Sexsomnia, or Sleep Sex, is a condition that causes a person to engage in sexual activities even though they are asleep. The actual medical term for this condition is NREM arousal parasomnia. Though it is a newly recognized condition in the medical world, it is legitimate. It can often coincide with other sleep disorders as well, making it even more dangerous than what it normally is. Sexsomnia has been researched and is still being researched in order to fully understand it. The broad term of sleep disorders that Sexsomnia falls under is called parasomnias.
What is Sexsomnia? Sexsomnia is a non rapid eye movement sleep parasomnia type or NREM. Sexsomniacs unconsciously experience arousal and exhibit sexual behavior while sleeping and often wake up with no memory of what happened or the acts they performed while they were asleep. There have been cases where people have gotten pregnant, woken up with bites and hickeys on them or experienced soreness with no knowledge of how it happened.
Co-Occurrence Sexsomnia can occur in conjunction with other sleeping disorders. Some that can occur simultaneously are sleepwalking, night terrors, bedwetting and sleepwalking. It is hard to tell when it can develop, or predict incidents.
Triggers Triggers for Sexsomnia can be very similar to those of other sleep disorders. Most notably, stress, sleep deprivation, excessive drug or alcohol use can all trigger sleep disorder incidents. Even moreso, a combination of these triggers can make incidents even more likely. Sexsomnia is even a possible adverse effect of Zolpiden, a medication considered to be a sedative. Sexsomnia specifically can also be trigged by even inadvertent physical contact with a someone sharing a bed with them.
Dangers Clearly the threat of sexually transmitted diseases are a problem as well as other aspects of physical safety. People can be traumatized by the condition and life altering consequences can occur as well.
Treatment Most people diagnosed with sexsomnia are referred to a therapist to help them deal with the difficult feelings that can come from the condition. As they are unaware of what happens while they are sleep they may feel at a loss, or even shocked when the information is presented by another party. Typically, the other party is a partner.
Medications Right now, Clonazepam is considered the first medication and treatment option for severe cases of sexsomnia. A case of sexsomnia is considered to be more severe if it cannot be resolved through other means and measures.
Cases There have been a few different legal cases where sexsomnia has been entered into the courtroom as a theory. Sexsomnia has been accepted in certain cases of sexual assault because it is a legitimate medical condition.
Sexsomnia on House The television medical drama House featured a case of sexsomnia. The patient, a woman who was having issues with marks showing up on her body and a pregnancy she could not explain as she was not sexually active was diagnosed by House with Sexsomnia.
Sexsomnia on Lifetime The Lifetime movie Sleepwalking in Suburbia was about a chacter who had sex with her neighbor while sleeping. She and her husband had to figure out her sleep disorder while the story took the expected lifetime Dark Turn.
Sexsomnia on Law and Order SVU In Season 9, episode 2 titled Avatar, a character had sexsomnia. Many of the episodes of Law and Order series featured retellings of actual news stories with a twist or two added in.
Sexsomnia on Desperate Housewives In Desperate Housewives Season seven, episode 2, there was a sexsomniac. The name of the episode was “You Must Meet My Wife”.
Sexsomnia in the Invisible Man The Invisible Man is a novel by Ralph Ellison. The story is about a farmer who had sex with his daughter while claiming that he was sleep.
Sexsomnia in Yakish and Popcha Yakish and Popcha is a play by Hanoch Levin. At the end of a very long story, Yakish and his wife Popcha are finally able to have sex, but only while they are both asleep.
Public Reception Though there has been a significant amount of discourse as to the legitimacy of such a condition and the typical amount of rude jokes, people have grown more accepting. The inclusion of the sleep disorder in media has made it easier to understand for people who have no interaction with it.
Continual Study As with most conditions, Sexsomnia is still being studied. People suffering with it need help and doctors and therapists are determined to help them. Hopefully there will be more answers soon.
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