Night chatter: why do people talk in their sleep and is it dangerous?

Honey mixtures

Honey is an excellent sleeping pill; various mixtures are created with it that have a positive effect on the condition. The classic is milk with a spoon of honey before bed. But other recipes are also suitable:

1. Honey is mixed in equal quantities with another component - walnuts, kefir, mineral water, lemon.
2. Combinations are also allowed. A mixture of honey, lemon and nuts is used. This remedy not only has a hypnotic effect, but also improves the activity of the heart and blood vessels.

Regular use of such mixtures restores sleep and calms you down. The person will sleep peacefully and therefore there will be less risk of nightmares and conversations at night.

Sounds made in sleep

Conducts a dialogue or monologue. The sleeper talks calmly and asks questions. Answers questions from an invisible interlocutor. Or he simply pronounces individual phrases. The eyes are tightly closed. Whispers or screams. Quiet words or loud sounds indicate the presence of sleep talk. If a person behaves restlessly, spins, and jerks his legs, then wake him up.

If you talk to the sleeping person, ask questions, you will receive answers. Do not pay attention if a loved one said something offensive or shouted curse words. They do not apply to you, do not look for a connection in this phenomenon. And even more so, do not reproach your loved one in the morning for words spoken in a dream.

Causes of somniloquy

Many people think that somniloquy is associated with dreams, or more precisely, with terrible dreams.

According to scientists, there is no clear connection.

The fact is that somniloquy can manifest itself at any stage of sleep.

. And dreams, as you know, are possible only during REM sleep.

Although, if a person screams in his sleep, the cause of this may indeed be nightmares.

But sleep talking can also be caused by other sleep disorders. Sometimes it is caused by reasons that are not directly related to the dream.

Among them, experts highlight:

• Taking certain medications;
• Emotional stress;
• High body temperature;
• Mental illnesses in the acute stage;
• Abuse of caffeine, alcohol or drugs

Talking in your sleep is suppressed aggression?

According to one hypothesis, people who are aggressive by nature tend to talk in their sleep.

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Since an adult rarely manages to express irritation in everyday life, all the accumulated anger manifests itself in conversations in a dream.

In this case, the person’s speech is aggressive or offensive, it may be accompanied by threats or obscene language.

Well, this is not the worst and, most importantly, safe way for others to show aggression.

Why does a person talk in his sleep what he dreams about?

Now, if a person screams in a dream, what does it mean and why nightmares may accompany him.

In this case, loved ones should learn to understand the reason for this behavior in order to provide the necessary psychological assistance in a timely manner.

Well-known psychologists who analyze human conversations at night agree with all the above facts.

• They point out the complete harmlessness of this feature, considering it a projection ray of the subconscious, cognitive activity and emotional state.
• Typically, night conversations are short-lived, lasting a fraction of a second.
• They can be repeated several times throughout the night.
• In this case, the speaker most often does not remember what was discussed in his night monologue.
• Moreover, these words can be impudent and picturesque, inarticulate and vulgar, humiliating and bewitching.

A person can shout loudly or speak in a whisper, have a conversation with someone or talk to his own “I”.

The main motivating factors for somniloquy include the following:

• destabilization of the night phase,
• anxieties, fears and nightmares,
• emotional stress,
• mental illness,
• excessive consumption of coffee, drugs or alcohol,
• some medicines.

Human sleep phases

There are specific cases of why a person talks in his sleep. This state is somewhat uncomfortable for the sleeper himself and can wake up people close to him.

You will be interested in what happens in a dream: Does the brain rest and what does a person feel?

Researchers of this problem are confident that these sleepy monologues are a kind of protective reaction of the body, helping it move between different phases of sleep. It is known that their number is four. One of the phases is called fast-wave, and the other three are called slow-wave. In most cases, conversation can take place in shallow moments of sleep.

How do you know if you're talking while you're dreaming?

When strangers talk in our sleep, we can hear it if we wake up. But how can a person himself understand that he is talking even after falling asleep?

If you do not wake up from your own speaking, then only strangers can point out the problem to you. But you can suspect somniloquy by its consequences - regular lack of sleep and frequent awakenings.

You should not take words spoken in a sleepy state literally. They don't always reflect your daily experiences and feelings. The well-known myth that we can blurt out our secrets at night is not true. Night chatter is most often not connected with real events.

