families. 

In times, large majorities of people with this problem are often diagnosed after many years since the first symptom. People think the reason for being so tired is due to stress in their everyday life. In most cases, people are diagnosed to prevent a dramatic impact on their personal life.

The medicalnewstoday quoted that "that people who are sleepy are not lazy, bored, or unmotivated, but because they have a serious sleep disorder that needs to be take care of soon."

In this scenario, teenagers are sleeping past noon on weekends and it's driving you crazy. It's not necessarily a sign that they're becoming lazy and unmotivated. They're more likely catching up on much-needed sleep and will perform better in school, at work, or at home if they can catch a few extra "zzzz's."

A change occurs in the biological clock of the adolescents, shifting to a later time, which means that even they go to bed early, they will not be able to fall asleep as early as when they were younger.

Blogpost 3: Sleeping Disorder: Somniloquy (Sleep Talking)

Have you been told that you whisper sweet nothings in your sleep unaware that you ever spoke a word? Almost all of us have at some point been told that we were talking in our sleep the night before. It can be a disturbing thing to hear. "Did I say anything embarrassing?" we might wonder, or, "Did I spill the beans?" There's also the possibility that our words revealed some deep subconscious desire of which we are normally unaware. In any case, we are morbidly curious: "What did I say?"

Talking in your sleep can be a funny things. Perhaps you chitchat unconsciously with unseen associates at the midnight hour. Or maybe a family member unknowingly carries on nightly conversations.


In his book "Sleep Talking, Psychology and Psychophysiology" by Dr. Arthur Arkin in questia.com. once wrote that sleep talkers' sudden, out of the blue vocal outbursts, which are immediately followed by a return to silent sleep, "reminds one of a seal swimming under water, surfacing for a cordial, peremptory, or meditative bark and deftly resubmerging."


It points out that the closer you are to waking up, the easier it is to remember what was said during your sleep. Because sleep talkers are not typically aware of their behaviors or speech; therefore their voices and the type of language they use may sound different from their wakeful speech. And sleep-talking occurs during momentarily overlapping states of consciousness, it usually lasts just one or two seconds.

As I read further an article entitled "Talking in Your Sleep" in webmd.com. According to WebMD, there are many factors that affect sleep talking such as high levels of stress, depression, fever, loss of sleep, day-time drowsiness, and alcohol.

For example, sleepers normally keep track of their body's position in space as evidenced by the observation that only confused or brain-injured adults fall out of bed. If it were otherwise, no one would sleep in the top bunk.

The WebMD quoted that "Sleep talking usually occurs by itself and is most often harmless. However, in some cases, it might be a sign of a more serious sleep disorder or health condition."

Sleep talking is harmless to the talker but can be very annoying to the person sleeping close by. Though rare, some are known to yell out and frighten those sleeping around them. The worst repercussion of sleep talking is social humiliation and embarrassment. Because of this, sleep talkers are afraid to sleep away from home. A normal sleeper may suffer from insomnia in such circumstances.

Blogpost 2: Sleeping Disorder: Somnambulism (Sleep Walking)

Have you ever woke up and wondered, “How did that get there? Who ate all the ice-cream? Why is the television still on?" or even, "I don't remember texting that!"

Have you ever come across this situation where you see a kid walking around few hours later after their sleep? Or even may be one of your family members or your friends told you that you urinated on their bed last night but you don’t remember a thing? Have you ever heard of murder while sleepwalking?

I read an article entitled "Sleepwalking" by National Sleep Foundation in sleepfoundation.org. According to the article Sleepwalking, formally known as somnambulism is a behavior disorder that originates during deep sleep and results in walking or performing other complex behaviors while asleep.

Sleepwalking is when a person is completely sleeping and their brain waves are very fast, exactly like a person awake; so, if they are dreaming, they could sleepwalk, or if the brain thinks the person is awake, then that could cause a sleepwalking episode. When a person sleepwalks it is their brain that controls their movement. It is like the body shuts down and the brain is the controller. When people sleepwalk, they just walk to the bathroom, or they could kill a person or even kill themselves.

