Does your bed partner tell you that you whisper, laugh, mumble, or even outright talk in your sleep? Or does your child shout or give long, incomprehensible speeches? It’s called sleep talking, or somniloquy, and you’ve likely heard of it, and may have experienced it yourself or seen it.
Unlike many other sleep disorders, which can have serious medical consequences, somoniloquy is a parasomnia that is often light-hearted. Witnessing someone sleep talk can be funny, charming, startling, vulgar, or strange. But fortunately, there are almost never any medical consequences to sleep talking, other than maybe keeping a bed partner awake.
Sleep talking episodes can last up to 30 seconds, but usually not beyond that [SleepFoundation]. People who sleep talk won’t remember their midnight mublings the next morning.
Sleep talking can be:
Unlike movies, where people give long speeches and reveal deep, hidden secrets, sleep talking in real life doesn’t happen that way. Usually, sleep talking is:
People who sleep talk may also respond to your questions as if they are awake, but they will still be asleep. The more comprehensible speech can be:
It all depends upon the person and the night.
Sleep talking has no specific cause in general, and may happen in different people for different reasons, such as:
Sleep talking is very common. Here are some statistics [WebMD]:
Given these statistics, most people grow out of sleep talking as adults.
Treatment is usually not necessary for sleep talking, as it’s usually harmless. However, if there are underlying reasons for the sleep talking that negatively impact health, those reasons should be addressed.
If sleep talking is particularly disruptive for a bed partner, some measures can be taken to reduce the likelihood of sleep talking:
Having white noise or using earplugs can be useful ways to keep a sleep partner from waking up. If you have concerns about your sleep talking, or if your sleep talking is severe and chronic, please reach out to one of our sleep specialists: