'I Have REM Sleep Behavior Disorder, Which Causes Me To Sleepwalk Myself Into Scary Situations'

By Camille Falconnier, as told to Lauren Krouse
Women’s Health Magazine

While I was growing up, I acted out my dreams all the time, making me a hit at slumber parties. I remember my cousin would say, “It’s so fun to spend the night with you because you’re always moving around and talking.”

The thing was, I wouldn't reenact my dreams while I was awake. I would actually act them out while I was asleep. In one of my earliest memories of sleep-acting, I was about 9 years old, and my mom found me wandering around our front yard. When she asked me what I was doing, I apparently told her I was looking for a sheet of paper. In my dream, I needed it to cross a bridge.

While my mom was concerned about my sleep-acting, my younger sister (who shared a bed with me) found it funny and novel. In my teenage years, I had a job at Walmart and often popped up in bed in the middle of the night talking to customers and scanning imaginary items. She’d wake me up and laugh and tell me to go back to sleep.

As the years went on, my family members got used to finding me walking around at night. They’d just tell me I was dreaming and lead me back to bed. Since I always lived with other people—my parents and sisters, roommates, husband—there was always somebody there to look out for me.