If your sleep partner or child seems to mumble or carry on conversations while they sleep, they are likely sleep talking. Sleep talkers can be loud or quiet. They may form coherent sentences, appear to answer questions, or speak gibberish. Whatever their talking sounds like, sleep talkers tend to have one thing in common: they rarely remember what they say while they are asleep.
We explain why people talk in their sleep, what it means, and how to get better sleep if you share your bed with a sleep talker.
What Is Sleep Talking?
Sleep talking describes any kind of talking during sleep, from clear, understandable statements to seemingly random words and word-like sounds. The medical term for sleep talking is somniloquy. Sleep talking rarely disturbs the sleep of the sleep talker themselves, but it often disturbs their sleep partner or anyone sleeping in the same room. Sleep talking becomes especially disruptive if the talker is speaking loudly or saying offensive things.
Symptoms of Sleep Talking
Sleep talking describes any kind of talking during sleep. Sleep talkers may:
- Take turns to speak, as if they are having a conversation
- Ask or respond to questions
- Form sentences or phrases
- Grumble
- Whisper or shout
- Laugh
- Use real words or gibberish
- Use profanities
Sleep talking can occur during any stage of sleep, including rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM sleep. However, if a person sleep talks during REM sleep, their language is more likely to correspond to something happening in a dream.
Typically, sleep talking episodes are brief, lasting about 9 seconds on average when they occur during REM and 4 seconds when during non-REM sleep.
How Common Is Sleep Talking?
Sleep talking is quite common. An estimated two-thirds of people talk in their sleep at least once during their lifetimes, and 17% of people report sleep talking in the past three months. Sleep talking affects both men and women equally, although women may be more likely to cry and laugh, and men may be more likely to use more profanities.
Sleep talking is more common during childhood, with an older study finding that around half of children talk in their sleep at least occasionally. By adulthood, sleep talking is less common, affecting only 6% of adults on a weekly basis.
Why Do People Talk in Their Sleep?
Researchers still do not know with certainty what causes sleep talking. In most cases, sleep talking is harmless and does not require treatment. However, in some cases, sleep talking can be a sign of a more serious sleep disorder, such as:
- REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD), a sleep disorder in which the person experiences intense or violent dreams and physically acts them out. People with RBD who sleep talk may be more likely to talk loudly, use profanity or emotional language, and make statements that correspond with the behavior in their dreams.
- Night Terrors, a parasomnia in which the person appears terrified and screams or kicks during their sleep. Night terrors affect children more than adults. As with REM sleep behavior disorder, people who experience night terrors and sleep talk are more likely to appear distressed and agitated and use emotional language. However, they typically do not remember their dreams upon waking up.
Sleep talking can occur with other parasomnias, or abnormal behaviors that occur during sleep, such as sleepwalking, nightmares, and teeth grinding. Researchers have found that these parasomnias share some genetic associations, which may explain why sleep talking can run in families.
Sleep talking is twice as common among people with psychiatric disorders, especially post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). People who have PTSD may talk more during their sleep. Sleep talking sometimes accompanies certain types of dementia, as well as seizures during sleep. Still, sleep talking is common enough that experiencing it does not necessarily suggest you have one of these underlying disorders.
Sleep talking can be confused with catathrenia, which is when people groan in their sleep. Catathrenia is a separate condition from sleep talking, and the groans may sound sad or sexual in nature. If you are groaning a lot during your sleep, talk to your doctor. Unlike sleep talking, which often only disturbs the sleep of the sleep partner, catathrenia has been shown to impair the sleep quality of the sleeper themselves and cause fatigue.
Can You Stop Talking in Your Sleep?
The largest issue most people have with sleep talking is that it disturbs their sleep partner. Unfortunately, there is no treatment for sleep talking. If your sleep talking is caused by another sleep disorder or mental condition, treating the underlying disorder may reduce your sleep talking. Otherwise, you may be able to improve your sleep with better sleep hygiene:
- Aim to sleep at least seven hours each night.
- Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.
- Exercise regularly.
- Avoid caffeine and alcohol, especially before bed.
- Make your bedroom as dark, cool, and quiet as possible.
- Stop using electronics at least 30 minutes before bed.
- Manage your stress levels.
