15:46 15 October 2004
NewScientist.com news service
Rachel Nowak, Melbourne
Sleep medicine experts have successfully treated a rare case of a
woman having sex with strangers while sleepwalking.
The behaviour had disrupted the lives of the woman and her partner.
At night while asleep, the middle-aged sleepwalker - who lives in
Australia and cannot be identified for reasons of confidentiality -
left her house and had sexual intercourse with strangers. The
behaviour continued for several months and the woman had no memory
of her nocturnal activities.
Circumstantial evidence, such as condoms found scattered around the
house, alerted the couple to the problem. On one occasion, her
partner awoke to find her missing, went searching for her and found
her engaged in the sex act.
Incredulity is the leading player in cases like this, says Peter
Buchanan, the sleep physician at the Woolcock Institute of Medical
Research in Sydney, who handled the case. But a combination of
factors convinced him that the case was a real sleepwalking
phenomenon, including the distress of the couple, and an in-depth
clinical evaluation.
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one word : wow 
