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THE MOTHER of a 10-year-old New
Jersey boy heard her son's bedroom
door open about 1 :30 a.m. She waited,
half-awake, for the click of the bath
room light switch. It didn't come. In
stead, the stairs creaked.
Puzzled, she investigated and found the boy
downstairs in the dark, headed for the playroom.
Although ''he was a bit frightened herself, she
cautiously touched his cheek and said, "Can I
help you, son?"
The little boy began to murmur something
about having forgotten to "put the toys away."
Then he suddenly awoke with a start.
Tenderly, his mother put her arms around him.
When he had calmed down a bit, she said, "You've
been sleepwalking, dear; it's nothing to worry
about." Then she led him back to his bedroom and
talked to him until he fell asleep.
The boy has not walked in his sleep since. But
his mother cannot get the incident out of her
mind. She keeps wondering: Will it happen
again? Is there something wrong with my son?
For such mothers, medical science has some
new and reassuring answers.
Investigators are now certain that sleepwalking
is not a disease. It is a symptom and generally
it merely indicates that the sleepwalker is under
going some temporary personal crisis that he
could not resolve before going to bed.
For example, the New Jersey boy had quarreled
with his brothers and sisters about who should
put their toys away. Then he had gone to bed in
tears without knowing whether the job had been
done. With the crisis resolved, it is unlikely that
he will walk in his sleep again.
All cases of sleepwalking are not this simple.
Sometimes a deep-seated emotional disturbance
or a brain injury may be involved.
Another dark side to the picture is that sleep
walkers can endanger themselves and others.
It is true that sleepwalkers have survived walks
along the ledges of high buildings. But they also
have killed or injured themselves by falling.
What's more, in rare cases they have killed or
injured others. An entire family was shot by a
sleepwalker who dreamed robbers were breaking
into his house. And, while sleepwalking, a mother
dreamed her house was on fire and flung her baby
out a window.
The American Medical Association estimates
that between two and four million Americans,
mostly children, sleepwalk at one time or another.
Because people are shy about discussing such
occurrences, the number may be much higher.
On any given night, several hundred thousand
of us with problems on our minds may be up and
about trying to solve them without knowing it.
A sleepwalker may walk for miles. Or he may
take a ferry and wake up miles from home,
as a New Yorker did not long ago. Or he may
drive a car with an unfamiliar shift along a
busy turnpike for 23 miles, the way a West
Coast mother did. Her car stalled and she woke
up punching the dashboard trying to make it
start again.
The U.S. Navy recently completed a study of
sleepwalkers among its recruits and found
that they are usually intelligent, active persons
who are in good health.
Navy doctors also confirmed by observation
that the sleepwalker has a built-in safety mech
anism which guides him unharmed around obsta
cles most of the time. Like others who have wit
nessed sleepwalking, they noted that the walker
keeps his arms at his side, not stretched out in
front of him. Furthermore, he shows no reaction
when bright light is shone directly into his wide
open eyes or loud noises are made near him. Only
touching the victim will wake him fully.
The Navy researchers also saw proof of the new
theory that sleepwalking is "incomplete sleep with
varying degrees of consciousness." No matter
what tricks chronic sleepwalkers used to restrain
their wanderings such as locking the door or
tying themselves to a doorknob, radiator, or bed
they were always just enough awake to overcome
the hindrance and depart.
When a history of sleepwalking exists, espe
cially in an adult, a medical checkup is
generally advised.
The doctor will probably prescribe a mild sed
ative. He may also recommend such simple steps
as a rearrangement of sleeping habits or a
change in diet. Unless there is something gravely
wrong with the person, these measures should
end the sleepwalking.
Dr. W. Wallace Grant of the University of Man
itoba's Children's Hospital reminds parents that
youngsters take comfort in routine and should
be put to bed at a regular hour. This, together
with the reassurance of parents' presence at
bedtime, can do much to eliminate sleepwalking.
Dr. Grant says that when a child does sleepwalk
he should be gently awakened unless he is in a
place of danger where his reaction might cause
injury. In that case, the awakening should be
postponed until he can be led out of danger. Once
awake, he should be told what has happened.
But don't explain so much that you dramatize
this transient symptom. If you do, the child may
subconsciously be tempted to try it again just
to be the center of attention.
JjiWj-..fa.. .unit it iJ.i
COVER:
This serious young man, photographed by
Vivienne Lapham, is soaking up the last
of April's showers. But he seems to have
forgotten something his galoshes, maybe?
Family
Wsskly
LEONARD I. DAVIDOW Vrr.,drl and PMMrr
WAITER C. DREYFUI I',.-. C.l,n
PATRICK E. O IOUE .l,). rrli.i0 Dirrrfor
MOtTON MANIC Dirrrfar of '.Wi.drr Ktlal
Srrtd alt odtfttiing communication, 10 Family WUy,
153 N. MKh.oan Ave. Chicogo 1. III.
Addrtu all communication about editorial tVoturtt to
Family Wwlly. 60 E. Joth St.. Nrw York 22, N. Y.
;F mi. FAMHT WEEKLY MAGAZINE, INC
April 23, 1962
. Board ol Editors ERNEST V. MEYN Kiil-r.m-Chirf
EN KAITMAN Kifrutirt Editor
OBET FITZOIUON Manaoing editor
MAft.GAV.ET EU I'nKr, f.ditor
HUUR DYKSTRA ,trl Dirrrtor
MELANIE OE FKOfT Pood f.ditor
Rotolyn Abrovaya. Ardcn Eidoll, John Hochmann, Hal
london. Jack Ryan; r J. Oppcnhcimor, Hollywood.
153 N. Michigan Ao., Chicago 1, III. All rightt roMrvod.