Five Signs You Have a Parasomnia

Sept. 24, 2010 -- Ellen Vincenti went through a two-and-a-half day stretch she wil never forget. She spent that time stuck in a remote swamp in the woods about 15 miles from her home in Tuftonboro, New Hampshire.

"I managed to get up on a tiny piece of land, but the water was waist-deep around me," said Vincenti.

What was worse was the fact that she has no idea how she got there.

"Saturday night, I kissed my husband goodnight. I took the new medication I was on and said I was going to read until I'm tired. The next thing I knew, it was 5:30 Sunday morning and I was in my car in the middle of the woods," said Vincenti.

Vincenti said she was disoriented at that point, and walked in the direction of the traffic she heard. After that, she said she found herself waist-deep in water.

"I spent Sunday screaming for help, but no help came," she said. She kept on screaming, and help finally came on Tuesday after a woman living nearby heard her.

Vincenti was shaken by the incident but otherwise uninjured. She said her doctor told her the medication she was taking, which she did not want to disclose, was the likely trigger of her nighttime excursion. She also said she has a history of sleepwalking and sleep talking.

Sleepwalking is perhaps the most well-known form of parasomnia -- a disorder that interrupts sleep and often involves disruptive behaviors -- but experts say there are others that can either be very milid or cause severe disturbances. The next few pages feature a closer look at some of these disorders.