The term parasomnia refers to a wide variety of disruptive sleep-related events. These behaviors and experiences occur usually while sleeping, and most are often infrequent and mild. They may, however, happen often enough to become so bothersome that medical attention is required.
Experts believe the various types of arousal disorders are related and share some characteristics.
These arousals occur when a person is in a mixed state of being both asleep and awake, and usually coming from the deepest stage of nondreaming sleep. This means the person is awake enough to act out complex behaviors but still asleep and not aware or able to remember these actions. Parasomnias are very common in young children and do not usually indicate significant psychiatric or psychological problems. Such disorders tend to run in families and might be made worse when a child is overly tired, has a fever, or is taking certain medications. They may occur during periods of stress and may increase and decrease with good and bad weeks.