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Sleep sex or sexsomnia is a form of NREM parasomnia (similar to sleepwalking) that causes people to commit sexual acts while they are asleep. The condition was defined by three researchers from the University of Toronto and the University of Ottawa in a paper called "Sexsomnia — A New Parasomnia?" published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry in June 2003. These acts may be injurious to themselves or others, as in the case of a man who not only bruised himself with sleeping masturbation, but broke two fingers trying to escape restraints in which he had placed himself to control the behavior. Sufferers are often aware of their behavior for a long time before they seek help, often because they are not aware that it is a medical disorder or for fear that others will judge it as willful behavior rather than a medical disorder. However, the reality of the condition has been confirmed by sleep disorder researchers who have made sound and video recordings of patients with the condition and observed unusual brain wave activity during the episodes similar to that experienced by other parasomniacs. The first research paper that suggested that sexual behavior during sleep may be a new type of parasomnia was published in 1996. Later, several papers were published describing the problem and suggested that problematic forms of sleep sex are medically treatable "conditions" (see external links). Sexsomnia is not always problematic or extreme for those who experience it or for their partners. There is a great variety in both the frequency and levels to which people are affected by this disorder. On 8 December 2004, a court in Norway found a rape suspect not guilty based on that he might have been asleep when he had sex with a woman. A year later, on 20 October 2005 the man was found guilty by a court of appeal. On 30 November 2005, a Toronto court acquitted a man of sexual assault after he was diagnosed with sleep sex disorder *, although prosecutors have filed an appeal of the acquittal as of February 2006. * In Britain a man from York was cleared of three counts of rape on 19 December 2005. * A case of this disorder is found in the episode "Role Model" of the television series House.
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