What causes excessive sleep walking?
Chloe Ramirez
Updated on March 06, 2026
What causes excessive sleep walking?
Causes of sleepwalking include: Hereditary (the condition may run in families). Lack of sleep or extreme fatigue. Interrupted sleep or unproductive sleep, from disorders like sleep apnea (brief pauses in the child’s breathing pattern during sleep).
Can sleepwalking last for hours?
Sleepwalking episodes can last for a few seconds to a half an hour with most finishing in less than 10 minutes. The person may return to bed and go back to sleep on their own, or they may wake up confused while they are still out of bed.
Can you interact while sleep walking?
It usually happens when you’re going from a deep stage of sleep to a lighter stage or coming awake. You can’t respond while you’re sleepwalking and usually don’t remember it. In some cases, you may talk and not make sense. Sleepwalking mostly happens to children, usually between the ages of 4 and 8.
Do people pee while sleepwalking?
Behaviours such as sleep walking usually happen in this deep (non-REM) sleep, too, so you may wander and urinate, either in the toilet or in an inappropriate place without waking. ‘ Alcohol is a diuretic, which means it stimulates the body to produce urine.
How can you tell if someone is sleepwalking?
Someone who is sleepwalking may:
- Get out of bed and walk around.
- Sit up in bed and open his or her eyes.
- Have a glazed, glassy-eyed expression.
- Not respond or communicate with others.
- Be difficult to wake up during an episode.
- Be disoriented or confused for a short time after being awakened.
Is sleepwalking curable?
Treatment for occasional sleepwalking usually isn’t necessary. In children who sleepwalk, it typically goes away by the teen years. If sleepwalking leads to the potential for injury, is disruptive to family members, or results in embarrassment or sleep disruption for the person who sleepwalks, treatment may be needed.
How can Sleepwalkers see?
Sleepwalkers’ eyes are open, but they don’t see the same way they do when they’re awake. They’ll often think they’re in different rooms of the house or different places altogether. Sleepwalkers tend to go back to bed on their own and they won’t remember what happened in the morning.
What happens in the brain during sleepwalking?
It usually happens during the first third of the night and can last anywhere from 30 seconds to 30 minutes. Some scientists speculate that it is caused by the brain attempting to directly transition from deep NREM sleep to wakefulness, rather than going through the subsequent stages of the sleep cycle.
Why does my husband sleep walk?
“Major life stressors like extreme physical or psychological stress, sleep deprivation, a noisy sleeping environment or extensive travel across time zones may cause adults to begin sleepwalking,” says Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer. “Other triggers could be sleep apnea or prescription sleep medications.”
What stage of sleep does sleepwalking occur?
Sleepwalking is a disorder of arousal, meaning it occurs during N3 sleep, the deepest stage of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep.
Can Sleepwalkers see you?
Do sleepwalkers have their eyes open or closed?
Also, sleepwalkers’ eyes are open, but they don’t see the same way they do when they’re awake. Often, they think they’re in different rooms of the house or different places altogether. Sometimes, these other conditions may happen with sleepwalking: sleep apnea (brief pauses in breathing while sleeping)