Tips for Sharing a Bed With a Sleep Talker
Sharing your bed with a sleep talker can be difficult. Try these tips to prevent them from interrupting your sleep.
Drown Out the Noise
You may sleep easier if you cannot hear your partner sleep talking. Try wearing ear plugs during sleep, or use a white noise machine.
Sleep Elsewhere
If your partner’s sleep talking is disrupting your sleep, you may want to sleep in a separate bed to minimize disturbances.
Be Supportive
Your partner will likely appreciate you being supportive as they navigate their symptoms. It can be embarrassing for people to find out they have been talking in their sleep, especially if the content is graphic or offensive. If you notice other concerning symptoms, encourage sleep-talking family members to see a doctor.
When to Talk to Your Doctor
If your sleep talking is disturbing you or your partner’s sleep, or, if you are concerned it is a sign of something more serious, make an appointment with your doctor.
Let them know if you experience additional symptoms, such as screaming, violent thrashing or kicking during your sleep, or if you seem afraid. Your doctor may order an overnight sleep study, called polysomnography, to rule out another sleep disorder like REM sleep behavior disorder or night terrors.
In many cases, sleep talking is harmless. But if you have concerns, talk to your doctor or sleep specialist.
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Sleep talking is the act of talking while sleeping. It is a parasomnia, or something that only happens during sleep. It used to be called somniloquy.
When a person is talking in their sleep, their speech might be clear or garbled. They might use simple phrases or full statements. People who sleep talk don't know they're speaking and don't recall what they said.
Sleep talking is not a sleep disorder on its own; however, it can be a symptom of a sleep disorder, such as insomnia or sleep apnea. It can also be accompanied by other parasomnias such as sleepwalking, night terrors, sleep eating, sleep paralysis, sexsomnia, etc.
This article will cover what sleeping talking is, why it happens, and when you should see your provider about it.
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Overall, it's not common—only about 5% of adults are sleep talkers. However, up to 50% of children are reported to talk in their sleep, and about 66% of adults, both men and women equally, have talked in their sleep at some point.
People are most likely to sleep talk when they're stressed or sleep-deprived. Sleep talking also seems more common in people with certain medical and mental health conditions, including:
- Dementia
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Seizures
- Sleep apnea
Sleep talking can range from sounding like speech that a person would use when they're awake to senseless babbling or even shouting or laughing.
Sleep talkers do not remember sleep-talking episodes when they wake up.
Sleep talkers can appear to be talking to themselves or be carrying on conversations with other people. Sometimes, sleep talkers whisper or mumble, but they may also groan, shout, or cry out.
For some people, sleep talking is a short-term problem and can be addressed with good sleep hygiene and by making a few lifestyle changes. For others, sleep talking may last a year or longer. In this case, it may become chronic.
Many people think that sleep talking occurs only while a person is dreaming, but sleep talking can occur during any of the four sleep stages. There is one stage for rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and three stages that are non-REM sleep.
- In stages 1 - 3, In the beginning, when a person is transitioning from wake to sleep, they may have a complete and understandable conversation with themselves. As they move toward deeper sleep, their talking may sound more like gibberish.
- In stage 4, a person may talk during REM sleep, which is when they are dreaming. While the things they're saying relate to their dream, they won't likely make sense to anyone overhearing it.
The content and duration of sleep talking can vary. Sleep talkers generally do not talk for longer than 9 seconds at a time, and often it's much shorter than that—just a few seconds. Rarely, people have been recorded giving very long speeches in their sleep.
However, some people speak many times throughout the night.
- In mild cases, a person has fewer than one full episode of sleep talking a week.
- In moderate cases, sleep talking happens multiple times a week.
- In severe cases, a person talks in their sleep every night.
The content of a person's sleep talking is usually harmless and even boring—if it makes sense and can be understood at all. One study showed that 59% of sleep talk was incomprehensible (mumbles, shouts, whispers, and laughs).
However, sleep talk can also be graphic and alarming, including profanity and verbal abuse. If a partner, child, or roommate overhears offensive or disturbing content, it can become a source of relationship problems.
Researchers are not sure why some people talk in their sleep. Sleep talking can run in families, which means there might be a genetic component. However, researchers think that external factors are a stronger influence than genes.
