At some point in their lives, everyone talks in their sleep, whether they know about it or not. In fact, according to one of the studies, it has been noted that 2 out 3 people sleep talk, and according to Milena Pavlova, MD in Mass General Brigham Neurologist, the sleep talking starts inside your brain first, and from there, it travels to your mouth.
It happens because your entire body has gone to sleep, but some part of your brain is still active, and it hasn’t quite transitioned into sleep mode. As a result, it is the mind which makes you do things unconsciously at night which you usually do when you are awake.
Both sleepwalking and sleeptalking are considered to be dangerous for individuals who are sleeping next to you and for you as well. It’s not just the actions that could hurt people badly but even the words can leave a forever mark on your relationship.
Thus, it is important to learn how to stop talking in your sleep to make yourself and the people around you feel safe and at peace during the nighttime. With this blog we are going to show you some tips and tricks that will help you in controlling your brain from talking as you sleep. In addition to this, we are also going to highlight the reason why you sleep talking at night, what it means, and present you with insights into the ongoing research that is taking place to understand this pretty common but spooky human behavior.
What Is Sleep Talking?
Sleep talking is one of the common sleeping disorders which is also known as somniloquy in technical terms. In truth, doctors do not know much about sleep talking, like the main reason why it happens or what makes the brain function in such a peculiar way even when all the other organs are in a complete state of sleep.
If you are someone who talks in sleep, you know when you wake up in the morning, you do not know what you have spoken at night. Also, you didn’t even know you were talking at night. For you, it was just a regular night, but for someone sleeping next to you, it could be one of the hardest nights they had to go through.
Sleep talkers can produce entire legit sentences or they might speak gibberish. Furthermore, in some cases, people have been sleeping, talking in a completely different language along with a different voice which they do not use when they are awake.
For the most part, sleep talking doesn’t lead to physical harm, but it could create problems in relation if a person is sleeping next to you. There are a number of reasons that could trigger sleep-talking phenomena. Still, many believe it to be because the individual is suffering from a lack of sleep.
Symptoms Of Sleep Talking At Night
If you are living alone and not sure whether you sleep talk at night or not, then read these simple symptoms that will make you know the truth.
Sleep talking can occur at times. It doesn't matter if you are taking a nap in the middle of the day or you are sleeping at night. In addition to this, sleep talking can occur in short bursts; for example, you could be speaking a single word in just three seconds, or you will be saying a complete sentence and that too in less than 10 seconds.
Some people start talking in their sleep if they are intoxicated or sleep-deprived. At the same time, regular sleep talkers can talk several times a week.
One of the biggest symptoms of sleep talking is the audible expression coming from the person while he is completely unconscious in his sleep. It has been reported that more than 50% of the recorded sleep talking is incomprehensible. As a result, the total episode may involve only just a handful of words or a single sentence.
For those who are living alone, it is best to keep a recorder nearby to record what you speak at night. Furthermore, the words you speak at night may or may not have an apparent relation to your life. It could be something about the recent event that happened in your life or the previous discussions of the day.
Why Do You Sleep Talk At Night?
There is no strong evidence that can help scientists understand or pinpoint the cause of sleep talking. It is considered to be partially genetic, and it happens to those individuals who are sleep-deprived or have been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
There are two stages of sleep. The first one is Rapid Eye Movement (REM), during which your brain paralyzes the entire body, with the exception of your muscles that are controlling your eyes along with other organs that are essential for your breathing. During this stage of sleep, you will start having dreams.
When you sleep talk or sleepwalk at REM, that means the part of the brain responsible for restraining your muscle has malfunctioned, and it results in REM Behaviour Disorder (RBD).
This particular malfunctioning leads to you acting out of your dreams.
RBD, if not taken care of, can turn into shouting and even violent actions, while the individual who is causing it will have no idea about it at all.
How To Prevent Sleep Talking?
In truth, you cannot cure sleep talking; you can minimize its occurrence by following a few tips that we mention here, but there’s no pill in the world that can make you stop talking in your sleep.
1. Avoid Unnecessary Stress
One of the first things you need to do is keep your stress levels down; we know minor and short-lived stress is something normal; it can come any minute in your life, and you just don’t need to stick with it. We are saying this because prolonged stress can lead to some serious negative effects, such as it impacts your sleep cycle. You will be less likely to sleep at night if you are going through a lot of stress.
In addition to this, it can also cause a decline in your health by increasing your blood pressure, causing you to fall victim to depression, and it can also lead to diabetes.
It is true not all stress is avoidable, but there are ways you can minimize it, which results in making it less impactful on your mental health. Whenever you are feeling stressed out, you should take some deep breaths.
Also, it would be a great idea to start journaling your day; it will help you make peace with all the things that happened, and once the journaling is done, you can focus on more important things before going to bed.
