Sexomnia is an illness that is more common than people think. This is a sleep disorder, like sleepwalking, but in this case, the condition leads to involuntary or unconscious sexual behaviour.
Researchers presented their findings at the annual convention of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).
A person who suffers from sexomnia seems to be awake and initiates a sexual act when they are actually asleep.
According to researcher Sharon Chung of the University Health Network in Toronto, of 832 people who visited the sleep clinic, 63 (7.6%) suffered from sexomnia.
She comments: "While our finding of 8 percent of people reporting sexsomnia seems really a high number, it should be stressed that we only studied patients referred to a sleep clinic. So, we would expect the numbers to be much lower in the general population."
Men are more likely to suffer from sexomnia than women, 11% compared to 4% of women. A study found that most people do not reveal this sleep disorder to their doctor.
Compared to people with other sleep disorders, those suffering from sexomnia are more likely to use illicit drugs.