Introduction
Sexsomnia, also known as
sleep sex or
somnambulistic sexual behavior, refers to unintentional sexual behaviors or activities during sleep. Sexsomnia is a relatively new diagnosis. The term was coined by Shapiro and colleagues in 2003,
[1] but cases of this condition have been reported in the literature for the past 3 decades.
[2,3]
Sexual behavior during sleep automatism can range from explicit vocalizations to touching or sexual intercourse, and in some cases even sexual assault or rape. It is non-rapid eye movement (NREM) parasomnia characterized by abnormal transitions between sleep and wake states. The second edition of the International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD-2) discusses somnambulistic sexual activity in the context of disorders of arousal from NREM sleep.
[4]
Most commonly, NREM parasomnias arise from slow-wave sleep (SWS). Because of a relative lack of cortical control, partial arousals from this deep state of sleep can lead to uninhibited manifesta…
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