Sleep talking is a strange disorder, but it’s also something that affects a lot of people.
Despite what popular culture might suggest, sleep talking isn’t just something that happens when you’re holding onto a deep dark secret. Nor is it a way for you to subconsciously clear the air and reveal everything you’ve been hiding while you’re unconscious.
The truth is that sleep talking is just like most other sleeping disorders — it’s a sign that you’re not getting the right quality of rest.
The chances are you’re not going to embarrass yourself (too much) if you are laughing in sleep or saying things out loud while sleeping. While sleep talking isn’t particularly dangerous, that doesn’t mean you want to leave the issue unaddressed.
If you’re having problems with sleep talking, there are some ways that you can keep the pillow talk to a minimum.
Here’s your guide to curing or preventing sleep talking.
What causes you to talk in your sleep? Preventing sleep talking
Otherwise known as somniloquy, sleep talking is a mysterious and often entertaining ailment. The chances are you overheard your family spouting out some random nonsense during the night, when they’re not awake.
The question is, how do you prevent sleep talking, or at least reduce your risk of encountering it?
Well, according to the National Sleep Foundation, preventing sleep talking starts with understanding what’s initially causing your problem.
There are a number of things that can cause us to start chattering away in our sleep. It can be issues with anxiety and depression that disrupt our rest, or illness and substance abuse.
If you suffer with other problems in your sleep, such as recurring nightmares, sleep behaviour disorder (REM), or sleep apnea, then your risk of sleep talking are higher too.
What’s more, if other people in your family sleep talk, then there’s a good chance you will as well. Many experts believe the condition is partially genetic.
To start your journey into looking for how to stop sleep talking, ask yourself what might be causing your issues? Do you have a history of somniloquy in your family? Are you constantly messing up your circadian rhythms by working different shifts?
Maybe you’ve become a little too reliant on your evening nightcap to help you drift off? Make a note of everything that could be affecting your quality of sleep.
How to stop talking in your sleep: Look for other problems
As mentioned above, sleep talking is rarely a dangerous condition by itself.
Most of the time, learning how to cure sleep talking is something people will do because of poor sleep quality. The sleep talker need improve their quality of sleep and they don’t want to disturb their partner.
However, when you begin searching for a sleep talking treatment, you may also learn that chatting in your sleep can be a sign of some deeper, underlying disorders.
For most people, sleep talking disorder is something that comes on randomly and goes away by itself. However, it may also be a red flag. If you’re constantly talking in your sleep, this could indicate you have a condition called REM sleep behaviour disorder.
Sleep behaviour disorder refers to a condition where people yell, kick, punch or act out during their dreams. Usually, in typical REM sleep, your body will paralyse your muscles to stop you from acting out your dreams or hurting yourself.
However, if you have REM behaviour disorder(RBD), then you won’t experience this paralysis. RBD isn’t always dangerous, but it can be harmful to the people around you.
Another thing to consider when trying to prevent late night talking is whether you have a history of nightmares. Night terrors cause people to suddenly wake up in the night, often filled with fear and confusion.
These extreme physical sensations can cause people to thrash around during their dreams. Additionally, night terrors also prompt walking and talking during sleep.
If your sleep issues are accompanied by fear, nightmares, excessive sweating or movement, you should seek a doctor. Only a medical professional will be able to determine whether there’s another underlying condition contributing to your problems.
If you do have an underlying issue, then preventing sleep talking will begin with finding a solution for the root cause of your sleep disturbance.
How do you stop sleep talking? Start with sleep hygiene
Once you have an idea of why you’ve been talking in your sleep, you’ll be in a better position to start considering treatment options. Generally, doctors and medical experts won’t prescribe any medication for a sleep talking treatment. Instead, they’ll ask you to take a natural approach to adjust your sleep hygiene strategy.
The reason for this is that the medications which help to deal with sleep talking, such as anxiety medication or sleeping pills, can cause sleep disorders too.
If you complain about sleep talking, your doctor may even want go through your regular medication with you. Consequently to see if any of those are leading to the late night talking.
Once your doctor has assessed your current medication and made sure that none of those are worsening your sleep, they’ll recommend how to naturally stop sleep talking, such as:
Following a night-time routine
Sleep talking appears to happen more often when people are sleep deprived. Following a regular schedule of waking up and going to bed at the same time each day will help you to reduce the severity of sleep talking instances.
Managing your stress
If you’re constantly dealing with anxiety and depression when you go to bed, then you’re more likely to have a poor quality of sleep. Stress increases the frequency and severity of most sleep disorders. It may be worth speaking to a psychologist or therapist about how you can counteract this problem.
Avoid alcohol
While most people think alcohol helps them to fall asleep at night, it also reduces the quality of the rest you get. Alcohol interrupts common sleeping patterns and makes it more likely you’ll wake up in the night. Limiting your alcohol intake is a great idea if you have sleeping problems.
Skip the snacks
Eating a little food before bedtime isn’t always a bad idea — particularly if you’re hungry. Investigate which foods support your sleeping patterns. However, large meals will disrupt your sleep by making your digestive system work, when it should be getting rest. With that in mind, try to stop eating at least 3 hours before bed.
Getting more exercise
Finding more time for exercise is an excellent way to strengthen your mental health and get an extra boost of serotonin. It also means you’re more likely to fall asleep quickly and sleep soundly through the night. Exercise is one of the best remedies for sleep talking.
Sleep talking treatments: Options for your partner
Like most sleeping disorders, there’s no one-size-fits-all cure for sleep talking. However, since somniloquy is often caused by disrupted sleep, there are plenty of ways that you can go about. preventing sleep talking. Change your sleeping patterns using the advice above.
What’s more, sleep experts and doctors with specialist knowledge of this condition can also help you to manage your condition.
The best sleep talking cure is plenty of good, restful sleep each night. Whilst working on your routine, you might need to look to your partner, if you don’t sleep alone.
Sleep talking might not affect you negatively, but it’s probably going to make it harder for your partner quality rest.
Options for the sleep partner include:
- Wearing earplugs or using a white noise machine: This is a great option for people who are often woken up by external noises. If you don’t feel comfortable wearing earplugs to bed, a white noise machine is a handy alternative.
- Sleep in separate beds or rooms: Although this might seem like a drastic measure, it could be a temporary solution while a partner is working on their sleep talking cure. You can always move back into the same bedroom when things settle down.
- Going to sleep earlier: Often, the early stages of sleep are the ones in which we’re most likely to be disrupted by noise. With that in mind, you could consider going to sleep a little earlier than your partner, so you’re already knocked out by the time they get to bed. Have a cup of relaxing tea and go to bed just before your loved one.
How do you stop sleep talking?
There’s no one-size-fits-all cure for sleep talking.
Some people will find that more exercise during the day, less alcohol at night and a consistent sleeping pattern will banish their late-night conversations entirely. Other people might need extra help, including cognitive behavioral therapy, or even hypnosis.
The key to success with your sleep talking treatment is to figure out what’s causing the problem in the first place. Work with your partner or parents to maintain a sleep diary, so you can figure out what’s happening to you during the night. There are even smartphone apps that you can download to record the noises that you make during sleep.
Additionally, remember not to take whatever you say during periods of sleep talking seriously. Experts have universally agreed that the things that we say during sleep aren’t necessarily a sign of any underlying psychological condition or truth. Most pillow talk is gibberish!
Siestio. Sleep Matters.
Medical disclaimer
You must not rely on the information provided on our website as an alternative to medical advice from your doctor or other healthcare professionals. For more information read our full disclaimer here.
