Sleep sex, a.k.a. sexsomnia, is a form of REM behavioural disorder (a parasomnia) that causes people to commit sexual acts while they are asleep. The condition was defined by a study done by three researchers from the University of Toronto and the University of Ottawa in a paper called "Sexomnia - A New Parasomnia" (Published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry in June 2003). These acts may be injurious to themselves or others, as in the case of a man who not only bruised himself with sleeping masturbation, but broke two fingers trying to escape restraints in which he had placed himself to control the behavior.

Sufferers are often aware of their behavior for a long time before they seek help, often because they are not aware that it is a medical disorder or for fear that others will judge it as willful behavior rather than a medical disorder. However, the reality of the condition has been confirmed by sleep disorder researchers who have made sound and video recordings of patients with the condition and observed unusual brain wave activity during the episodes similar to that experienced by other parasomniacs.

The (likely) first research paper that suggested that sexual behavior during sleep may be a new type of parasomnia was published in 1996. Later, several papers were published describing the problem and suggested that problematic forms of sleep sex are medically treatable "conditions" (see external links).

On 8 December 2004, a court in Norway found a rape suspect not guilty based on that he might have been asleep when he had sex with a woman. A year later, on October 20 2005 the man was found guilty by a court of appeal.

On 30 November 2005, a Toronto court acquitted a man of sexual assault after he was diagnosed with sleep sex disorder although prosecutors have filed an appeal of the aquittal as of February 2006. [http://washtimes.com/upi/20060202-101339-5823r.htm

In Britain a man from York was cleared of three counts of rape on 19 December 2005. ^*

External links

• Sleepsex.org – provides information about sexsomnia and a forum for the discussion of this relatively unknown disorder
• Stanford Sleep Experts Treat Medical Condition Behind Violent "Sleep Sex"
• Sleepwalkers who have "sex sleep" – BBC
• Understanding Sleep Sex
• A phenomenology of problematic sexual behavior occurring in sleep – science article from Department of Psychology, University of New Hampshire; involves Internet sources

Parasomnia