All of us at some point in our lives, as children or adults, have talked or will talk while we sleep and in rare cases this is a problem for some parents as it is a cause for concern.
As explained by Dr. Paula Giménez Rodríguez, a member of the Spanish Sleep Society, “somniloquia, what is known as talking in dreams, is a benign sleep disorder that most frequently affects children and adolescents, although it also happens in adulthood.”
It usually has an associated genetic component, that is, a family member had this type of episode in childhood. Fever, stressful situations or sleep deprivation can precipitate or favor the appearance of somniloquies. That is why in the little ones they can appear when they start school and stop taking a nap or when it disappears at an early age.
“When asking parents, it is common for it to happen to some other member in the family, they or a sibling have also spoken in dreams. The phenomenon is typical of the immaturity of children’s brains, which is why it usually disappears over the years, although they may experience isolated episodes in adulthood.” , Giménez points out.
Like other types of parasomnias, such as night terrors or sleepwalking, they are age-dependent, that is, as the child matures they will tend to disappear or decrease in frequency, and are often associated with this type of non-REM sleep parasomnias, a phase of sleep in which muscle tone is still preserved.
Is it necessary to follow a treatment?
“The person speaks in his sleep, so the next day he will not remember anything he has said. They usually speak unintelligibly, things that do not make sense and if we wake them up they will not remember what happened and the only thing we can achieve is that they feel confused, so it is not advisable to wake them up,” clarifies Dr. Giménez.
As it is a benign disorder, they do not require any specific treatment, although it is important to explain to parents their benign nature, “which will tend to improve with age and that they maintain correct sleep hygiene habits, respecting the hours of night’s rest,” says Dr. Giménez, clinical neurophysiologist and specialist in Sleep Medicine who directs the Sleep Unit of the Vistahermosa Clinic in Alicante.
In children, it is advisable that these hours of rest reach a minimum of 10 hours of sleep per night and 9 hours in adolescents. As Giménez points out, the Spanish population is sleep deprived and many of the patients who come to his office with daytime fatigue problems and who believe they suffer from a sleep disorder actually have the problem they have is that they do not sleep the right hours, the hours they need.
Sleepwalking, sleep apnea and severe disorders
Between the ages of 6 and 10, children who have been talkative in dreams may have a greater predisposition to sleepwalking, although the disorder tends to disappear and present what are called “free periods”.
In adult life, situations of stress or sleep deprivation act as precipitants for the reappearance of sleepwalking episodes.
“Isolated somniloquies do not usually have any impact on night’s rest, although it is true that they can accompany sleep disorders such as Sleep Apnea Syndrome,” says the doctor.
Sleep apnea syndrome is characterized by snoring children who have brief breathing pauses during sleep, which interrupts their nightly rest and can have serious repercussions on their growth and intellectual development. Therefore, it is advisable to consult a specialist in sleep disorders.
Somniloquies can also be part of serious sleep disorders in adults but well defined as REM sleep behavior disorder that affects men over 50 years of age.
In the Rem sleep phase there is a natural muscle atony that means, among other things, that when we dream our body does not express the content of dreams. Those who suffer from REM sleep disorder lose this natural immobility and their dreams, characterized by being violent and in which they are often the object of persecution or threat, can be expressed by their body.
Thus, these people talk, shout, kick or hit while dreaming. In addition, in most cases the disorder is associated many years later with the development of neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s.
Source: La Opinión de Málaga
