It sounds incredible, but more and more men and women complain that they suffer from sexsomnia. And while it may seem like a rather seductive erotic fantasy, experts claim that it is a disease that affects one in 12 people on the planet. Sexsomnia is a rare disorder known as atypical sexual behavior in sleep. At first glance, there are no visible signs of sleep during intercourse, but in the morning the affected person has no memory of intercourse. Sexsomnia was first identified as a condition in the 1990s, but received more attention in 2003. In the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, the condition was classified as a parasomnia. A parasomnia is any unwanted behavior in a state of sleep, such as somnambulism, delirium, and others. NEWS_MORE_BOX Sexsomnia occurs during deep sleep, says Matthew Walker, professor of neurology at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London. It is provoked by an erotic dream or touching the partner in bed, in which centers in the cerebral cortex that are responsible for sexual desire are provoked. However, due to the fact that a person is in a state of deep sleep, he will have no memory of his actions. It occurs with excessive use of alcohol or drugs, a state of stress and fatigue, depression or prolonged insomnia. Some antidepressants and sleeping pills can help prevent the condition, but the most harmless techniques are relaxation, say experts.