Likewise, to keep the stress levels low, you can start working on your time management skills. So you do not get bombarded by projects, and other forms of plans that need to be executed at work.
2 . Create A Consistent Sleeping Schedule
When it comes to keeping your circadian rhythms on track you have to make sure that you are following a consistent sleeping schedule. An insufficient sleep cycle, along with circadian rhythm, will make you more prone to parasomnias such as sleepwalking and sleeptalking.
You can prepare a sleep schedule by waking up every day at the same time and, in the evening, wind up your work 4 hours before you go to sleep in such a way that you are able to get 8 hours of consistent sleep.
As a result, if you wake up at 7:00 am in the morning, you should be wrapping up your work by 7:00 P.m. and start winding down your day. It is required that you should give enough sleeping time to your body. To keep up with the consistency, try to wake up within an hour, which you have decided works best for you.
3. Practice Good Sleeping Hygiene
Sleeping hygiene is all about the healthy habits, behaviors, and environmental factors that can bring you closer to having a good night's sleep. With good sleeping hygiene, you will be less likely to fall sick when the weather changes, will be able to keep a healthy weight and will be able to maintain distance from health problems like diabetes and heart disease.
In addition to this, it will also make you feel happier and less stressed. Likewise, it will allow you to think more clearly throughout the day. In short, it can lead to better sleep and improve your overall well-being.
Here are some of the best practices that you can do to improve your sleeping hygiene:
- Make sure you have a comfortable mattress to sleep on: comfortable sleeping begins with a mattress on which you sleep. It is pretty critical for your comfort, and it also provides you with bodily support throughout the night. So whenever you are going out, make sure to find the best mattress and pillows that complement your sleeping position. This combination will keep your spine in a neutral position so that you don’t experience aches and pains during the night.
- Clear out your room from disturbances: no matter what you think, if your room is dirty, you are not going to fall asleep. For example, if you have bright lights in your bedroom or you have a loud Bluetooth speaker near your bed, chances are you won’t be able to relax once you are in bed.
See your smartTV, Bluetooth speaker, warm lights, and other forms of electronics that need to be turned off when you are going to sleep. These electronics will keep your brain awake during the night time, causing you to sleep.
So keep them off, and if there’s still light coming from outside, it is best to use blackout curtains to create a peaceful sleeping environment.
- Sleep in a cool environment: it is recommended that the temperature of your bedroom should be between 18.3 degrees Celsius - and 22.5 degrees Celsius. With a cooled bedroom, your body won’t be feeling any form of overheating, which makes it difficult for you to sleep. Make changes to the bedroom temperature and see what suits your comfort in the best way.
- Have a calm nighttime routine: try coming up with a nighttime routine that helps your body wind down before you sleep. You can take a warm bath or shower before going to bed, try reading your favorite novel, or do some deep breathing exercises or stretching. All of these things can help you de-stress and clear your mind after a long, tiring day.
- Do not go to the gym late in the evening: lots of people tend to go to the gym after coming from their job. The adrenaline you get from hitting those weighted squats can make things hard for your brain to sleep at night.
Exercise late in the evening will keep you awake unnecessarily and disrupt your sleep cycle. So it is recommended that you hit the gym early in the morning, and if that’s not possible, try to go to the gym 4 hours before your bedtime so that your body has time to cool down.
We do know the importance of exercise and how it helps in relieving you from stress. But if you are doing it in the late evening try to stick with light exercises such as brisk walking and stretching.
4. Limit Your Caffeine Intake
Coffee is something that wakes your mind in the morning, it prevents tiredness and also helps you in staying alert. Taking a cup of coffee to your office is a habit that most of us can’t really function properly if it has to be thrown out.
But when you are at home in the evening, there is no need to take another shot of caffeine because it will wake up your brain and make it hard for you to sleep. It is recommended that you should not drink more than 400 ml of caffeine per day.
5. Make A Sleep Diary
If you are sleeping at night, start writing a diary as soon as you wake up in the morning. It will help you keep track of all your sleep and the dreams that you are having. Besides this, you can also find out the pattern that triggers your sleep talking. Furthermore, if you are worried about your sleep talking being related to the medical cause then writing down a sleep diary will surely make things clear for you to see.
Conclusion
Sleep is necessary for everyone, no matter if it’s a dog, cat, elephant, or a human. If your body is not getting the proper rest, you are going to see its negative effects in every facet of your life.
As a sleep talker, you won’t realize what you are doing or saying in your sleep, but it can interrupt your partner’s sleep if you two share a bed together. As a partner of a sleep talker, you need to understand they don’t do it intentionally; the sleep-talking episodes can’t be controlled.
As a result, you have to help them improve their sleeping habits by reducing stress and making them have a consistent sleep cycle. If the condition still persists, then it is time to see the doctor and get medical guidance.
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