Sleep sex, or sexsomnia, is a condition in which a person will engage in sexual activities while still asleep. This condition falls within the broad classes of sleep disorders known as parasomnia.^[1] In extreme cases, sexsomnia has been alleged as the cause of rare instances of sexual assault, including rape.^[2][3]

The proposed medical diagnosis is NREM arousal parasomnia – sexual behaviour in sleep. Sexsomnia is considered a type of non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM)parasomnia. Sexsomniacs do not remember the acts that they perform while they are asleep. Sexsomnia can co-occur alongside other sleep disorders such as sleepwalking,sleep apnea, night terrors and bedwetting and can be triggered by stress, previous sleep deprivation and excessive consumption of alcohol or drugs.^[4][5] Sleep related epilepsy may be associated with sexual arousal, pelvic thrusting and orgasms, though in these sorts of cases the acts are often not remembered.^[5] Sexsomnia episodes could be triggered by physical contact with a bed partner