Acting out while asleep: a strange sleep disorder

By Judith Graham Chicago Tribune on Sunday April 11,2010

A man named Lawrence Neumann who is a kind and loving man during the day becomes violent at night while sleeping kicking and punching his wife. They have gone to the doctors and nobody can explain his strange symptoms. Two years ago when a neurologist at Northwestern University diagnosed Lawrence with REM Sleep behavior disorder. This disorder is where people act out their dreams unconsciously durning sleep. This disorder is easily treatable and nine out of ten people who suffer from this disored are men. For Lawerence and Bonnie night had became a time of danger. Bonnie had to put padding on all the bedroom furniture and had to put up a barrier in between her and her husband while they slept. Lawerence had to go throught neuropsychiatric tests and three separate sleep studies before he was finally diagnosed in 2008. The doctors gave him chonazepam which treated a mild case of sleep apnea, which can contribute to REM behavior disorder episodes Lawrence can now say that he really sleeps well.

This article deals with chapter 3 on sleep disorders. This man is dealing with REM behavior disorder which is a fairly serious sleeping condition. This disorder happens in REM sleep which is a relatively avtive type of sleep this is where people dream. In REM sleep the volutary muscles are inhibited this means the person in REM sleep moves very little. But Lawerence REM behavior disorder happens when he is dreaming. Lawerence also suffers from sleep apnea which we went ove in chapter 3 also. Sleep apnea is a disorder in which the person stops breathing for nearly half a minute or more. This article deals with sleep in psychology.