Violent during sleep...help?!
Question:
Violent during sleep...help?
I am not a violent person, I have never physically hurt anyone in anger. However, a few times a year I will be violent when someone touches me while Im sleeping. Last night I did it again and I have no memory of it whatsoever. My boyfriend got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, when he returned to bed he went to kiss me on my lips though I was asleep. He says hes done this plenty of times and I never wake up or move at all. However, last night I tried to bite his lip and reached up and dug my fingernails into his face. He said that then he jumped back and said, "Why did you claw me and try to bite me?" I replied, "I didnt." Then rolled over and went back to sleep. Does anyone have any insight on this? Thanks
Answers:
I can't possibly tell exactly what is going on. There can be numerous causes and the one that springs to mind is confusion when suddenly awakened. Some soldiers report similar sleep attacks after returning from war (they also typically suffer from PTSD. I remember reading a paper about melatonin and violent sleep by a Mayo Clinic researcher. I can't find the original paper but have a look at this:
http://www.thinkstroke.org/article-29961...
I hope this helps. Good luck.