Sleep Talking – Causes and Treatment

When people are sleep talking, they are often mumbling and talking nonsense, and don’t remember it the next day. Most of them are not aware that they have a problem until their partner, roommate or a family member brings it to the table.

Written by:

Marijana

Last Updated: Wed, October 2, 2019

Sleep talking is somewhat similar to drunk talking because you are not aware what you are talking or who are you speaking to, you are mumbling and talking nonsense, and you do not remember anything about it the next day. That is the case with most sleep talkers since they are not aware that they have a problem until their partner, roommate or a family member brings it to the table.  

When people find out that they have been talking in their sleep, they are usually concerned about what they might say, and perhaps reveal something embarrassing or incriminating about themselves. Sometimes it may seem like you are having a proper conversation with somebody, other times you might mumble, whisper or grunt. One study showed that the most frequent word during sleep talk is “no.” So, can sleep talking reveal secrets? Yes, it can, but, while those embarrassing secrets may cause you to blush in front of your partner, the good news is that whatever you say while you sleep, cannot be used against you in court.

Sleep talking is not as rare as you might think. It is estimated that around 50% of young children between the age of 3 and 7, and 5% of adults deal with this problem. Just like with other sleep problems that are common among children such as bedwetting, sleep talking usually goes away naturally with age. There is no difference when it comes to sex, but there are some indications that it runs in families, which means that it can be a genetic thing. Talking while sleeping is also known as somniloquy, and it is classified as a parasomnia, which is a sleep disorder. Parasomnia stands for a group of several sleep disorders, including sleepwalking, sleep paralysis, bedwetting, teeth grinding, and night terrors.

Depending on how severe sleep talking is, there are three stages:

When it comes to duration, we also have three categories:

 

Causes of Sleep Talking

In a way, this is still a mystery. Scientists are working hard to narrow down the possible causes of this disorder, but it is a process, which means that it is still impossible to control this condition. A few factors have been marked as most likely to lead to sleep talking, but it is yet up to science to officially confirm them. Sleep talking can occur during any stage of NREM or REM sleep, and it is still unknown if it is directly linked to our dreams. Although the research is still ongoing, here are some of the potential causes of sleep talking.

 

Is There a Sleep Talking Treatment?

It can be hard to quit something that you are not even aware that you are doing and have completely no control over it, but there are some things that you can try to enhance your sleep and check if they will resolve the sleep talking problem. Since this problem occurs occasionally and it can go away on its own, it does not have to represent such a big issue. But, if it becomes more frequent then there is either something about your lifestyle habits that should be changed, or you have some type of disorder that has not been diagnosed properly.

There is no such thing as a proven treatment for sleep talking because it is usually considered that sleep talking occurs as a consequence of something else, not as a primary cause. You can try and follow some of these tips to see if they will help you.

 

What to Do When Your Partner is Sleep Talking?

You have to work tomorrow morning, but your partner suddenly starts chatting in the middle of the night, you are instantly annoyed, stressed, and it is disrupting your sleep, so what can you do now? Wake him or her up and hope that it will not continue once your partner falls asleep again, or move to the couch in the living room? Here are a few tips for those who have to listen to their partners or roommates talking in their sleep.

 

 

Sleep Related

Was this post helpful?

+ posts

She would be a morning person if mornings started at noon. Art historian, taurus, coffee lover, traveler, F1 fan who hates to drive, and well experienced insomniac with one life goal, to sleep like a coala for up to 20 hours per day.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *