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Sexsomnia is a form of sleepwalking, defined by abnormal sexual behavior during the night. A sleep disorder that questions and worries health professionals but also the justice system.
Sexsomnia is a recognized sleep disorder that is more likely to affect young adult males. When an episode of sexsomnia occurs, the subject becomes confused and may have partial or complete amnesia. The sexsomniac has sexual urges during the night which, as Dr. Tuong Bao Truong explains, can range from caressing to non-consensual sexual intercourse. The behaviors can be “self-centered, with masturbation and sexual vocalizations or involve the bed partner with caresses, rubbing and, more rarely, sexual acts, with or without orgasms or even sexual assault.” details the Doctor in her medical thesis on the subject.
The testimony of a young woman for the media Vice , quoted by RTBF , demonstrates the helplessness and worry of those close to her in the face of the deviant behavior of the sexsomniac: “It goes from a simple, somewhat assertive hug where I only need to nudge him, to having to really hit him. It’s also really hard because I feel like it’s gratuitous violence. I hit him even though he won’t remember it.”
In the columns of TF1info , neurologist Isabelle Arnulf does not hesitate to recommend to patients to go see their doctor, to entrust their problem to a competent health service. “The first reflex to adopt is to consult a specialized center, in a sleep pathologies department likely to treat narcolepsy, hypersomnia and Kleine-Levin syndrome, and which will then propose behavioral therapy, sometimes treatment with antidepressants.”
And for justice, it is clear, no confusion should be made between a sexsomniac subject and an individual guilty of sexual assault. A rapist could pretend to be sick and use this disorder to victimize himself and justify his act. A defense that is too easy, which should be verified by a series of medical examinations.
