E Law - Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law, Vol 3, No 1 (May 1996) Sleepwalking - Insanity or Automatism Peter Ridgway Introduction 1. A recent murder prosecution in Queensland has put in relief the issue of sleepwalking and particularly the question whether it can form the basis for a defence of insanity (disease of the mind) or automatism. If the former, the accused should be found ...

Sleepwalking is a sleep disorder effecting an estimated 10 percent of all humans at least once in their lives. This widespread phenomenon varies in its intensity and frequency. While most sleepwalking incidents are short and not dangerous, some can involve self-injury and are much more dangerous for the sleeper. Also, most interestingly, the disorder seems to stem from many different sources, not from one definable cause such as a chemical imbalance.

Stanford University provides information on somnambulism in children.

Dreamland and Somnambulism To put our correspondents request more exactly, he desires The Theosophist to cull into the limits of a column or two the facts embraced within the whole range of all the sublunar mysteries with "full explanations." These would embrace: (1) The complete philosophy of dreams, as deduced from their physiological, biological, psychological and occult aspects. (2) The ...