There must have been times when you have been told that you are difficult to sleep next to.
It turns out that doing strange in your sleep is not uncommon and many of us experience actions known as parasomnias.
What are Parasomnias?
Parasomnias often cause you to do bizarre things, all while completely unconscious, like jolting, acting out dreams and even masturbating.
Some may be linked with sleep disorders, like insomnia, but in other cases it's down to common physical reasons.
Here are five strange things you might do in your sleep
Getting frisky: You might have had actually masturbated while asleep while you were having a saucy dream.
Or, a much more awkward scenario, you may have tried to have sex with your partner, sleeping soundly next to you.
This condition is called sexomnia and causes people to perform sexual acts, like masturbating, touching and even dirty talk while they are asleep. Interestingly, they have no memory of it the next day.
While it may sound funny, dealing with it is far from easy, and there's a very serious side - some rape and sexual assault cases have been the result of sexsomnia.
It happens during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, according to Medical News Today.
Jolting awake: Ever had that feeling that you are about to fall in your sleep, then you jerk awake? You may also be doing that while you're asleep. It turns out that they are caused by muscle contractions that last about a second, usually as you are transitioning to a stage of sleep or during light sleep. It isn't just jerks though, one may make noises, see a flash of light or hear a loud noise.
Start talking: Sleep talking is more common in children and teenagers, but it can happen to anyone. A study from Paris found that people swear 800 times more often when they sleep talk, possibly linked to violent or troublesome dreams.
Sleepwalk: Have you woken up in a different place to where you went to sleep? It could be that you are sleepwalking. It normally happens during NREM sleep, the deepest form of sleep, so it can be really difficult to wake a sleep walker up.
It turns out that sleep texting may also be a thing, although there is no scientific evidence to back this up yet.
Act out dreams: One might start acting out during a vivid dream. This normally happens during rapid eye movement sleep and causes you to react to what you see in your dream. Acting out dreams is more common in older people and medication like antidepressants as well as caffeine and alcohol may also cause the parasomnia.
