Automatic behavior is when the body acts without conscious control, often due to medical conditions such as epilepsy or sleep disorders. It can also occur in altered states of consciousness, including sleepwalking and homicidal sleepwalking. Other disorders with automatic behavior include Tourette’s syndrome, schizophrenia, and delirium. Reflexive actions and automatic writing are less harmful forms. Abnormalities in brain wave patterns may underlie automatic behavior, which can be controlled with medication.
Automatic behavior occurs when the body appears to have a mind of its own. In such cases, an individual engages in behavior that is beyond her control. This behavior could include involuntary body movements or involuntary verbal expressions. Several medical conditions manifest as automatic behavior, including epilepsy, hypoglycemia, and some sleep disorders.
In many cases, automatic behavior can occur when the individual is in an altered state of consciousness. For example, individuals with severe sleep deprivation have been observed to exhibit automatic behavior when in a semi-conscious state. Demonstrated actions may include sleepwalking, sleepwalking, and, in more extreme cases, even the demonstration of violent or homicidal behavior: homicidal sleepwalking. Some individuals accused of crimes have even used automatism as a defense, claiming that the criminal actions were not under conscious control. The lack of memory recall that individuals sometimes experience supports the idea that the behavior arises from another level of consciousness.
Other disorders may have components of automatic behavior. Due to faulty nerve connections, epileptics may experience seizures or other forms of uncontrolled movements such as chewing or swallowing. Involuntary bodily ticks or unwanted verbal statements also characterize a disorder known as Tourette’s syndrome. Additionally, some forms of schizophrenia include catatonic states in which an individual’s level of movement and awareness is severely limited, and another prolonged psychological state of automatic behavior – dissociative fugue – occurs when an individual unconsciously assumes another life and identity in order to a period of time. Also, delirium could occur when an individual’s blood sugar levels drop dramatically, resulting in a semi-comatose state.
On a more conventional level, even reflexive actions can be seen as a type of automatic behavior, as they are instinctively facilitated. Another relatively innocuous form of automatic behavior is automatic writing, an ability some individuals have to physically map their brain’s subconscious thought processes through automatic hand movements. As for the harmful types of automatism, they can be somewhat controlled through medications such as anticonvulsants.
Errors in the brain’s neural networks may underlie automatic behavior. Electroencephalogram (EEG) readings of individuals regularly show abnormalities in brain wave patterns. In some cases, these abnormalities occur when an individual transitions rapidly from a state of deep sleep or unconsciousness to a state of alertness without easing through the in-between states that are characteristic of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Narcolepsy sleep disorder has the opposite effect, where an individual will rapidly progress from an alert state to deep sleep.
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