Do you know about sleep walking disorder in children?

Sleep walking disorder, which used to be called sleepwalking, is an altered state of consciousness in which sleep and wakefulness coexist during sleep. The prevalence of sleep walking disorder in children is as high as 1% to 15%, mostly in boys, but less common in adults. The exact cause of the disease is unknown, and some scholars believe that the occurrence of this disease is related to the disruption of daily life routine, learning tension, anxiety or fear of emotion. It may also be related to delayed cortical development. Some patients have a positive family history. Sleep walking disorder usually occurs in the first 1/3 of deep sleep, not in dreams, but mostly in the third and fourth stages of non-rapid eye movement sleep, often occurring 15 to 120 minutes after falling asleep, and other times of the day can also occur. The duration of each episode is 30s to several minutes. The main manifestation is that the patient suddenly gets up shortly after going to sleep and moves around indoors or outdoors without any purpose. At this time, the patient has a blank expression, dull gaze, lack of response to the outside world, unable to communicate, and lack of purposeful behavior, ranging from simple aimless roaming, circling around the bed, dressing and undressing, taking things, etc. to complex activities such as operating a computer, and occasional aggressive behavior. It is difficult to be awakened during this period, and if awakened, they may have disorientation and impaired consciousness. Most of them can go back to bed on their own and go back to sleep again, but they cannot recall the experience of sleeping when they wake up. The duration of the activity is usually several minutes or tens of minutes, during which the patient is in a state of low level of consciousness and narrowing of the scope of consciousness, with low defensive ability, closing doors and windows before going to bed, and storing away all kinds of dangerous objects to avoid causing injury to themselves or others. For children, the disease is usually self-treatable with age and does not require special treatment. For adults or severe symptoms can be considered medication, available benzodiazepines, such as diazepam 2.5 mg or clonazepam 1 to 4 mg at bedtime. Antidepressants such as promethazine and paroxetine can also be used. At the same time to develop good sleep habits, give the necessary psychological guidance, but also to avoid excessive fatigue and high tension.