About 2.5% of humanity suffers from somnambulism. These are mainly children and adolescents. Sleepwalkers can not only talk and walk in their sleep, but also create, and also commit illegal acts.
Egypt and the "Hammer of the Witches"
Somnambulism haunts people in ancient times. He is mentioned in the Bible, in the Gospel of Matthew (chapter 17, verses 14, 15) we read: “… a man came up to Him and, kneeling down before Him, said: Lord! have mercy on my son; he rages on new moons and suffers grievously, for he often throws himself into fire and often into water."
For a long time it was believed that sleepwalking is a sign of demonic possession. Moreover, until the 17th century, Europe generally thought that only women were subject to somnambulism. In the Middle Ages, such women were even recognized as witches. In the "Hammer of the Witches" one can find such unequivocal assessments of sleepwalking: “For example, people called sleepwalkers are tormented by demons at certain intervals more than at others. The demons could not do this if they themselves, depending on the phases of the moon, were not predisposed to this."
With the development of medicine, the attitude towards sleepwalkers also changed. The most prominent medical minds were engaged in the study of this symptom. For example, Nobel Prize laureate Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov.
Scientific evidence
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Medicine does not yet have an unambiguous explanation of somnambulism. In 2002, the American Academy of Medicine concluded that somnambulism can be classified as a genetic disorder. Having made a DNA analysis of sleepwalkers from a large test group, doctors found a region in the 20th chromosome (locus 20q12-q13.12). The presence of even one copy of this DNA fragment gave the probability of signs of sleepwalking 50%.
More detailed studies are currently underway. Their goal is to find out which of the 28 genes in this region is responsible for sleepwalking. Most likely, this is the gene for adenosine deaminase, it is responsible for the production of an enzyme that is responsible for the deep sleep phase, in which an attack of somnambulism occurs.
The genetic rationale for sleepwalking, however, does not explain the fact that perfectly healthy people, without any signs of the manifestation of this ailment, begin to sleepwalk. The chief psychiatrist of the Russian Ministry of Health, Zurab Kekelidze, claims that sleepwalking and its particular manifestations (such as sleeping-talk) can occur with absolutely healthy people after the stress they have experienced.
The direct connection of sleepwalking with the moon has not been scientifically proven, however, the fact that the lunar phases affect the human body cannot be denied. The statistics of accidents and attacks of exacerbation of chronic diseases clearly proves this, but so far there is no scientific evidence of an obvious connection between somnambulism and the phases of the moon, it is premature to talk about this semi-mythical genesis of the symptom.
Somnambulism is not a sentence. It is close to epileptic-like disorders and occurs when the inhibition of the central nervous system does not extend to the areas of the brain that are responsible for motor functions. You can fight it with medication. Usually, doctors prescribe sedatives and anti-elliptoid drugs. Also, a sleepwalker needs peace, gymnastics and healthy food help. Alcohol and drugs are contraindicated for somnambulists. They disinhibit the nervous system and can provoke an attack.
Sleepwalking and talent
The connection between sleepwalking and talent does not yet have a scientific basis, but people noticed that it exists long ago. Brain activity during deep sleep can lead to unexpected results.
Goethe, Anna Akhmatova, Vladimir Vernadsky, and Wolf Messing “walked in a dream”. One of the fathers of the theory of sensory cognition of the world, the 18th century philosopher Abbot Etienne Bonneau de Condillac claimed to have written some chapters of his "Treatise on Sensations" in a state of sleep. However, it is not possible to confirm this or to refute it today.
The most famous example of a talented sleepwalker today is Meath Lee Hadwin. He has suffered from somnambulism since childhood. Although, it would be more correct to say that it is not he who suffers, but all the objects around him. Since the age of ten, Lee has been drawing bizarre sketches, sketches and whole surreal canvases on everything that comes to his hand.
We must pay tribute to Meath's parents. The son's strange behavior did not prompt them to use repressive methods to fight the son's sleepwalking. On the contrary, they helped the child - they began to lay sheets of paper and pencils near the bed. Now, when Li is already an adult and works as a nurse, he is still “lunatics” and draws his bizarre canvases in his sleep.
Lee is still an atypical example. Sleepwalking is mostly common among children and adolescents. During seizures, they can also draw or even write poetry, but sleepwalking disappears with age. Following him, talent also disappears.
Justified by the moon
During an attack of somnambulism, a person can not only walk and talk, but also perform other actions that are not always legal. The phenomenon of lunatic killers has been known since the 14th century. Back in 1313, the council of the city of Vienne (France) issued a decree stating that a sleeping person who killed someone or simply injured someone was not considered guilty. One of the Spanish legal tracts of the 15th century mentions "deadly sleepwalking, examples of which are well known in England." That is, as you can understand, the problem of illegal actions taken by lunatics faced humanity for a long time. This phenomenon is especially interesting from a legal standpoint. Given that sleepwalking is an altered state of consciousness in which a person cannot control his actions, long litigation has repeatedly led tothat the lunatics were justified.
The first murderer somnambulist released from custody was Colonel of the Royal English Army, Cheney Culpepper. While sleeping, he killed one of the soldiers with a blunderbuss. It is significant that the court passed a guilty verdict, but King James II pardoned the murderer.
The first American acquitted of murder in a dream was Albert Tyrrel. He distinguished himself by the fact that not only in a dream he killed a prostitute, but after that he also burned a brothel. Despite the seriousness of the offense, the lunatic criminal was acquitted.
Willis Boshears, an American sergeant, was acquitted after not only killing the girl he had returned from the pub with, but also hiding the girl's body in his sleep. Although it looked like a deliberate act of hiding the body, the court acquitted Boshirz.
Of course, the unconscious crimes of sleepwalkers are not limited to murders alone. There are also almost comical cases. So, the guitarist of the REM group Peter Buck in 2001 managed to fight with the flight attendants over yogurt in a dream, tried to stuff a CD into a food cart. At the trial, the musician claimed that he did all this in a dream. It was difficult to prove the opposite, besides the name of the group stands for "phase of slow sleep". Here, as they say, you can't find fault.
Lunatic politicians also get into bad situations. So, the nephew of John F. Kennedy, Congressman Patrick Kennedy, in 2006, at full speed, crashed into the fence of the Capitol in a car. To the cops who arrived at the scene and the onlookers loitering around the night Washington, Patrick said that he was in a hurry to vote. He did all this in a dream and did not remember how he got behind the wheel. The court recognized the politician's somnambulism and sent him to a clinic for treatment.