Most people seem to consider sleepwalking to be sort of a joke, a silly thing that happens in cartoons and children's movies.  Even though most people have some sort of sleepwalking experience, they are able to brush it off as a one-time occurrence, or something that used to happen to them when they were young.  Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for adults who suffer from full-blown sleep disorders.  Including Tobias Wong, a promising young designer whose suicide last week may have happened unintentionally, in his sleep.

The technical term for this family of sleep disorders is "parasomnia."  Parasomnia sufferers can perform complex actions in their sleep, from fixing meals to dressing themselves, leaving the house, and driving across town.  There are many sad and horrifying cases of a parasomnia sufferer injuring and even killing their sleep partner and/or family members.

Parasomnia often runs in families, which indicates a genetic component.  It can also be brought on by medication, most notably (and ironically) by sleeping pills such as Lunesta and Ambien.

When you fall asleep, your brain hits a circuit breaker and essentially paralyzes your body.  This is what prevents you from acting out your dreams, although it isn't a perfect mechanism - you may still mutter and twitch in your sleep, "chasing rabbits" so to speak.  And occasionally you may wake up before your brain lifts the paralysis, a syndrome called "sleep paralysis" which can be terrifying to those who experience it.

For some people, this mechanism doesn't work properly.  This is why sleepwalkers do not remember what they did upon waking.  They are basically sleeping just like everyone else - just a little bit (or a lot) more actively.

Unfortunately, enough people die while sleepwalking that a group of scientists were inspired to create the term "parasomnia pseudo-suicide."  It's not known how many deaths which were ruled suicides are actually the result of sleepwalking, but the death of Tobias Wong seems to fit that category.

Wong was a gifted and talented designer, a rising star in the field according to the New York Times.  And he suffered from a severe case of parasomnia.   The NYT article details countless incidents of Wong's past sleepwalking, and makes the case that he had none of the classic markers of the suicidal.  When he hanged himself in the night last week, everything was looking up.  He and his partner were planning to adopt a baby, and he had recently purchased a flat screen television which had not yet been delivered.  

Granted, suicide is a complicated issue, and something which often seems to come out of nowhere.  But Wong's upbeat attitude, coupled with his history of complicated and occasionally destructive sleepwalking, certainly makes a good case for this being a "pseudo-suicide."

In the wake of Wong's death, I suspect a lot of people are re-evaluating their attitude towards sleepwalking - their own, their partners, or that of a family member.  Sleepwalking is no joke, and it definitely deserves to be taken seriously.

Creative Commons-licensed image courtesy of Flickr user bbaunach