"I noticed your site on the internet off of a link from MSN.COM , me and my fiancee is experiencing a problem with sleep sex. Most nights that she falls asleep for a few hours she starts moaning and soon is masturbating and acting out sexual acts in her sleep. She has spoke to her dr and he doesnt seem to think anything serious about it she was put on an anti psychotic pill that only seemed to change the pattern for a couple weeks and then went back to her usual sleep sex. She discontinued the pill at this point. If you can offer any suggestions or help it would be greatly appreciated."
"Me and my wife have been having a very difficult time since our marriage began four years ago. At night I become a very aggressive person in bed only to awake to a horrified wife that knows all to well what I have on my mind. It is only when she awakes that I do realize what is going on. I do have a very difficult time a night sleeping getting up every night. She has been so patient with me until recently the unwanted ness has become more aggressive. Our marriage is on the brink of divorce because of this obsession. She brought in an article that explains sleep sex! I read this and to my surprise I am astonished at what I was reading. I am looking a mirror image of what is happening to me. Is this just a stipulation or a convenience excuse with men with a sex obsession? If there is more information about sleep sex I would really like to know. I am in desperate need of answers to the question of what is going on."
As early as 1996, (Shapiro, Fedoroff and Trajanovic, 1996) SBS was identified as a medical condition that may place one at risk of being accused of sexual assault. Thus, if a person is aware of their SBS and takes it seriously, this knowledge may carry with it some accountability for not taking actions to prevent sexual misconduct.
SBS is mentioned in the most current (revised) edition of the International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD-2), which is the diagnostic manual used by sleep medicine practitioners to make diagnoses. Although it is recognized as a sub-type of parasomnia, "sexsomnia" is not included as a particular type of sleep disorder with its own diagnosis.
While SBS is mentioned in the ICSD-2 and recent medical research suggests sexual behavior in sleep is a unique form of sleep-related behavior in the class "parasomnia" (Shapiro et al, 1996; 2003; Schenck & Mahowald, 2005) and over the past five years information in the popular realm has become available (e.g., articles have appeared in Cosmopolitan , Redbook, Details and a Web search will yield a number of information sources), the community of legal and health professionals and the lay public remains incredulous when it comes to SBS.
In fact, when one discovers their own SBS, usually after being informed about their behavior by a bed partner, they are unlikely to believe that they are, themselves, behaving in such a fashion. Often this is a source of conflict in couples as it is embarrassing to accept it as fact. Even when one reports another's (that is, a person complains he/she has been fondled, etc., by a person who clearly appeared to be asleep), to a friend or health care provider in an attempt to try to get some support and to encourage their partner to treat his/her SBS, these persons cannot expect others to believe their story-that they have been "victimized" by a sleeping individual. At present most people know that people walk, talk and eat in their sleep. That sexual behavior also occurs in sleep is not, at present, common knowledge.[/b]
Bookmarks