What is a Sleep Eating Disorder?

A sleep eating disorder is a relatively rare condition related to sleeplessness. This condition is manifested in excessive sleep walking and eating nocturnally. These people are at risk to themselves because they indulge in overeating and may cause self-injury while sleepwalking. They are usually very distressed emotionally and may suffer from excessive daytime sleepiness. The result of this disorder is excess weight gain, choking while eating, disruption in sleep, injury while cooking food at night and the possibility of starting a fire. Moreover, they sometimes indulge in sleep walking which may potentially lead to accidents.

The people suffering from this sleep eating disorder are unconscious of their activities. They are often unable to recall what they did on the night before. The problem with this category of people is that they wake up at night to walk to the kitchen area and eat large amounts of food as well as non-food items. Since, they are unaware of what they are doing; they may harm themselves by eating risky food items. In addition, the food chosen by them is usually high in sugar and fat. In addition, many of them start preparing food using knives and hot cooking vessels and may injure themselves in the process.

Sleep eating disorder often runs in families. Though the actual percentage of people suffering from this problem is not known, it is usually estimated that about 1 to 3 percent of the population suffers from it. Stressful situations and anger could trigger such a bout, and it is often seen in young women due to the perceived pressures of everyday life. Normally, this condition is a physical sign of a deeper psychological problem. Dieting could be one of the major reasons behind it. Since, most dieters control their urge to eat during the day, they unconsciously overeat at night when their ability to control their senses is low.

Often, people suffering from sleep eating disorder have a history of substance abuse. They may also be emotionally distressed and attempting to lose weight by not eating well enough. However, the attempt at weight loss fails due to excessive eating at night and this may add to the frustration, further fueling the disorder. This condition is very complex and needs professional help. Many medical and psychological tests are carried out to investigate the issues. Proper diagnosis and treatment are compulsory to deal with this condition.