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As many as one in a thousand adults may binge eat in their sleep, according to an article in the New York Times.
More than 10 percent of adults suffer from a class of conditions known as parasomnia, or sleep disorders, the article notes. In addition to the more commonly known behaviors such as sleepwalking, parasomnia may also include violence, sexual behavior or other waking behaviors such as driving. In 1 percent of cases, it involves sleep eating.
Most sleep eaters are women, while most of those who engage in violence while sleeping are men. Yet frightening, bizarre or even dangerous as these behaviors may be, psychologists insist that they do not necessarily betray mental instability.
"Those who exhibit violence during sleep, or scream, or swear, or masturbate, or eat frozen ravioli, or wander into the hallway in their underwear while asleep generally have no more of a psychological disorder than those who sleep peacefully every night," writes Carlos H. Schenck of the University of Minnesota in his book Sleep: The Mysteries, the Problems and the Solutions.
Some researchers believe, however, that sleep eating is more common among those who suffer from waking eating disorders.
In cases of sleep eating, sufferers rise from their beds while still sleeping and "make a beeline for the kitchen," said John W. Winkelman, medical director of the Sleep Health Center at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Brighton, Mass. They tend to binge on sugary and high-calorie foods, and may also put together odd food combinations such as peanut butter and pasta. Sometimes they even eat inedible or dangerous substances, such as paper or nail polish.
A sleep eater may rise to binge as many as five times a night, Winkelman said.
In addition to being embarrassing or frightening, sleep eating can also be dangerous. Sufferers have been known to cut themselves on knives, walk into obstacles or even damage their teeth by chewing on frozen foods.
參考譯文：
根據《紐約時代報》的一篇報導指出，每 1,000 名成人即有 1 名可能會在睡眠中出現暴食的行為。
報導內容表示，超過 10% 的成人都有異睡癥 (Parasomnia)，又稱睡眠障礙。異睡癥的癥狀除了比較為人所熟知的夢游之外，可能還包括暴力行為、性行為或是駕駛交通工具等清醒時才會做的行為。其中 1% 還會有睡吃癥狀。
睡吃癥患者大部分是女性，而在睡眠中會有暴力行為的則以男性居多。盡管這些行為異常地嚇人或甚至具有危險性，心理學家仍然堅稱這并不一定是心理不穩定的現象。
「會在睡眠中出現暴力行為、尖叫、咒罵、自慰、食用冷凍水餃或是穿著睡衣在走廊上游走的人，并不會比每晚都安穩入睡的人有更多的心理障礙問題」，明尼蘇達大學的卡洛斯宣克在他的著作《Sleep: The Mysteries, the Problems and the Solutions》(睡眠問題之謎的解決之道) 中寫道。
但是有些研究人員認為，清醒時患有飲食失調癥狀的人較常有睡吃癥。
睡吃癥患者會在睡眠中下床并快速走向廚房，馬薩諸塞布萊頓布里根婦女醫院睡眠健康中心的指導醫師，約翰溫克曼說到。患者會大量地食用含有糖分及高熱量的食物，或是將食物以奇怪的組合搭配，如花生醬及意大利面等。他們有時候甚至會把不能吃的或是危險的物品也吃下肚，如紙張及指甲油等。
睡吃癥患者每晚最多會下床暴食達 5 次之多，溫克曼表示。
除了尷尬及嚇人之外，睡吃癥也很危險。目前已知會有患者拿刀割傷自己、行走時撞傷或因為咀嚼冷凍食物而使牙齒受傷等。
