Sleep Related Violence

Sleep is something all humans need, yet we have no real control over. Only 1% of the world suffers from sleepwalking and night terrors, however in a world of 7.6 billion people that’s 76 million people who have those sleep disorders. Unfortunately sometimes, but very rarely, sleepwalking as well as night terrors can end in fatalities, and not in the people who are having them. Other sleep disorders that can lead to violence consist of REM sleep behavior disorder, epilepsy, and sleep apnea. The people who have these violent night terrors and such may have an overactive brain. This can be from increased stress levels or by experiencing a traumatic event. Fortunately, this is treatable, “sleep-related violence can usually be treated effectively with one or more medications that quiet the overly active parts of the brain.” REM sleep disorders are dangerous because it allows people to act out their dreams while still asleep. This sleep disorder and most sleep disorders in general can be caused by “disordered sleep schedules” or consuming large quantities of caffeine as well as other drugs. Sleep apnea and epilepsy are also linked to sleep related violence. Sleep apnea can result in, “in hundreds of confused partial arousals

However, it is treatable. There is a method of controlling sleep apnea called PAP (positive airway pressure), which has an almost 100% effective treatment rate. Unfortunately, many people suffering from sleep apnea opt out of this treatment be cause they say wearing the mask and listening to the machine inhibits them to sleep more than sleep apnea itself. Now there is a new form of treatment being developed called “Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation” this involves “using pacemaker technology to control the throat muscles, causing them to contract and keep the tissue out of the airway.” With this new technology sleep apnea could be removed from the list of sleep disorders in the near