There are five stages of sleep and the episodes of sleepwalking occur when the person is in deep sleep. The sleepwalkers don't have any memory of their behavior. The causes of sleepwalking can be genetic, environmental or physiological factors and some associated medical conditions like arrythmias, fever, gastro-oesophageal reflux, night time asthma, obstructive sleep apnea, and psychiatric disorders.

The symptoms of sleepwalking can be sleep talk, difficulty in getting up from sleep, being clumsy and sitting up in the bed and going through repeated movements. Some other symptoms that can accompany sleep walking are sleep apnea, night terrors and bed wetting, according to emedicinehealth.com.

Sleepwalking in itself is not harmful, but sometimes it may lead to serious accidents. It is a sign that something is wrong with the individual emotionally or psychologically. To keep sleepwalkers safe, lock the windows and doors of the bedroom, remove the sharp things or the things that can cause any harm, keep the dangerous objects out of reach and remove the obstacles in the room and install safety gates near the stairs.

Treatment of sleepwalking mainly depends on the self care at home like having adequate sleep, meditation, creating a safe sleeping environment and locking the doors and windows. The medical treatment for sleepwalking is needed in the situations when other measures prove inadequate, possibility of injury is real and if continued behavior is causing problems in the family. The medications for sleepwalking are benzodiazepines and anti-depressants.