Sitting up unconsciously at night

When sleeping at night, some people suddenly sit up unconsciously. Although this is not common in life, it is often shocking to people around them. These people often have no memory of this happening while sleeping. This may be related to poor sleep or dreaming. In addition, if some people have symptoms of sleepwalking, this phenomenon may also occur. Therefore, it is important to understand the specific reasons. Then carry out symptomatic treatment. Of course, if it happens once in a while, don't worry too much.

Medical Explanation

Somnambulism is a sleep disorder in neurology, which refers to walking around the house unconsciously or performing other unconscious behaviors during sleep. The symptoms are generally walking around the house in a semi-awake state, but some patients will leave the house or perform some dangerous actions, such as climbing through windows, driving, or even some violent activities, such as murder.

Sleepwalking, commonly known as "confusion", refers to suddenly getting up and moving around during sleep, and then falling asleep again. After waking up, one has no idea of ​​what he did during sleep. Nocturnal walking does not occur in dreams, but rather in the third to fourth deep sleep stages, which are concentrated in the first half of the night.

Therefore, sleepwalking usually occurs in the first 2 to 3 hours after falling asleep. Sleepwalking mostly occurs in childhood (6 to 12 years old), but can occur at any stage in childhood, but is more common between the ages of 5 and 7. It lasts for several years and usually disappears on its own after entering puberty. In children, the incidence of occasional sleepwalking is 15%, and the incidence of frequent sleepwalking is 1% to 6%. There are more men than women. The high incidence of sleepwalking within the same family indicates that sleepwalking is hereditary to a certain extent.

Causes

Studies have shown that sleepwalking is mainly the result of human cerebral cortex activity. The activity of the brain includes two processes: "excitation" and "inhibition". Normally, when people sleep, the cells in the cerebral cortex are in an inhibited state. If at this time one or several groups of nerve cells that control movement are still in an excited state, sleepwalking will occur. The scope of sleepwalking actions is often the environment that the sleepwalker is most familiar with and the actions that he or she often repeats. Sleepwalking is often a topic of discussion among people. People are very surprised by the phenomenon of sleepwalking, but they also have a series of obvious prejudices against it. Ordinary people believe that sleepwalkers probably wander around like blind people, but in fact, sleepwalkers' eyes are half-open or fully open, and their walking posture is the same as usual. Ordinary people also believe that sleepwalkers are extremely brave and dare to do some thrilling and terrifying actions. Of course, sleepwalkers sometimes fall and get hurt occasionally due to distraction. Ordinary people also have a prejudice that you should not wake up a sleepwalker casually, because the sleepwalker will be scared crazy if he wakes up suddenly. In fact, it is difficult to awaken a sleepwalker, and even if he is awakened, he will not go crazy, but just feel confused. Some sleepwalkers with aggressive behavior should be awakened in time. Some people believe that sleepwalking is actually dreaming, but psychologists have observed that sleepwalking often occurs during the non-rapid eye movement period when dreaming is rare.