French scientists find that sleep walking is an under diagnosed condition, known to affect 4% of adults, which take a serious toll on quality of life and daytime moods when compared to a control group. The condition arises when part of the the brain is in NREM sleep while the other part of the brain is partly awake; this leads to complex behaviours without conscious awareness.
Approximately 58% of violence due to sleep-related behaviours were documented among sleep walkers; with 17% of these sleepwalkers and/or bed partner experiencing severe injuries requiring medical care.
Using a case-control study of 100 patients from ages 18-58 researchers collected data using clinical interviews, questionnaires and objective tests using a polysomnography. What they found was increasing precipitating factors increased frequency and severity of the episodes which was found to contribute to increased slow wave sleep and NREM sleep instability. These precipitating factors include: stressful events, strong positive emotions, sleep deprivation, and in some cases to drug or alcohol intake or forcible evening physical activity.
Consequentially this leads sleepwalkers to be increasingly prone to daytime sleepiness, fatigue, insomnia, symptoms of depression and anxiety and significant change in quality of life when compared to a control group.
Source: http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/03/01/sleepwalking-linked-to-serious-mental-health-issues/52081.html