Another way to gain the opportunity to analyze your own nighttime behavior is to keep a diary. Write down all the information related to your sleep in it:

• exact time of going to bed every day;
• estimated hours of your sleep;
• morning rise time;
• duration of stay at rest;
• own feelings and dreams;
• list of medications taken;
• quantity and frequency of intake of coffee, alcohol, Coca-Cola and other drinks containing caffeine;
• stressful situations happening to you.

Why does a child talk in his sleep?

Young children often talk in their sleep. Frightened parents turn to the pediatrician and receive an answer that this phenomenon is considered normal. Scientists are convinced that dream-speaking helps young children adapt to the world around them. The child’s brain processes new impressions and emotions at night.

Why does a child talk in his sleep, scream or cry? This phenomenon already indicates the presence of a nightmare or severe stress. Remember what happened during the day that could have scared the baby. Take your baby in your arms, slowly wake him up and calm him down. If nightmares recur, contact your pediatrician immediately.

How to cure sleep talking: who to contact

Sleep talking, like sleepwalking, cannot be cured. You can contact a therapist to solve your problems. This will eliminate the possibility of developing the disease or worsening symptoms. To find out exactly how to stop talking in your sleep and help a person in a specific individual case, you need to contact a somnologist. And undergo polysomnography. This will let you know if there are other parasomnias or if this is the only problem.

If a person often talks in his sleep, then the process can be controlled with the help of people around him. Or use a recording device in standby mode. And as soon as a person starts a conversation, he turns on and starts recording. If you keep a sleep diary, you can discover the key problem that nighttime talking causes. You need to keep a diary (for a period of two weeks). The following information should be recorded in the diary:

• Time to go to bed, when (in subjective opinion) you fell asleep, how the sleep went, what was its nature and duration;
• What medications are you taking and when does this happen?
• What do you consume daily (food, liquid), do you drink drinks that contain caffeine, alcohol, or eat cocoa;
• What events happen in life throughout the day, are there stressful situations, are there any worries, what is the brain focused on, what thoughts arise in the head.

After analyzing such records, doctors will be able to choose the best therapeutic course to normalize sleep. If the case is severe, a sleep specialist may prescribe medications and psychotherapy. There is no need to be afraid of this. It is better to undergo quality treatment once than to face an unpleasant illness or its consequences again.

Treatment for a person talking in their sleep

In most cases, no serious treatment is required.

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Drug treatment is used if night conversations appear in adulthood, the person experiences sleepwalking, and the muttering is accompanied by swearing or nightmares.

Treatment is mainly outpatient, with inpatient treatment only in severe cases. The drugs used are antipsychotics, tranquilizers, and antidepressants.

Psychotherapy sessions are conducted with the patient.

In some cases, cognitive cognitive therapy, gestalt therapy, and hypnosis are used.

All this allows us to identify and overcome the causes of night monologues.

Often no medical intervention is required, although it cannot be said that talking while sleeping is normal. In severe cases and with prolonged manifestation of the pathology, it is better to talk about this with a therapist (family doctor). Perhaps treating depression, stress, apnea, or a sleep disorder will help relieve obsessive-compulsive attacks.

Sometimes to successfully resolve a situation it is enough:

1. Follow a routine and get enough sleep.
2. Do not watch TV or work at the computer at night, ventilate the room, use the bed only for rest.
3. Avoid alcohol and heavy food in the evening.
4. Learn to cope with emotions. For example, if a husband talks in his sleep after a hard day at work, this means that he cannot let go of some problematic situations. Sometimes, stress management requires the help of psychologists.

Before contacting a doctor, you need to remember how long ago the signs of parasomnia were noticed, and whether they are constant. It's worth asking your partner or parents about this. The specialist assesses the tendency to disorders and the level of stress with tests, then decides what to do with treatment. However, there are no diagnostic methods to eliminate the problem of night talking. Recording the electrical activity of the brain during sleep is done only for other diseases that need to be treated.

If talkativeness has been present since childhood and is observed constantly, then people think about how to stop annoying their partner.

The white noise generator, or sound conditioner, was invented back in 1962 and approved by the National Sleep Foundation in the USA. With the help of air, sound vibrations are created that dampen other harsh noises, including conversations in sleep. The device is designed to combat insomnia.

A regular fan or the slight noise of a radio at low volume works in a similar way. In extreme cases, you have to use earplugs.

To make a diagnosis of sleep speaking, the doctor does not conduct additional research. Information about the condition is provided by the patient. In rare cases, a person is given a polysomnography. The study helps identify sleep disorders.

