Go to sleep dear, it's time to have sex
'Sexsomnia' occurs more often than we think, says an Ottawa doctor. Sharon Kirkey reports.
Sharon Kirkey
CanWest News Service
A nightclub bouncer arrived in Dr. Paul Fedoroff's office after his wife complained he was constantly trying to have sex with her when she was asleep.
Only the nightclub bouncer couldn't remember ever doing what his wife claimed he did.
"If it happens again," Dr. Fedoroff told him, "ask your wife to turn on the light and tell me what she sees."
A week later, the bouncer was back. "She said I was asleep."
Thus began the Ottawa psychiatrist's research into a bizarre new disorder that he and other Canadian psychiatrists have dubbed "sexsomnia" -- people who engage in sexual behaviour while asleep. They believe the disorder should be recognized as a new "clinical entity" and warn it is far more prevalent than doctors suspect.
Writing in this month's issue of the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, Dr. Fedoroff and his colleagues report that embarrassment and guilt keep many from seeking help. "We anticipate that the number of potential cases is large, but sexual behaviour in sleep is not yet recognized by physicians as a behaviour of note or a problem," they write. As a result, few doctors bother asking about it during routine history-taking.
Sexsomnia can affect both men and women. While the causes are unknown, researchers suspect stress, chronic sleepiness, or alcohol or drug abuse may play a role. Seizure disorders, an injury to the brain, or a history of physical or sexual abuse may also be triggers. In some cases, nocturnal sex may be considered "odd but still within present social norms," the authors write, "particularly if the partner is a willing participant." In fact, some sexsomniacs are apparently better lovers unconscious than they are awake.
But some sexsomniacs can be "crude and aggressive," says Dr. Colin Shapiro, lead author of the report. His team describes several cases of men who were charged with sexually assaulting their partners, or even their own children. All were "exculpated" after doctors found evidence of sexsomnia, and the study suggests cases of alleged sexual molestation should be investigated for evidence of the sleep sex disorder -- a prospect that alarms groups who work with sex assault victims.
They fear that if sexsomnia winds up in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, the "bible" doctors use to identify psychiatric illnesses, the new diagnosis could provide a convenient way for a sex offender to avoid a prison term.
"This thing will create just another loophole for men to get through," says Debbie King, executive director of the Kitchener-Waterloo Sexual Assault Support Centre. "They'll say: 'Oh, but I did it in my sleep.' "
Doctors believe the phenomenon fits into a category of sleep disorders known as parasomnias. Parasomnic behaviour includes nightmares, night terrors and people who walk, talk or even eat in their sleep ("sleep eaters" have been known to eat slabs of butter, even cleaning products, while asleep).
But what makes sexsomnia unique is that most other parasomnias involve solitary acts, says Dr. Shapiro, director of the Sleep and Alertness Clinic at Toronto Western Hospital.
Last year, Stanford School of Medicine researchers reported that "sleep sex" -- which they described as behaviours ranging from loud moaning to "rape-like" assaults -- could be caused by nighttime "glitches" in brainwaves. One theory is that neurons in different parts of the brain that control muscle movement are aroused, while other parts of the brain that control "higher-order functions" such as awareness and reasoning, remain inactive. In other words, the person doesn't have a "fully 'awakened' brain," Dr. Shapiro's team writes.
"The key issue here is if a person is asleep, there's precedent in law the person is not responsible for their behaviour," Dr. Shapiro says.
That precedent was set in Canada in 1987, when Kenneth Parks got up from his couch in Pickering, Ont., after falling asleep, got in his car, drove 23 kilometres to his mother-in-law's house, and then stabbed her and beat her to death with a tire iron. Mr. Parks said he was sleepwalking and was acquitted.
The 11 cases of sexsomnia Dr. Shapiro's team report in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry are not nearly so shocking, but disturbing nonetheless: a 39-year-old married father of five who was charged with sexually touching his nine-year-old daughter when she climbed into her parents bed after a nightmare; a 32-year-old, out-of-work mechanic who was accused of sexually assaulting a young girl; a 37-year-old police officer who would "initiate sexual behaviour" about once a month in his sleep, and once grabbed his wife around the neck (he woke up after she slapped him hard).
While all of the men who were charged were cleared, Dr. Fedoroff, co-director of the sexual behaviours clinic at the Royal Ottawa Hospital, acknowledges it's impossible to know for certain whether they were truly asleep.
But he has assessed men who have been charged with sexual assault who display no signs or symptoms of sexually deviant behaviour, but who in sleep studies show clear signs of a parasomnia, such as sleepwalking and talking, "which are all pretty tough to fake," Dr. Fedoroff says. Sexsomnia "simply raises the possibility of another explanation."
Treatment can include benzodiazepines or certain types of tranquilizers. Patients are also told to reduce alcohol intake and avoid medications that can produce deep sleep, and to avoid becoming over-tired.
Sexsomnia can sometimes be triggered by another underlying sleep disorder. Tests revealed the nightclub bouncer was suffering from sleep apnea, where people stop breathing repeatedly during sleep. He had been drinking up to 30 cups of coffee a day and taking "power naps" to cope with his daytime sleepiness. The "nocturnal sexual assaults" stopped completely once he began sleeping with a special breathing machine.
p.s. A quote from the above article.... "That precedent was set in Canada in 1987, when Kenneth Parks got up from his couch in Pickering, Ont., after falling asleep, got in his car, drove 23 kilometres to his mother-in-law's house, and then stabbed her and beat her to death with a tire iron. Mr. Parks said he was sleepwalking and was acquitted."
