Chapter 9 - Sexsomnias

Summary

Sexual arousal and sleep have never been at odds. Some of the well-known physiological phenomena associated with sleep were described centuries ago, most notably wet dreams, nocturnal emissions in males, and nocturnal orgasms in females. A significant number of case reports and first epidemiological and Meta studies suggest that sexual behavior in sleep primarily represents a distinctive variation of known types of NREM arousal parasomnias. Sexsomnia treatment has two objectives. First is to educate patients concerning their disorder. The second treatment objective is to provide pharmacological intervention when necessary, most often in the form of clonazepam, a common medication that is easily administered and titrated. Patients who suffer from sexsomnia are at higher risk of being charged for sexual offences. The legislatures across the world differ considerably when dealing with this issue, and those jurisprudent differences are present even at national levels.