Treatment for sleep talking is indicated if somniloquy is a symptom of a serious medical condition. In this case, therapeutic methods are directed against the underlying disease. After defeating the disease, unpleasant symptoms will go away, including talking in your sleep.

How to get rid of sleep talking without the intervention of doctors?

Treatment for sleep talking is not always necessary. If there are indications, the doctor will prescribe drug therapy. In addition, conversations with a psychologist or psychoanalyst may help.

The therapy of the phenomenon under consideration and the problems of why people talk in their sleep are dealt with by somnologists. However, this profession is quite rare, therefore, if an adult suffers from sleep speaking, then the first thing you need to do is consult a general practitioner, and if a child – a pediatrician.

There is no cure for the problem described today. Help is due to the cause that gave rise to somniloquy. If sleep talking is caused by the presence of any ailments, then it is necessary to treat them. If the sleeper chatters while dozing, not due to illness, then a number of methods can be identified that will help eliminate the problem in question.

At first, it is recommended to try to minimize daily exposure to stressors, since the most common cause of sleep-talk is anxiety. This is why you should reduce your daily stress level.

If it is not possible to completely eliminate stressors, then you need to learn to relax your mind and body. Yoga, massage, and meditative techniques will be effective here.

It is also recommended to spend at least 15 minutes of exercise every day. Moderate physical activity helps bring the mind and body back to normal. Brisk walking can be an effective substitute for exercise. The most optimal time for walking is considered to be early morning or evening. And it’s better to try not to engage in physical education before leaving for the Morphean kingdom.

Most of the daylight hours should be spent in natural light. This will help the brain associate daylight with wakefulness and darkness with sleep. After fifteen days, there is vigor in natural light and the appearance of natural fatigue at night. This results in relaxed and deep sleep, which reduces the likelihood of sleep talk.

You should also get rid of the habit of eating too much before leaving for the Morphean kingdom. If it is impossible to completely refuse to eat food on the eve of sleep, then its composition and quantity should be changed. In other words, it is recommended to give up heavy fatty foods two to three hours before your expected bedtime.

You should not drink alcohol or caffeine-containing drinks in the evening. These drinks interfere with healthy falling asleep and normal sleep.

It is necessary to reduce consumption of foods and drinks high in sugar in the evening.

The substances listed above (caffeine, sugar) cause wakefulness and delays in falling asleep or inappropriate drowsiness (alcohol).

In order not to suffer from insomnia and restless sleep, it is recommended that before setting off to Morpheus’s domain, you carry out a set of actions aimed at maximizing relaxation of the body. An excellent method aimed at eliminating conversation in a dream is relaxation in the form of taking a warm aroma bath. Listening to calm music, meditating, reading, or hugging a loved one also helps to relax.

In other words, any action that helps a person achieve a relaxed state is appropriate here.

Adults need seven or eight hours of sleep daily. With chronic lack of sleep, it becomes more difficult for the body to regulate the stages of sleep, which gives rise to problems with falling asleep and staying asleep, and somniloquy may also occur.

A constant lack of sleep increases the load on the individual’s consciousness and his body. In addition, a persistent lack of normal rest leads to an increase in the amount of time the brain needs for full recovery. Therefore, annoying conversations in sleep often stop on their own immediately after normal rest.

Usually, even doctors do not consider somniloquy as a disease, but there are cases when medical intervention cannot be avoided:

1. If night conversations overly drain you, taking away all your energy for daytime activities.
2. If, in addition to dream speech, you have other psychological disorders (depression, addiction) or nervous system disorders (seizures).
3. If you have other sleep disorders - sleepwalking or apnea (short-term cessation of breathing).
4. If you first started talking at night after the age of 25, then other diseases may be the cause of somniloquy.

If you complain about sleep talking, contact your therapist. After reviewing your symptoms and assessing your general medical history, he will determine the need for additional examination and, if necessary, prescribe treatment or refer you to specialized specialists.

If you talk while you sleep but have no health problems, you will not need treatment.

But in order not to disturb others, use a few tips:

1. Avoid alcohol and reduce caffeine in your diet.

1. Try to eat less at night and choose light meals for dinner.
2. Before going to bed, devote time only to quiet activities - reading, drawing, needlework.
3. Create a regular daily routine and come up with evening rituals for getting ready for bed (they will tell your brain that it’s time to get ready for rest).
4. Go to bed and get up at the same time.
5. Exercise daily to burn off excess energy and relax your muscles.
6. Try to use more daylight sunlight rather than electric light.
7. Use the bed only for relaxation and sex.
8. Make your bedroom and bed more comfortable by controlling air humidity and room temperature.

