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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.
参考译文：
根据《纽约时代报》的一篇报导指出，每 1,000 名成人即有 1 名可能会在睡眠中出现暴食的行为。
报导内容表示，超过 10% 的成人都有异睡症 (Parasomnia)，又称睡眠障碍。异睡症的症状除了比较为人所熟知的梦游之外，可能还包括暴力行为、性行为或是驾驶交通工具等清醒时才会做的行为。其中 1% 还会有睡吃症状。
睡吃症患者大部分是女性，而在睡眠中会有暴力行为的则以男性居多。尽管这些行为异常地吓人或甚至具有危险性，心理学家仍然坚称这并不一定是心理不稳定的现象。
「会在睡眠中出现暴力行为、尖叫、咒骂、自慰、食用冷冻水饺或是穿着睡衣在走廊上游走的人，并不会比每晚都安稳入睡的人有更多的心理障碍问题」，明尼苏达大学的卡洛斯宣克在他的著作《Sleep: The Mysteries, the Problems and the Solutions》(睡眠问题之谜的解决之道) 中写道。
但是有些研究人员认为，清醒时患有饮食失调症状的人较常有睡吃症。
睡吃症患者会在睡眠中下床并快速走向厨房，马萨诸塞布莱顿布里根妇女医院睡眠健康中心的指导医师，约翰温克曼说到。患者会大量地食用含有糖分及高热量的食物，或是将食物以奇怪的组合搭配，如花生酱及意大利面等。他们有时候甚至会把不能吃的或是危险的物品也吃下肚，如纸张及指甲油等。
睡吃症患者每晚最多会下床暴食达 5 次之多，温克曼表示。
除了尴尬及吓人之外，睡吃症也很危险。目前已知会有患者拿刀割伤自己、行走时撞伤或因为咀嚼冷冻食物而使牙齿受伤等。