I've read another article entitled "Sleepwalking" in medicinenet.com. The article stated that the person’s eyes are commonly open, but have a characteristic glassy "look right through you" character. This activity most commonly occurs during middle childhood and young adolescence.

Sleepwalkers do not seem to be under any distress. It may seem as though they are looking for something, but are in no hurry to find it and do not cry out. They say that, normally, the sleepwalker rises from bed and begins to wander slowly around the room. Their actions are very deliberate, but slow and methodical. The sleepwalker looks straight ahead and "seems to be on some kind of auto pilot, there is a sense of purpose in the activity, some goal for the journey." A sleepwalker’s articulation is poor. Sleepwalkers do not usually speak, unless spoken to. It seems that in sleepwalking, the body wakes before the mind.

Blogpost 1: Sleeping Disorders: Non-24-hour sleep-wake syndrome

You climb into bed worn out and exhausted. But the minute the lights go out, you’re wide awake, worrying. The clock ticks ahead. Your anxiety builds. You wonder how you’ll survive the next day. You can't sleep. You've tried counting sheep, drinking warm milk, maybe even taking medications like Benadryl or sleeping pills.

With our busy lives, it can be tempting to shrug off those difficulties with sleep. Trouble falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep throughout the night, waking feeling tired and unfresh; these are commonly experienced disruptions to sleep for millions of us. Too often, these sleep problems we aren't taken seriously, or are considered the less-than-ideal price to pay for living full and sometimes hectic lives. 

Difficulty falling asleep, waking during the night, waking very early in the morning, and experiencing restorative sleep are all symptoms of insomnia, a serious sleep disorder. Many of us can experience these symptoms all at once, or some of us and not others. We may experience them chronically or every so often. They are signs of disrupted, poor quality sleep and they should never be ignored.

I read an article entitled "10 Reasons It's Awesome to Be an Insomniac" by Jill Smokler in hestir.cafemom.com. According to the article Insomnia helps you improve your critical thinking. Our brain is most active at night. As connected in having an insomnia, a quotation given by Banana Yoshimito N.P. in goodreads.com “That's the advantage of insomnia. People who go to be early always complain that the night is too short, but for those of us who stay up all night, it can feel as long as a lifetime. You get a lot done”'.

That's why at night,  it was very difficult to get to sleep at bedtime, I  found myself "out like a light" in front of the TV, at a movie, or even reading, texting, and drawing.

But staying up just one night without sleep can increase the amount of the chemical dopamine in the human brain, According to new imaging research in the Journal of Neuroscience in sfn.org. Because drugs that increase dopamine, like amphetamines, promote wakefulness, the findings offer a potential mechanism explaining how the brain helps people stay awake despite the urge to sleep. However, the study also shows that the increase in dopamine cannot compensate for the cognitive deficits caused by sleep deprivation.


Sometimes, many of us can experience also a temporary insomnia from a few days to a few weeks, such as a  stressful event, emotional stress, illness, temporary pain, disturbances in sleep hygiene. 


As  I read further, according to the article, SleepHabits: More Important Than You Think by Michael J. Breus, PhD. in webmd.com. This article tells that poor sleep is well understood to have a serious, negative impact on heart health. Not sleeping well, or enough, raises the risks for a number of cardiovascular problems, including high blood pressure, heart attack, heart failure, and stroke. Protecting the quality of sleep as we age is a critical component of protecting long-term cardiovascular health.

If you have symptoms of insomnia, don’t ignore them. Share them with your doctor. Make an honest assessment of your sleep habits and make a commitment to taking simple steps to improve your sleep routine and your overall sleep hygiene. Taking steps to improve the quality and quantity of your sleep is one important way to protect your cardiovascular and overall health for the duration of your life. And sleeping well may actually help you extend that duration.