What would make an adult start talking in their sleep on a regular basis all of a sudden?

Stress?

Have there been any changes in medications or diet? Are they experiencing any other physical changes or symptoms?

Stress would be my answer. As an adult who talks in their sleep on a regular basis, I can attest to that one. (I am not, however, a middle-aged male.)

My father (who is a slightly older-than-middle-aged male) began to talk in his sleep after he found out my mother had cancer; my guess is because the stress level in the house shot way up during that time.

@hearkat, the person’s on meds. Don’t know if there was a correlation between the talking and dosage changes, however.

Guilt? j/k

The good news is that it is harmless. If you want to read more about it, this site has some good information.

I did it for years until I found out my wife would lay awake and listen to me, therefore robbing her of much needed sleep. =) So I simply upped my sleep medication dose, and practiced speakng gibberish. Seems to have worked, now she gets her required hours of sleep.

The person clearly is not telling enough stories while he is awake, and is trying to compensate.

I’ve talked in my sleep for years, and on a few occasions my wife has recorded my nocturnal babbling so I can find out what crap I’m coming out with. It’s very unnerving to hear yourself confidently explain how a combustion engine works or give a lengthy opinion on environmental issues and not remember ever saying it!

The only pattern for talking seems to be when I don’t have any personal projects on, or work is a bit slack…it’s like my brain needs to run at a certain RPM and makes up for it whilst I’m asleep.

@HappyFox When you sleep-talk, do your speeches typically make sense? Like with the combustion engine, had you properly described it? Or did you mix in some imaginary terms and explain how the gumdrops are an integral part?

I’ve never gotten to experience hearing somebody sleep talk, I feel like I’ve really missed out.

@Sarcasm – The ones I’ve heard are usually pretty accurate, and I amazed myself at the level of detail (i.e. stoichimetric ratios explained, too, etc) to the point where I realised I wouldn’t be able to give such a speech/lecture/explanation if I was wide awake as I don’t have that kind of confidence in waking life!

I sleepwalk too, and have done some strange things in my sleep; soldering (!), polishing shoes, preparing meals, etc. A few years ago I woke up naked in my front garden…just about to shut the front door, so my wife has to lock the door before we go to bed and hide the keys.

I once set up a timelapse video of myself and my wife asleep just to see what goes on. Apart from proving that my wife steals 90% of the bed covers, I’m just laying there with my mouth going ten-to-the-dozen and my arms waving about. Absolutely hilarious to watch! :)