Exacerbations in most cases are observed as a result of emotional and mental stress, stressful situations. When sleep talking is a real problem and causes inconvenience to a person, it is recommended to independently reduce the number of unpleasant attacks using simple measures:

• getting enough regular sleep;
• a constant and correct regime of rest with wakefulness;
• proper and specialist-recommended sleep hygiene.

However, these measures are not enough. You should refrain from:

• constant worries and stress;
• drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco at night;
• watching programs and films that stimulate the emotional background;
• taking tonic and caffeinated drinks in the evening, for example, tea, coffee, cola, alcohol;
• learning or processing new information just before bed.

A person talks in his sleep, should I worry?

Basically, talking in a dream brings inconvenience, but only to the person nearby. In other cases, the number of words spoken and the frequency of dialogues per week do not affect the state of the sleeper. But, there are cases when you should take a closer look at the “talker”.

When should you be concerned if a person talks in his sleep?

The sleeper experiences night terrors. They are recognized by screams and active human behavior. The sleeper closes his legs, twists on the bed, and screams shrilly. If you connect a person to a device that monitors the person’s state during sleep, you will see how the eyeballs move under closed eyelids.

The described phenomenon is called a nightmare. In such a situation, the person needs to be woken up. Be prepared that this is not easy to do. Act gently, slowly and carefully, do not frighten the sleeper even more. Constant nightmares have a bad effect on a person’s nervous system, so medical intervention will be required. Squealing, aggressive behavior.

Occurs due to disruption of the REM sleep phase. If a person does not have time to systematically enter this period (wakes up due to the alarm, devotes little time to sleep), then a disruption of the usual cycle occurs. A person in this state makes movements at night. A doctor's help is required to restore sleep cycles.

Walking and other movements. Talking in your sleep is often accompanied by sleepwalking. The person moves around the room and can go outside. In this state, eating disorders are noticed when the sleeper eats while sleeping. Sleepwalking is dangerous because a person does not control himself.

What to do if your bedmate talks in your sleep?

If other people talk in their sleep, it can also interfere with your night's rest. In this case, we recommend using one of the following tips:

• If possible, sleep in different beds or rooms,
• use earplugs,
• Create a white noise background in your bedroom to drown out your neighbor's conversations.

Also, do not forget to share with him the tips for improving sleep that we described in the previous section, and if necessary, send him for a consultation with a doctor.

We hope that somniloquy will not cause insomnia for you or your loved ones!

Regularly spending the night with a talker is not an easy situation and causes discomfort for both parties. Still, one should show respect and condescension to the speaker, since what happens in a dream does not depend on his desires. It is recommended to use earplugs and create white noise (for example, a fan).

It is not difficult to talk to a person in a dream, especially if he is prone to sleep talking. This feature manifests itself at any age, since provoking factors surround modern man everywhere. Depending on the severity of sleep talking, medical assistance may be needed, or a person can solve the problem on his own, following simple rules. Somniloquy does not entail great danger; it only means a peculiarity of the body, causing mostly inconvenience only to unwitting listeners.

What happens in a dream

• The alternation of phases takes place throughout the night.
• The total duration of one course is 1.5 or 2 hours.
• The first phase occupies five percent of night dreams, i.e. every two to three hours for five minutes.
• By giving out a verbal stream during this period of time, a person plunges into a deeper sleep.
• When a person's eyes move quickly enough, it becomes easy to wake him up and he stops all talking.
• The second phase occurs with deeper sleep, and the sleeper in many cases does not remember at all whether he said anything at this time.

But, even during periods of communication in a state of sleep, accompanied by rapid movement of the eyeballs, his monologue does not always draw a parallel with the pictures flashing in his subconscious.

What scientists say

Therefore, if a person talks to himself out loud, what does it mean? Well, it’s not always that he retells the scene he saw from his own dream. But at some moments he can still say what he dreams or talk to the images and characters he sees. This position is also shared by the famous doctor of medical sciences Kohler from the Sia Institute in Florida.

Should somniloquy be treated?

If talking in a dream does not disturb either the person who is dreaming or his relatives, there is no reason to consult a doctor.

