Sleep doesn't stop sexomniacs from getting it on

ZZZ's don't stop sexsomniacs from getting it on

Sexploration — By Brian Alexander

“People can do some fairly complicated things while still asleep,” says Dr. Charles Cantor, medical director of the Penn Sleep Center at the University of Pennsylvania. “They can leave the house, get in the car and drive. They can go to the kitchen and cook and eat. Sometimes it’s not very rational. For example, what they cook may be inedible.”

As for the skills of these unconscious lovers, scientist can't say for sure.
Experts don’t completely understand why some people experience parasomnias, though they do know that the tendency to do things while sleeping runs in families.

What’s clear is that, in certain people, something goes wrong during delta, or slow-wave sleep, explains the study’s lead author, Dr. Carlos H. Schenck, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Minnesota and a senior staff psychiatrist at the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center in Minneapolis. It’s generally thought that little dreaming goes on during slow- wave sleep, Schenck adds.

Sexsomniacs are “like a hibernating bear waking up. They’re confused and can be aggressive. They’re in a twilight state, partially awake and partially asleep. They’re disinhibited. They generally have no memory of what happens,” Schenck says
About 7 percent to 11 percent of Americans experience some sort of parasomnia, says Schenck, author of the book “Sleep: The Mysteries, the Problems, and the Solutions.”
The reason most of us haven’t heard about sexsomnia is that it’s rarely reported, he says. These types of patients "generally don’t come in to a sleep center. A lot of them are still hiding in the closet,” Schenck says.

Also, since the sexsomniac generally has no recollection of what happened during the night, it’s the person on the receiving end of the attention who must bring the matter up: first with the partner and then with a physician.

Some spouses aren't complainingAnd, apparently, the experience isn’t always a negative one.

Schenck notes that one woman said that her boyfriend while asleep was “more amorous and a gentle lover” who was “more oriented in sexually satisfying her.”
Another woman said she “found some aspects of sleepsex pleasurable ... and a little kinky,” Schenck notes. In fact, the woman liked the sleepsex so much, he adds, that “she requested that the patient incorporate some of the nighttime sexual practices ... into their conscious lovemaking.”

It’s not always rosy. Some women have complained about spouses who are more aggressive. One described a night when her husband grabbed her around the neck. The researchers noted: “She slapped him hard, which awakened him, and he immediately let go.”

Cantor has seen cases where sexsomnia has created friction in a relationship.
“Partners I’ve spoken to are really unhappy about it,” he says. “They don’t want to be approached when they’re not actively participating. And they don’t want to be awakened in the middle of the night.”

How can partners be sure that their unconscious Cupid is actually sleeping? Well, some of them do the deed while snoring. Others have been described as being “far away,” “glassy-eyed” or “unresponsive.”

Dark side of sexsomniaSexsomnia can have an even darker side. Because people aren’t aware of what they’re doing while sleeping, they can end up performing inappropriate, even illegal, sexual acts.

Schenck’s article, for example, lists several cases in which minors have been groped and molested by sleeping adults.

Andropause - Male Menopause?

What is andropause? "Midlife crisis" -- this is often the transitional period for men when they experience what is termed as the second childhood. This period usually starts from age 40 to 45. It is also called andropause or male menopause because its symptoms coincide with the decrease in a class of male hormones called androgen. All men are affected, although some to
a larger degree than others. A thorough knowledge of the underlying hormonal and physiological changes will better prepare all males to deal with this phase of life. By the time men are between the ages of 40 and 55, they can experience a phenomenon similar to the female menopause, called Andropause. Unlike women, men do not have a clear-cut external signpost such as the cessation of menstruation to mark this transition. Both, however, are distinguished by a drop in hormone levels. Estrogen in the female, testosterone in the male. The bodily changes occur very gradually in men and may be accompanied by changes in attitudes and moods, fatigue, a loss of energy, sex drive and physical agility. What's more, studies show that this decline in testosterone can actually put one at risk of other health problems like heart disease and weak bones. Since all this happens at a time of life when many men begin to question their values, accomplishments and direction in life, it's often difficult to realize that the changes occurring are related to more than just external conditions.
Unlike menopause, which generally occurs in women during their mid-forties to mid-fifties, men's "transition" may be much more gradual and expand over many decades. Attitude, psychological stress, alcohol, injuries or surgery, medications, obesity and infections can contribute to its onset.
Although with age, a decline in testosterone levels will occur in virtually all men, there is no way of predicting who will experience Andropausal symptoms of sufficient severity to seek medical help. Neither is it predictable at what age symptoms will occur in a particular individual. Each man's symptoms may be also different.