Esquire: A magazine writer describes what it is like to live with sexsomnia.
I have sexsomnia, a sleep abnormality that causes me to initiate sex when I’m asleep. Think of sleepwalking, but instead of walking I, well, you know. Those of us who’ve got what the DSM-5 calls non-REM sleep-arousal disorder, which research has found to be as much as three times as prevalent in men as in women, are prone to fondling a partner, performing oral sex, and even engaging in full-on penetrative sex and reaching orgasm, all while completely asleep.
For me, as I understand is common, it flares up when I’m stressed, sleep-deprived, going to bed drunk, and particularly some combination of all three. I’ve only recently learned that there’s a name for this disorder. For years, I’ve just thought of it as something—or someone—that activates inside me at night.