If sleep talking is accompanied by other unpleasant manifestations, for example, attacks of inexplicable fear or frequent nightmares, consultation with a specialist is necessary.

The doctor will most likely ask how long ago the problem began.

Your partner can help answer this question, as well as your parents, who should remember how often you talked in your sleep as a child.

There are no special tests or techniques for studying somniloquy. The goal of research in this case is to identify a more serious sleep disorder or disease that leads to talking in your sleep. The main methods of conducting such studies are polysomnography and keeping a sleep diary.

A person talking in his sleep disturbs other people's sleep. Sleep-speaking (another name is somniloquy) is a sleep disorder in which the sleeping person speaks and does not even know it. This disorder is not recognized as a problem in the medical field. Somniloquy can consist of dialogue, monologues, meaningless phrases, screams, whispers, and muttering. Conversations in sleep often last about half a minute and can be repeated throughout the night. Listeners of such speeches perceive conversations as something obscene and offensive. Everyone who speaks and sleeps usually does not remember this in the morning.

Late-night speakers often don't even know they're talking. And they learn about “speeches” from unwitting observers and listeners when they complain about restless sleep, ridicule or get offended. Such reactions cause fear in a person. Embarrassment appears, you don’t want to sleep anywhere other than at home. And in the company of strangers (on a train or on vacation) it’s scary to fall asleep. After all, you can “chatter too much.” It is not known exactly why people often talk in their sleep. The reasons are different.

In somnology it is believed that talking during a night's rest is an unconscious process. Often the style of conversation and the voice itself differ from the everyday speech of people during the waking period. Often conversations contain sounds, words, even sentences. A person talks to himself, to other people. As a result, the speech seems incomprehensible or, conversely, sane and logical.

Such conversations are a popular phenomenon that occurs in 50% of children. Most often, a child moans or talks in his sleep because his brain is developing. It also happens in 1 in 20 adults (more often in the stronger sex). In children, such speech activity disappears with the onset of puberty. Often night conversations occur in people who are tormented by fears or nightmares, enuresis, or sleepwalking. This also occurs among those who like to eat before bed.

Experts do not have one point of view on the question of whether a person can give away secrets during sleep. Some scientists note that the phrases that the sleeper utters are not related to the realities of life. Therefore, they should not be taken seriously. Even when a person answers questions that are asked to him. Others believe that conversations reflect reality.

Sleep talking occurs at any stage of sleep. This is determined by the intonation that is present in the voice:

• At the moment of awakening (the period of half-sleep begins);
• During naps, when speech is as clear as possible;
• During the period of delta sleep, when only sounds are present in speech;
• During drowsiness, when the nuances of wakefulness become part of sleep. This makes it possible to speak, but does not convey the meaning of the words spoken. Such a division is conditional; it is not always clear in which phase a person is.

You can talk in your sleep for a variety of reasons. The most popular are:

• Increased emotionality, impressionability.
• Various head injuries (physiological).
• Taking alcohol, drugs.
• Organic diseases of the brain.
• Hereditary factors. If parents have experienced sleep-speaking, then there is a high probability that their children will also encounter this.
• Other parasomnias.
• Mental or somatic illnesses (this occurs in people over 25 years old).
• Insomnia.
• Eating food that is difficult to digest.
• Stress.
• Taking medications.
• Feverish state, high temperature, physical ailments.
• Failures or pathological disruptions in the functioning of the nervous system.
• Severe physical or emotional stress.

How to prepare before going to the doctor?

Isolated instances of speaking do not lead to a decision to visit a doctor. If a person experiences discomfort, the signs described above, and interferes with the sleep of loved ones, then it would be a good idea to go to the doctor. Since the problem is quite specific, the specialist will need some data. Write them down in advance.

Talk time. On average lasts for 30 seconds. Ask a loved one to record the dialogue and record its duration. Ask your parents in advance if similar cases occurred in childhood. If yes, what measures were taken. At what age were the conversations observed, and did anything influence their occurrence?

Duration of sleep. Mark what time you go to bed and what time you get up in the morning every day. Remember if you woke up at night and for what reasons. Try to maintain a sleep schedule: set aside 7–9 hours for rest. At the same time, go to bed and get up at the same time every day. Take medications. Write down all the medications you are currently using.

Information about physical activity during the day will not be superfluous. Do not hide events that have left a mark on your life: the death of a loved one, unfair dismissal, a broken car or other stressful events. Having a complete picture, the doctor will quickly identify the causes of somniloquy and adjust your lifestyle.

