Sleep-swimming reported in US

Friday 24th August 2012

A woman in Idaho has been found ‘sleep-swimming’, adding a peculiar twist on the sleep disorder of sleepwalking, according to reports in the US this week. The woman was found on the banks of the Snake River following her unconscious night-time dip, and local authorities confirmed that she had been rescued three times in the last five weeks from similar acts. The extreme dangers of the woman’s actions hardly need explaining, but the river temperature will be rapidly dropping in the coming months with freezing likely at some point, adding to the already lethal risks of sleep-swimming. Therefore the woman’s sleep disorder really does require urgent attention.

Sleepwalking, also called somnambulism, covers a wide-range of activities besides simply walking, as demonstrated by this bizarre example. The condition has been known to involve sufferers in some particularly dangerous cases driving and operating machinery, but it is just as likely to consist of sitting up straight, or taking just a few steps before the sufferer climbs back into bed.

Part of the mystery of sleepwalking is that the sufferer never recalls their actions when they wake up, however, any night-time activity besides sleep can lead to sleep deprivation and therefore should be addressed.

Tags: sleep sleepwalking

Category: Sleep Research

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