Sleep Texting, Sending Short Messages Accidentally While Sleeping
Maybe you’ve heard the phenomenon of walking or talking while sleeping. However, have you ever heard of the phenomenon of replying to short messages via cell phone while sleeping? This condition is known as sleep texting. To understand what sleep texting is, let’s identify its causes and how to prevent it.
Table of Content
1. What is sleep texting?
2. Causes of sleep texting
3. How to prevent sleep texting from happening to you
What is sleep texting?
Some people may not believe in the phenomenon of sleep texting. How can someone who is fast asleep open his cell phone to reply to a short message?
Although hard to believe, the habit of replying to short messages while sleeping is classified as a sleep disorder called parasomnia.
Parasomnias are sleep disorders that occur during rapid eye movement ( REM ) or non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. This sleep disorder can make a person perform unwanted physical or verbal activities while asleep, such as walking or talking.
In the case of sleep texting, the sufferer will open his cell phone and then reply to a short message from his lover, relative, or family member without him knowing it.
Although sleep texting sufferers are able to open their cellphones to type short messages, the contents of the typed messages will be difficult for the recipient to understand.
Sleep texting generally occurs in people who sleep too close to their cellphones without turning on silent or vibrate mode.
Causes of sleep texting
There are several factors that can cause sleep texting, including:
- Feeling stressed
- Lack of sleep
- Poor sleep quality (sleep is often disturbed)
- Changes to a sleep schedule
- Is having a fever.
In addition, genetic factors can be the cause of sleep texting. That means, if you have a parent, brother, or sister who suffers from parasomnia, then you can suffer from it too.
Parasomnias such as sleep texting can occur at any age. However, according to one study, parasomnias are most common in children.
If sleep texting occurs in adults, there is usually a medical condition causing it, such as:
- Breathing problems during sleep, such as obstructive sleep apnea
- Taking certain medications, such as antidepressants and antipsychotics
- Substance abuse, such as alcohol
- Medical conditions, such as restless leg syndrome and gastroesophageal reflux disorder (GERD).
How to prevent sleep texting from happening to you
The good news, sleep texting is a sleep disorder that can be prevented in various ways, including:
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Turn off your phone
One of the simplest and most effective ways to prevent sleep texting is to turn off your phone while it’s sleeping.
However, some people may not be able to turn off their cell phones because of work. If this is the case, keep your phone out of your bed or reach of your hands. If indeed your cell phone rings, then you have to get out of bed to pick it up.
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Set the phone to silent mode ( silent )
To prevent your body from waking up to type a short message on your phone, try setting your phone to silent mode.
This is believed to be able to make your sleep undisturbed even if the phone is ringing at night.
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Improve sleep pattern
Parasomnias such as sleep texting can occur if you are sleep deprived. Therefore, try to improve your sleep pattern and get enough sleep, which is 7-9 hours every day.
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Don’t rush to reply to messages
In the midst of your busy life, it’s hard not to reply to a short message quickly. Moreover, there is a message from the boss.
However, try not to be too hasty in replying to text messages, especially if the message you receive is not very important.
By not replying to messages too quickly, this is believed to reduce the risk of sleep texting while you are asleep.