Talk time. On average lasts for 30 seconds. Ask a loved one to record the dialogue and record its duration. Ask your parents in advance if similar cases occurred in childhood. If yes, what measures were taken. At what age were the conversations observed, and did anything influence their occurrence?

Duration of sleep. Mark what time you go to bed and what time you get up in the morning every day. Remember if you woke up at night and for what reasons. Try to maintain a sleep schedule: set aside 7–9 hours for rest. At the same time, go to bed and get up at the same time every day. Taking medications. Write down all the medications you are currently using.

Why are talking in your sleep dangerous?

We can talk about the harmlessness of dream-speaking only if it is not associated with some fairly serious pathologies. Non-inconvenient communication with your own subconscious is easily tolerated and eliminates unpleasant moments in dreams and in reality. However, when the lack of control over the flow of thoughts causes discomfort not only to the sleeper himself, but also to those around him, then this is another reason to think about how to correct the situation.

If you have nightmares

It is known why a person talks in his sleep with varying frequency and intensity. This is influenced by numerous factors:

• untimely drinking of an alcoholic drink. At the same time, the amount of alcohol consumed most often exceeds the permissible limit;
• elevated body temperature. This circumstance can also provoke daytime delirium;
• nightmares;
• stressful situation. A person’s experiences can “lurk” deep in the subconscious, and at night they spill out;
• taking pills. It is recommended to read the instructions carefully. This pathology can be described as side effects;
• temporary cessation of respiratory rhythms at night. This sleep problem indicates that the body is trying to cope with the situation.

Sleep is a state during which the brain turns off for a period of time. Waking up, it sends signals to all muscles. But sometimes it happens that the latter wake up before the main stimulant of their revival. Then we can already talk about somniloquy.

The main indicators of such dream talk include the following:

• The sleeper does not remember his night monologue,
• Such conversations are not considered medical pathology,
• Consist of dialogues with fictional or real characters, communication with the inner “I”, complete nonsense, screams or whispers,
• Short in duration, but repeated with some frequency throughout the night,
• Others may consider night delirium offensive to their dignity or vulgar,
• A person does not understand the meaning of the words he says in the morning.

Analyzing why a person talks out loud in his sleep, the reasons for the repetition of such episodes, we can say that they are very diverse. At the same time, they only say with confidence that the talker does not assume that he is doing this.

• Relatives or friends who stay overnight complain about his behavior in the morning.
• Without getting proper rest, they begin to make fun or ridicule.
• A person begins to fear this attitude of others and is embarrassed to sleep in public places (on a train, a boarding house, with relatives, etc.).

The phenomenon of uncontrolled speech at night is very common. It occurs in almost half of school-age children (explained by the natural formation of their brain) and in 5-10% of the adult population (the male part is more susceptible).

Children begin to talk at night when they reach puberty. And adults who talk in their sleep suffer from nightmares, daytime stress, enuresis, and the need for food during sleep.

The science of somnology, which studies the problem of why a person talks in his sleep, indicates the absence of any relationship between such nightly conversations and the everyday routine that surrounds each of us. The results of the study proved the difference in vocal intonations and type of speech of a sleeping and waking person.

Every person sees dreams when he sleeps - even if he does not remember them and claims that he does not dream anything at all. This is the peculiarity of the brain - it does not stop working even when a person is sleeping. And talking in a dream is precisely a manifestation of the work of the brain - in the vast majority of cases, this phenomenon remains harmless and does not cause any harm to health.

Also, talking in your sleep does not negatively affect the quality of a person’s sleep. Sometimes it is associated specifically with dreams - the body reacts to what is happening in the head. A person comments on current events and conducts a dialogue with someone. The more emotional the dreams, the greater the chances that a person will begin to speak in reality.

However, doctors have recorded that a person can speak both during REM sleep, when he actually dreams about something, and in its other phases. So the connection with dreams is not always visible. But there may still be a connection with REM sleep disorders, when the human body tenses and mobilizes instead of relaxing. This can be associated with stress and nightmares.

Features of somniloquy

Episodes with incomprehensible exclamations or articulate words can be short-lived (up to 30 seconds), repeated and lasting throughout the night. It often happens that listeners of nightly “serenades” perceive the chatter as obscene and offensive. The person causing the inconvenience usually doesn’t remember anything that happened in the morning.

