Sex While You Sleep

Sleep and sex usually go together to form some interesting and often fun dreams but for others the act of 'sleepsex' or 'sexsomnia' can vary from simple movements to full blown sexual intercourse.

A paper published by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine has, for the first time, detailed the sexual behaviours and experiences associated with sleepsex.

"It seems that more and more reports are surfacing of abnormal sexual behaviours emerging during sleep," said Carlos H. Schenck, MD, a senior staff psychiatrist at the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center in Minneapolis and the lead author of the review. "While people may think this type of behaviour is humorous, in reality it can be disturbing, annoying, embarrassing and a potentially serious problem for some individuals and couples. Despite their awareness of the condition, many sufferers often delay seeking help, either because they don't know that it's a medical disorder or for fear that others will instead judge it as wilful behaviour. This paper highlights the expanding set of sleep disorders and other nocturnal disorders known to be associated with abnormal sexual behaviours and experiences, or the misperception of sexual events. The legal consequences are also described and discussed."

Although more common in men, women have also been known to suffer from sexsomnia. Such problems can be simple, such as arousal, pelvic movements, masturbation, talking and orgasm but for others sleepsex can be much more serious.

One man regularly assaulted his wife for 12 years, sometimes trying to choke her. Another woman admitted that though sometimes she enjoyed her boyfriend's sleepsex habits of rough sex with her he did sometimes scare her.

Another woman had fallen asleep on her friend's couch only to be woken up during the night when he began to have sex with her. Four documented cases are from women who knew that their partners were asleep while trying to engage in intercourse because they were still snoring.

The problems from sleepsex occur, according to the report, from underlying sleeping and some psychological disorders. Those who suffer from sleepsex are wholly unaware of what they are doing, much like the more common sleep walker, and may not recall anything after they have woken up.

The person may also feel shame or guilt from their behaviour, particularly if they engage in sexual acts or sexual sleep talking that are beyond their usual sexual behaviour.

Anyone who suffers from or is concerned should seek some medical help.

'Sleep and Sex: What Can Go Wrong' is published in the June 1st issue of the journal SLEEP, the official journal of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC, a joint venture of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and the Sleep Research Society.

SleepEducation.com, a Web site maintained by the AASM, provides information about the various sleep disorders that exist, the forms of treatment available, recent news on the topic of sleep, sleep studies that have been conducted and a listing of sleep facilities.

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