Sleep talking: what really happens.

Have you ever been told you talk loudly in your sleep, unaware that you ever spoke a word? This occurrence is known as sleep talking.

We spend a third of our lives sleeping. Sleep is very important to the human body and the mind to function properly. Our brain use this time to sort out information that we have gathered during our waking hours. However, there are many disorders associated with sleep, an example is sleep talking which is harmless but can be very annoying to the person sleeping next to them.

Sleep talking is also known as somniloquy. It is the act of speaking during sleep. It is a very common occurrence and it's not usually considered a medical problem. Somniloquy can be quite loud, ranging from simple sounds to long speeches and can occur many times during sleep. Listeners may or may not be able to understand what the person is saying.

Each night, the body transitions between the five stages of sleep. There are four stages of non rapid eye movement and one stage of rapid eye movement( where we have most vivid and memorable dreams) respectively. When the body cannot move smoothly from one stage to another, the body becomes partially aroused. When the sleep stages are interrupted, sleep talking takes place. Sleep talking can occur in any stage of sleep. But most occur during the non rapid eye movement stage.

Sleep talking occurs mostly among children than in adults. The reason for this is the immature state of brain and incomplete sleep cycles.

Factors that triggers sleep talking are stress and illnesses, lack of sleep, eating near bedtime, medications, emotional stress, substance abuse, mental health disorder etc.
Sleep talking requires no treatment. But it's sessions can be reduced by taking time to relax, and making sure you are getting proper amount of sleep you need each night.