A person often reacts to such a reaction from others with fear of sleeping outside of the home, embarrassment, and bashfulness. In such situations, it is difficult to be on a passenger train or a sanatorium.

Talking in your sleep is not an extremely rare occurrence. If we talk about children at a young age, speech activity affects about 50%, which is quite normal and can be explained by the development of brain functions. This phenomenon also occurs in adults, not exceeding the 5% barrier (preferably in men). In children, sleep speaking most often outgrows with the onset of puberty.

Most often, night conversations, screams, and incoherent sounds occur in people with enuresis, fears or nightmares, sleepwalking, and unconscious eating during sound sleep. In some cases, somniloquy is considered dangerous because it leads to the development of sleepy hallucinations.

How to stop talking out loud in your sleep?

There are preventative measures to help reduce talkativeness during rest. The methods have no scientific backing and are limited to ensuring long and restful sleep. How to stop talking out loud in your sleep?

Relax after a hard day. Take a bath with essential oils, listen to classical music, drink mint tea, warm milk or a sedative. Don't overeat at night. Eliminate fatty, heavy, spicy foods from dinner. Eat something light: vegetables, kefir, lean fish.

During sleep, the body's functions function. Therefore, during a night's rest a person moves, talks, smiles, and changes his facial expression. The number of people who talk in their sleep is much greater than recorded, since not everyone is ready to confess. In 85% of cases there is no cause for concern. Sleep speaking appears as a result of shocks, is noticed in sensitive people, or is inherited.

If somniloquy has turned from a curious habit into a serious problem, you should think about how best to get rid of talking in your sleep. Firstly, it is important to make sure that sleep speaking is not associated with pathological processes occurring in the body. To do this, you first need to consult a therapist, and then, if necessary, specialists, for example, a somnologist or neurologist. When everything is in order with your health, it will be easier to stop talking in your sleep if:

1. Stop drinking or at least reduce the amount of alcohol and caffeine-containing drinks in your diet.
2. Do not overeat at night: for a healthy rest, dinner should be light and no later than 2-3 hours before bedtime.
3. In the evening, give preference to calm, peaceful activities (reading, walking in the fresh air, handicrafts, etc.).
4. Strictly follow the daily routine: go to bed and get up in the morning always at the same time, be sure to set aside a sufficient amount of time for sleep.
5. In the first half of the day, pay attention to physical activity (do exercises, go to the gym, etc.), getting rid of excess energy.
6. Use less bright electric lighting in the afternoon, and sleep exclusively in the dark, creating comfortable conditions for the production of melatonin in sufficient quantities for proper rest.
7. Use the bed only as a place to sleep: do not eat in it, do not talk on the phone, do not watch TV, etc.
8. Do not watch movies and TV shows that evoke strong emotions at night, and also refuse to study new information that the brain will process even in a state of sleep.
9. Create comfortable conditions and a cozy environment in the bedroom that will set you up for a sound, healthy sleep.
10. Before going to bed, spend some time meditating, relaxation techniques, or just listening to calm, quiet music.
11. Avoid stressful situations and excessive worries.

By the way, waking up a person during a late-night conversation and asking him to stop talking is not the best way out of the situation. Making comments to the sleeping person is unlikely to save him from sleep talk, but the quality of his night's rest will definitely suffer.

Don't show too many cartoons before bed.
What should parents do if their kids often talk at night? They should also adhere to certain rules:

• in the evening, avoid active games with the child that can cause vivid emotions and nervous overexcitation;
• before bedtime, do not scold or punish the baby;
• do not tell scary tales and do not frighten for educational purposes;
• Do not allow your child to use gadgets before bed, watch TV, or, especially, fall asleep listening to it.

To prevent your baby from having frightening dreams at night, which often provoke somniloquy, you also need to create comfortable conditions in the nursery: ventilate the room, provide a suitable air temperature for sleep, buy a comfortable pillow, mattress, bed linen and pajamas made of natural material.

Keeping a sleep diary will also help get rid of somniloquy in adults and children. Thanks to it, it is much easier to find out the true reason for talking in your sleep and figure out what exactly needs to be done to solve the problem. You can keep a diary personally or ask your loved ones about it. Within 2 weeks you need to write down in detail:

• at what time the person went to bed, when he supposedly fell asleep, what time he woke up and how many hours the rest lasted;
• did you dream about something at night, and if so, what nature were the dreams (pleasant, disturbing or frightening);
• what medications and at what time of day the person takes;
• what dinner consisted of and how many hours before bedtime was the last meal;
• how many cups of coffee, tonic drinks or alcohol were consumed during the day;
• what events and emotions the day was full of.

