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Tom's Guide
22-07-2025
- Health
- Tom's Guide
67% of us experience parasomnias — expert shares 5 most common types and why they happen
Experiencing a parasomnia, like sleep walking, can feel disturbing. Sleepwalking isn't the only parasomnia, though — other sleep conditions such as sleep paralysis, bed wetting and even sleep talking can be classed as a parasomnia. So what causes them? From stress and trauma, to lifestyle habits and medications (or even genetics) — there are many factors that can be responsible for parasomnias. Considering 67% of us experience parasomnias, we want to find out more. So, we're exploring what the most common parasomnias are, talking to sleep experts about why they affect some people more than others and strategies to manage or stop them to help you sleep better. Parasomnias are behaviours that occur during sleep, such as 'sleepwalking, sleep talking, or night terrors,' explains Dr Hamilton Gaiani, a double board-certified psychiatrist. He adds that these parasomnias are usually associated with 'stress, nervousness, or previous traumatic experiences.' 'For instance, sleepwalking occurs when the brain is not fully awake but the body is walking around, something that may occur when you're stressed or overwhelmed,' he explains. So, what's happening to the body when you're experiencing a parasomnia? Sleep expert Dr Lindsay Browning adds that they can be categorised as non-rapid eye movement (NREM) parasomnias or rapid eye movement (REM) parasomnias depending on which part of sleep they occur. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. She explains that there is another category called 'other parasomnias': 'This covers parasomnias that do not fit neatly into either the REM or NREM classifications." "NREM parasomnias typically occur in the first third of the night, whereas REM parasomnias tend to occur in the latter half of the night,' she adds. There are many types of parasomnias, but these 5 are the most common. Browning explains that someone who is sleepwalking is 'not fully conscious, but they may open their eyes, get up out of bed, walk downstairs, open the fridge, and even eat something, before going back to bed again.' Sleep walking might seem like a bit of a novelty, but this parasomnia can pose many dangers — especially if the walker leaves their house. If you've ever been woken up by someone talking next to you, and they are fast asleep, they could be sleep talking. 'Sleep talking (or somniloquy) is a parasomnia where someone may start talking, mumbling, or shouting during their sleep without being aware that they're doing so,' the sleep expert explains. 'It can occur in any sleep stage but is most common in NREM sleep,' she adds. A scary feeling to wake up to, explains that sleep paralysis is 'a state where you become paralyzed and cannot move or talk while falling asleep or waking up.' He explains that it's often linked to stress, anxiety or insufficient sleep condition could be more common than you think, with one study showing that 4 in 10 of us have experienced it. Night terrors are short episodes of fear or terror that seem to occur during deep sleep, says Dr. Gaiani. 'They may result in activity such as screaming, thrashing, or pounding heart.' 'The individual typically does not recall the episode in the morning. Night terrors are a parasomnia since they interrupt normal sleep and are usually precipitated by trauma or stress,' he explains. The reason individuals don't remember these episodes is because they usually take place during NREM sleep. Wetting the bed while you sleep can be a traumatic experience, explains sleep expert Dr. Leah Kaylor. She explains that it's classed as a parasomnia because it 'happens during sleep without conscious control over the bladder.' This is a parasomnia which is more common in children, but adults can also experience the condition due to extreme stress, trauma, health conditions or poor sleep habits. 'Parasomnias can be caused by a mix of physical, emotional, and environmental factors,' says Kaylor. She adds that one common cause is sleep deprivation. 'This is when the body doesn't get enough rest; it increases the chances of unusual brain activity during sleep.' Stress and anxiety are also major triggers Stress and anxiety are also major triggers, 'because they can make the brain more active during sleep, leading to disruptions like night terrors or sleepwalking,' she explains. But your sleep habits and lifestyle can also play a part. 'Irregular sleep schedules, such as going to bed at different times each night or doing shift work, can confuse the body's internal clock and increase the risk of parasomnias,' Dr Kaylor says. Genetics can also play a role as well as certain medications or substances, such as sleeping pills, stimulants or alcohol. There are different ways to help manage parasomnias and even help to stop them, we've looked at a few solutions below but if you experience them frequently or their impacting your quality of life, you should speak with a specialist to find the right solution for you. Your body works off a sleep/wake cycle called the circadian rhythm. This is like a pre-programmed internal clock telling your body when to wake up and when to go to sleep. So keeping a consistent sleep schedule will allow your body to easily fall asleep and stay asleep, cycling through the individual sleep stages properly, which will help ward off parasomnia symptoms. Although alcohol and other substances could relax you and help you initially get to sleep they could affect the quality of your sleep, says Browning. 