Factors that might contribute to sleep talking include:
Sleep talking can be part of certain sleep disorders, like sleep apnea. People with REM sleep behavior disorder and night terrors may verbalize while asleep.
- Night terrors, which are more common in kids, can cause them to cry out in their sleep. They may also have additional parasomnias such as confusional arousal and sleepwalking.
- REM sleep behavior disorder (RSD), which is more common in adults over 50, is when a person physically acts out their dreams, usually of frightening content such as being chased or attacked. In some cases, they may shout or make loud noises as they move about. This can be a dangerous experience for the sleeper and bed partners, as they can cause injury to themselves or others.
It is believed that the part of the brain that stops movement (including speech), in people with RSD, might not work right, leading them to be vocal when asleep. Researchers explain this may be a precursor to more serious neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's, Lewy body disease, and other dementias.
It's not uncommon for someone to be unaware that they sleep talk unless they have a bedmate who happens to overhear them.
Sleep talking is a sign of a condition rather than a condition on its own. While a person might not be diagnosed with sleep talking specifically, it may be a symptom of a diagnosable sleep disorder.
One way that people can find out if they have a sleep disorder is by having a sleep study done, known as a polysomnogram.
For this test, a person goes to a sleep lab and is fitted with monitors that will track different things, like their brain waves, breathing, and heart rate, while asleep.
The information that a healthcare provider gets from a sleep study can help them figure out what is causing a person's sleep problems. For example, they might have pauses in their breathing while they are asleep (sleep apnea).
Even if the test does not show a person sleep talking, it can still be useful because it helps providers rule out specific sleep disorders.
Keeping a sleep journal can help you identify your sleep patterns. You can use it to track:
- How much you sleep
- When you sleep and when you wake up
- What gets in the way of you having a restful night's sleep
- Your diet, exercise, medication use, and consumption of alcohol/caffeine
This information can help your provider figure out what is causing you to sleep talk. It can also help you identify the things that might make you more likely to talk in your sleep.
If you don't want to write in a physical journal, apps and even wearable fitness trackers can help you monitor your sleep.
Sleep talking usually doesn't need to be treated. However, sleep talking can be part of another condition or disorder that does need to be treated.
The treatment for sleep disorders varies, but often includes lifestyle changes, medication, and therapy.
For example:
- Some people who have insomnia or narcolepsy may need to take prescription medications.
- People with occasional sleep problems—for example, related to travel—might find over-the-counter (OTC) medications and supplements (like melatonin) helpful until they return to their regular sleep routine.
- For people who have long-term sleep problems, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is sometimes helpful.
- A person who has sleep apnea may need to wear a special breathing device to bed to make sure they are getting enough oxygen while they're sleeping.
While there might not be a specific treatment for sleep talking, there are some steps that you and a bedmate can take to cope with it as well as help your bedmates cope, such as:
- Sleeping in separate beds or rooms if your sleep talking is making it hard for someone else to sleep
- Running a white noise machine or fan at night
- Wearing earplugs or headphones to bed
Most sleep problems benefit from good sleep hygiene habits. It may help for you to:
Taking care of your overall health can also improve your sleep. Here are a few habits to consider:
- Eat a nutritious diet
- Get regular physical activity during the day
- Find ways to manage your stress levels
Sleep talking isn't usually a serious problem until it starts interfering with your sleep—or the sleep of someone you live with.
If you're sleep talking is negatively affecting your life and relationships, it's important to talk to your provider. Once you figure out what's causing you to talk in your sleep, you can take steps to address it.
You should also talk to your provider if you've never talked in your sleep before, but suddenly start doing it as an adult—after the age of 25. In this case, the behavior is usually a sign of an underlying health problem.
Sleep talking can be a strange experience for the talker and anyone who happens to be listening. While it's usually harmless, it can also become a disruptive sleep problem.
Talking in your sleep isn't a disorder on its own, but it can be a sign of an underlying health condition or sleep disorder that needs treatment.
If you're sleep talking is a problem, talk to your provider. Once they find out what's causing you to sleep talk, treatment options exist.
You should also know that sleep talking is much more common in kids than adults. If you're over 25 and suddenly start talking in your sleep for the first time, let your provider know because it could be a sign of a medical condition.