Also, every morning, from the words of loved ones, you need to record whether the night passed quietly and calmly, or whether there was a conversation in a dream again. Having collected enough records, it is important to analyze them in detail and try to see a pattern: for example, an adult speaks every time in his sleep if he ate heavily and drank two glasses of wine the night before, or a child tosses and turns and talks at night if he spent a couple of hours playing computer games before going to bed. . Thus, by changing your usual lifestyle, you can get rid of sleep talk without medical help.

Alternatively, you should go to a psychologist.
Unfortunately, in some cases, simply following these recommendations is not enough. How to stop talking in your sleep if somniloquy is caused by health problems? Such patients need the help of specialists who will make an accurate diagnosis and select treatment to eliminate the underlying disease.

In addition, one of the most important points in the fight against somniloquy is understanding and support from loved ones. Of course, being next to a “talker” at night causes a lot of inconvenience, but claims and reproaches will not only not solve the problem, but can also aggravate the situation - a constant feeling of guilt for night conversations that prevent others from sleeping will increase emotional stress, forcing a person to show anxiety and talk during the night. sleep even more often.

How is sleep talking treated?

A person thinks about how to stop talking in his sleep if it causes him inconvenience. For example, when he wakes up in the morning, he does not feel cheerful and rested. Or it interferes with his close people. And in some cases, sleepwalking is accompanied by sleepwalking.

Isolated cases do not require visiting a doctor. But if a person decides to consult a specialist, then he should keep a sleep diary. In it you need to record the duration of speech, the features of the manifestation of sleep-speaking in childhood, the time of going to bed and waking up, and the duration of rest. You should not remain silent about medications, as some can have an effect on the psyche.

It is necessary to keep such a diary to determine the factors that provoke sleep talk. Perhaps by getting rid of them or minimizing their influence, late-night conversations will stop.

Some tips to help ensure healthy sleep:

1. Get up and go to bed at the same time. Over time, a routine will form, falling asleep and waking up will be easier.
2. Airing the room. The microclimate in the bedroom is an important condition for good rest.
3. An evening walk. She should be calm and relaxed. It is better to finish physical activity 3 hours before bedtime.
4. Less stress. It is necessary to separate work experiences and rest. In the evening, you can take a warm bath and read a book - this will help you relax after a hard day.
5. Limit watching TV, computer games, and use of gadgets. The worst effects on the psyche are horrors, games that contain violence, and fights.
6. Dinner 3-4 hours before rest. Too heavy and fatty foods take a long time to digest. Therefore, preference should be given to light dinners. If you feel hungry in the evening, you can drink a glass of milk or kefir. It is better to avoid strong drinks and alcohol.
7. You need to sleep in the dark. Melatonin production is important for health. Light from a TV, flashlight, or table lamp disrupts the production of the hormone.
8. A comfortable mattress and bedding made from natural fabrics are very important aspects. Nothing should hinder movement or cause discomfort.

Concerns

You need to be wary in the following cases:

1. The person often behaves restlessly: screams, jerks his limbs, swears. It is usually noticeable that he experiences great fear during nightmares.
2. When talking, teeth grind, sweat is released, redness appears, and there is a lack of air.
3. The person not only talks, but also walks around the house in an unconscious state.
4. It is quite difficult to wake up a sleeping person; at the same time, he behaves inappropriately and shows aggression.

On many forums you can find phrases such as “I talk at night in my sleep.” Many people want to get rid of this. Moreover, often a person wakes up from conversations, and can also interfere with others’ rest.

How long can an episode of sleep talking last?

Night conversations do not last long - about 30 seconds. Some people may experience multiple episodes of speaking in one night, which often resemble babbling but can sometimes appear as expressive, intelligible speech.

More often, sleepers have conversations with themselves in their sleep, but sometimes such a conversation can be addressed to a specific person.

The intensity of night conversation and its intelligibility depend on the stage of sleep in which the sleeper is:

• if he speaks in the REM or light sleep stage, his words will be very clear and understandable;
• Conversation during the deep sleep stage usually sounds like gibberish or restless moaning.

Night talking is very common, and if we say that every person on the planet has uttered at least one word in their sleep at least once in their lives, it would not be an exaggeration.

Somniloquy is absolutely harmless, except when the sleeper utters loud curses that disturb others' sleep.