'As alcohol affects sleep architecture, it can cause more fragmented and disturbed REM sleep in the latter part of the night, increasing the likelihood of parasomnias.' Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) helps to change how we think and ultimately our actions. So, how can it stop parasomnias? 'CBT can help those dealing with the stress, anxiety, or trauma that causes sleep disorders or parasomnias - this is because it helps to alter the negative thought processes,' explains If you're being disrupted when you sleep it could be a good time to look at your sleep hygiene. So, what does this mean? Sleep hygiene refers to your environment and the habits you have that can impact your sleep. If you're waking up due to street lights or sunshine blaring into your bedroom it could be time to invest in black out blinds. If noise is the problem, then earplugs could be your best bet. Make sure where you sleep is also clutter free, well ventilated and has comfortable bedding — all key things to help you get a better night's sleep. If none of the lifestyle solutions above help to cure your parasomnia then it may be worth looking at medications to help you. But always consult a physician or doctor before starting any medication (especially if it hasn't been prescribed for you) to make sure it's the right option.
Yahoo
12-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Researchers Have Found a Way to Help Erase Bad Memories
Being able to erase bad memories and traumatic flashbacks could help in the treatment of a host of different mental health issues, and scientists have found a promising new approach to do just this: weakening negative memories by reactivating positive ones. In an experiment covering several days, an international team of researchers asked 37 participants to associate random words with negative images, before attempting to reprogram half of those associations and 'interfere' with the bad memories. "We found that this procedure weakened the recall of aversive memories and also increased involuntary intrusions of positive memories," write the researchers in their published paper. For the study, the team used recognized databases of images classified as negative or positive – think human injuries or dangerous animals, compared with calm landscapes and smiling children. On the first evening, memory training exercises were used to get the volunteers to link negative images with nonsense words made up for the study. The next day, after a sleep to consolidate those memories, the researchers tried to associate half of the words with positive images in the minds of the participants. During the second night of sleep, recordings of the nonsense words being spoken were played, during the non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep phase known to be important for memory storage. Brain activity was monitored using electroencephalography. Theta-band activity in the brain, linked to emotional memory processing, was seen to spike in response to the audio memory cues, and were significantly higher when positive cues were used. Through questionnaires the next day and several days after, the researchers found that the volunteers were less able to recall the negative memories that had been scrambled with positive ones. Positive memories were more likely to pop into their heads than negative ones for these words, and were viewed with a more positive emotional bias. "A noninvasive sleep intervention can thus modify aversive recollection and affective responses," write the researchers. "Overall, our findings may offer new insights relevant for the treatment of pathological or trauma-related remembering." It's still early days for this research, and it's worth remembering that this was a tightly controlled lab experiment: that's good in terms of trusting the accuracy of the results, but it doesn't exactly reflect real world thinking and positive or negative memory formation. For example, the team says that seeing aversive images in a lab experiment wouldn't have the same scale of impact on memory formation as experiencing a traumatic event. The real thing might be harder to overwrite. We know that the brain saves memories by briefly replaying them during sleep, and many studies have already looked at how this process could be controlled to reinforce good memories or wipe out bad ones. With so many variables in play – in terms of types of memories, brain areas, and sleep phases – it's going to take some time to figure out exactly how memory editing could happen, and how long-lasting the effects could be. Nevertheless, this process of overwriting negative memories with positive ones seems to have some promise. "Our findings open broad avenues for seeking to weaken aversive or traumatic memories," write the researchers. The research has been published in PNAS. Weighted Vests Are Making a Comeback – But Do They Really Work? Millions of Americans Are Tired All The Time. These 2 Factors Could Be Why. Harmful Bacteria Can Trigger Pain in Your Gut, And Now We Know How
