By exploring these areas, it may be possible to better understand the disorder as well as dispel old notions about it. The Parasomnias are disorders that intrude into the sleep process and create disruptive sleep-related events. Arousal disorders are parasomnia disorders presumed to be due to an abnormal arousal mechanism. These arousals occur when a person is in a mixed state of being both asleep and awake, generally coming from the deepest stage of nondreaming sleep, stages 3 and 4. One of the most common types of arousal disorders is somnambulism, more commonly known as sleepwalking.
Somnambulism affects children much more regularly than adults.
It has been noted that the incidence of sleepwalking decreases with age. It has also been noted that those individuals who start to sleepwalk as adults are more prone to serious problems with it. Because it is found more commonly in children, who are undergoing many physical and chemical changes, if it is seen to start in adults it is thought to be linked to mental disturbances other than fatigue or anxiety. No one seems to know exactly what the cause of somnambulism is, but there are theories that have been suggested. In children, it may be related to fatigue, prior sleep loss, or anxiety.