Sexsomnia is a particular type of parasomnia – behavioral disturbances during sleep, such as the famous sleepwalking – in which the individual performs some type of sexual act. This can be in different ways and change from person to person or even for the same person depending on the occasion: from masturbation to having intercourse with another person.
Sexsomnia has been very little studied in the scientific literature for various reasons. In the first place, many of the individuals who suffer from it are not aware of it, since they do not remember anything when they wake up; those who are aware do not consider it a problem, or are simply embarrassed to mention it to their doctors, so they do not report it. In addition, many health professionals are also unaware of its existence and importance, since it is a recently discovered phenomenon. For this reason, the estimates made may not be particularly precise, but they are the only numbers available to the scientific community to have an approximate idea of its prevalence.
Thus, it is estimated that it is more frequent in men than in women, and in the age group of young adults. It is believed that it occurs in less than 10% of the population (there are studies that indicate that it would be around 2%) (Muza et al., 2016), and that it has a hereditary factor.
Sexsomnia usually begins a few hours after falling asleep, in the NREM phase (not rapid eye movement, which would be one of the two main phases of sleep, along with the REM phase; it is characterized by being the phase in which the sleep becomes deeper and more restful), and can occur several times in one night. The risk factors are the same that affect the probability of developing any other parasomnia: high levels of anxiety, substance abuse, having sleep apnea, etc. It has also been found that those individuals who suffered from sexsomnia used to present other sleep disturbances such as night terrors, sleepwalking, or restless legs syndrome (Martynowicz et al., 2018). Other more recent studies suggest that there may be a correlation with Parkinson’s disease, as well as with depression, and even with post-traumatic stress. Also, it has been speculated that it is more likely to occur when you are having dreams of a sexual nature.
Despite having much in common with the rest of the parasomnias, as has been indicated, sexsomnia is of particular interest given the complex brain activation that it requires: not only motor areas have to be activated to allow movement, but also other systems that allow erection, lubrication, and other examples of sexual response, as has been found in the study of some patients (Ebrahim, 2006).
Now, is sexsomnia something to worry about? Normally with other parasomnias the answer that would be given is no, as long as it does not affect the life of the person who suffers from it. However, in the case of sexsomnia it is somewhat more complex: on many occasions it can cross legal limits, since the person who suffers from it does not take into account the consent of the other people involved. That is why, if sexsomnia can affect other people, you should go to a professional to study the situation, with methods such as polysomnography, and thus find the best solution for each individual case.
What are the causes?
There is no consensus on a specific cause of this problem, although several studies point out that there are different factors that can play an important role in its appearance.
– Insomnia or lack of sleep
– Emotions such as anxiety or stress
– Substance use, such as alcohol or other drugs and abuse of certain drugs
Some authors also suggest the possible influence of epilepsy, recurrent migraine or psychological disorders.
Is there treatment?
There is very little scientific literature on the subject, which does not allow for a specific treatment for it. On the other hand, some non-pharmacological strategies, used in other sleep disorders, seem to have an improvement. Examples of these techniques are the reduction of anxiety and stress levels, control of substance use, sleep hygiene, among others.
In this sense, we recommend consulting with a health professional that is capable to apply these techniques and receive a more specific evaluation to know all the factors that may be having an effect on this problem.
References
Andersen, M. L., Poyares, D., Alves, R. S., Skomro, R., & Tufik, S. (2007). Sexsomnia: abnormal sexual behavior during sleep. Brain Research Reviews, 56(2), 271-282.
Béjot, Y., Juenet, N., Garrouty, R., Maltaverne, D., Nicolleau, L., Giroud, M., & Didi-Roy, R. (2010). Sexsomnia: an uncommon variety of parasomnia. Clinical neurology and neurosurgery, 112(1), 72-75.
Ebrahim, I. O. (2006). Somnambulistic sexual behaviour (sexsomnia). Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine, 13(4), 219-224.
Martynowicz, H., Smardz, J., Wieczorek, T., Mazur, G., Poreba, R., Skomro, R., & Wieckiewicz, M. (2018). The co-occurrence of sexsomnia, sleep bruxism and other sleep disorders. Journal of clinical medicine, 7(9), 233.
Muza, R., Lawrence, M., & Drakatos, P. (2016). The reality of sexsomnia. Current opinion in pulmonary medicine, 22(6), 576-582.
Xavi Ponseti
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