In adults, it could indicate a personality disturbance. Usually, it is enough for parents of sleepwalkers to provide their children with emotional support. They should also lock windows and doors and make sure the child does not sleep near stairways and potentially dangerous objects. For severe cases, a doctor may prescribe drugs. It is more common in children than in adolescents and adults.
Boys are more likely to sleepwalk than girls.
Sleepwalking can have a genetic tendency. If a child begins to sleepwalk at the age of 9, it often lasts into adulthood. For some, the episodes of sleepwalking occur less than once per month and do not result in harm to the patient or others. Others experience episodes more than once per month, but not nightly, and do not result in harm to the patient or others. In its most severe form, the episodes occur almost nightly or are associated with physical injury.