The sleep texting phenomenon
Studies show that more people are sending incoherent text messages while they are asleep and when they wake they are completely unaware of what they have done.
Sleep specialist Dr David Cunnington, of Melbourne Sleep Disorder Centre, told News Limited patients have been reporting sleep texting.
"We have had patients who have reported sending text messages to their friends and family while asleep," he said.
"It is one of those things that happens, but it is very rare, and certainly not a common trend."
In 2008 a study was untaken into a similar phenomenon of sleep emailing. So far there have been no studies into sleep texting.
Researchers at the University of Toledo reported the case of a woman, 44, who composed emails while asleep but when awake she had no recollection of sending the emails.
News Limited reports that Dr Cunnington said cases of sleep emailing were more common and more likely to have a detrimental effect on the lives of sufferers.
"Emails can be sent to work colleagues and have much more serious consequences, whereas text messages are more likely to be accidentally sent to a friend or family member, so people aren't as likely to complain of a problem," he said.
Sleep texting is described by Dr Cunnington as a result of people having too much to do during waking life.
Dr Cunnington explains: "People are doing so much during a normal day that it can mean that they feel like they're 'on call' even at night," he said.
"Because it's so easy to receive emails constantly, and get notifications from smartphones, it becomes more difficult for us to separate our waking and sleeping lives."
Dr Cunnington’s resolution for sleep texting is to keep mobile phones out of the bedroom for a better night sleep.
"If your phone is on the nightstand, then it will be more difficult to have a good night's sleep without feeling compelled to reply to a message or check your Facebook account," he said.
"The key point is that people need to respect their sleep, and make an effort to switch off at night."