...only in Canada!!!
'Sexsomnia' occurs more often than we think, says an Ottawa doctor. Sharon Kirkey reports.
Sharon Kirkey
CanWest News Service
A nightclub bouncer arrived in Dr. Paul Fedoroff's office after his wife complained he was constantly trying to have sex with her when she was asleep.
Only the nightclub bouncer couldn't remember ever doing what his wife claimed he did.
"If it happens again," Dr. Fedoroff told him, "ask your wife to turn on the light and tell me what she sees."
A week later, the bouncer was back. "She said I was asleep."
Thus began the Ottawa psychiatrist's research into a bizarre new disorder that he and other Canadian psychiatrists have dubbed "sexsomnia" -- people who engage in sexual behaviour while asleep. They believe the disorder should be recognized as a new "clinical entity" and warn it is far more prevalent than doctors suspect.
Writing in this month's issue of the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, Dr. Fedoroff and his colleagues report that embarrassment and guilt keep many from seeking help. "We anticipate that the number of potential cases is large, but sexual behaviour in sleep is not yet recognized by physicians as a behaviour of note or a problem," they write. As a result, few doctors bother asking about it during routine history-taking.
Sexsomnia can affect both men and women. While the causes are unknown, researchers suspect stress, chronic sleepiness, or alcohol or drug abuse may play a role. Seizure disorders, an injury to the brain, or a history of physical or sexual abuse may also be triggers. In some cases, nocturnal sex may be considered "odd but still within present social norms," the authors write, "particularly if the partner is a willing participant." In fact, some sexsomniacs are apparently better lovers unconscious than they are awake.
But some sexsomniacs can be "crude and aggressive," says Dr. Colin Shapiro, lead author of the report. His team describes several cases of men who were charged with sexually assaulting their partners, or even their own children. All were "exculpated" after doctors found evidence of sexsomnia, and the study suggests cases of alleged sexual molestation should be investigated for evidence of the sleep sex disorder -- a prospect that alarms groups who work with sex assault victims.
They fear that if sexsomnia winds up in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, the "bible" doctors use to identify psychiatric illnesses, the new diagnosis could provide a convenient way for a sex offender to avoid a prison term.
"This thing will create just another loophole for men to get through," says Debbie King, executive director of the Kitchener-Waterloo Sexual Assault Support Centre. "They'll say: 'Oh, but I did it in my sleep.' "
Doctors believe the phenomenon fits into a category of sleep disorders known as parasomnias. Parasomnic behaviour includes nightmares, night terrors and people who walk, talk or even eat in their sleep ("sleep eaters" have been known to eat slabs of butter, even cleaning products, while asleep).
But what makes sexsomnia unique is that most other parasomnias involve solitary acts, says Dr. Shapiro, director of the Sleep and Alertness Clinic at Toronto Western Hospital.
Last year, Stanford School of Medicine researchers reported that "sleep sex" -- which they described as behaviours ranging from loud moaning to "rape-like" assaults -- could be caused by nighttime "glitches" in brainwaves. One theory is that neurons in different parts of the brain that control muscle movement are aroused, while other parts of the brain that control "higher-order functions" such as awareness and reasoning, remain inactive. In other words, the person doesn't have a "fully 'awakened' brain," Dr. Shapiro's team writes.
"The key issue here is if a person is asleep, there's precedent in law the person is not responsible for their behaviour," Dr. Shapiro says.
That precedent was set in Canada in 1987, when Kenneth Parks got up from his couch in Pickering, Ont., after falling asleep, got in his car, drove 23 kilometres to his mother-in-law's house, and then stabbed her and beat her to death with a tire iron. Mr. Parks said he was sleepwalking and was acquitted.
The 11 cases of sexsomnia Dr. Shapiro's team report in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry are not nearly so shocking, but disturbing nonetheless: a 39-year-old married father of five who was charged with sexually touching his nine-year-old daughter when she climbed into her parents bed after a nightmare; a 32-year-old, out-of-work mechanic who was accused of sexually assaulting a young girl; a 37-year-old police officer who would "initiate sexual behaviour" about once a month in his sleep, and once grabbed his wife around the neck (he woke up after she slapped him hard).
While all of the men who were charged were cleared, Dr. Fedoroff, co-director of the sexual behaviours clinic at the Royal Ottawa Hospital, acknowledges it's impossible to know for certain whether they were truly asleep.
But he has assessed men who have been charged with sexual assault who display no signs or symptoms of sexually deviant behaviour, but who in sleep studies show clear signs of a parasomnia, such as sleepwalking and talking, "which are all pretty tough to fake," Dr. Fedoroff says. Sexsomnia "simply raises the possibility of another explanation."
Treatment can include benzodiazepines or certain types of tranquilizers. Patients are also told to reduce alcohol intake and avoid medications that can produce deep sleep, and to avoid becoming over-tired.
Sexsomnia can sometimes be triggered by another underlying sleep disorder. Tests revealed the nightclub bouncer was suffering from sleep apnea, where people stop breathing repeatedly during sleep. He had been drinking up to 30 cups of coffee a day and taking "power naps" to cope with his daytime sleepiness. The "nocturnal sexual assaults" stopped completely once he began sleeping with a special breathing machine.
p.s. A quote from the above article.... "That precedent was set in Canada in 1987, when Kenneth Parks got up from his couch in Pickering, Ont., after falling asleep, got in his car, drove 23 kilometres to his mother-in-law's house, and then stabbed her and beat her to death with a tire iron. Mr. Parks said he was sleepwalking and was acquitted."
...only in Canada!!!
