Abnormal Sexual Behavior During Sleep

Abstract

Automatic, uncontrolled, and unaware sexual behaviors during sleep have occasionally been described. The clinical and polysomnographic features of nocturnal sexual behavior allow it to be considered a distinct parasomnia named "sexsomnia". Recently, abnormal sexual behaviors during sleep have been evaluated in the forensic medical context because violent behaviors can be associated with this parasomnia. To describe the clinical and polysomnographic findings in three patients who referred to our sleep laboratory for sleep disorders and who reported episodes of sleep-related sexual activation. We analyzed video-polysomnographic recordings, sleep structure, sleep microstructure, and sleep-related respiratory events. The patients were three males aged 42, 32, and 46 years. All had unremarkable medical, neurological, and psychiatric histories. All underwent full-night polysomnography. Each patient presented a distinct sleep disorder: one had severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), one presented clinical and polysomnographic features of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep parasomnia (somnambulism), and the third presented clinical and polysomnographic features of rapid eye movement behavior disorder. In our patients, the clinical and polysomnographic findings suggest that abnormal nocturnal sexual behavior can occur in association with distinct sleep disorders, characterized by different pathophysiologic mechanisms and distinctive treatments. Abnormal sexual behaviors during sleep should be investigated with polysomnography in order to define their pathophysiology and to establish appropriate treatments.