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.