You may not remember it happening, but it's actually totally normal to orgasm in your sleep. I knew that anecdotally, and now it's been confirmed by recent research from Everly Well, a company that offers laboratory testing for wellness monitoring. They surveyed 2,000 people from all across the U.S. on sleep habits and found that a surprising number of people were having some very wet dreams. Turns out, they're not just for teenage boys or men. Interestingly, while 17 percent of men said that they had experienced orgasming during the REM cycle, the percentages were higher than that when they looked at all respondents in each region — suggesting women are orgasming as much, if not more, than men in their sleep.
It doesn't surprise me, because lots of my female friends have talked about orgasming in their sleep. It might just be a particularly strong sex dream that they remember it or they'll wake up with physical proof that they've had a great time. If you don't have these sorts of dreams, don't worry — it's totally normal. If "you're not having any sexy dreams" it may be a sign of a low sex drive, but it's not anything to worry about, Amy Levine, sex coach and founder of Ignite Your Pleasure, tells Bustle. I also know people with high sex drives who never have sex dreams, so I think it's all a bit of a mystery.
Interestingly, there was a huge variation in how many people had sex dreams depending on where you live. Seriously. Here's the breakdown:
1. The Northeast Was The Least Likely To Have Sleep Orgasms
A disappointing show from my home region, the Northeast reported a 21 percent rate of sleep orgasms. One in five isn't anything too shabby, but I'm sure if we can do better. I mean, we probably can't because it's something totally out of our control, but I'd like to think that.
2. One In Four People Have Sleep Orgasms In The West
The West Coast performed better or, you know, had more orgasms in their sleep with 26 percent of respondents from there saying it had happened to them.
3. The South Rocked A Nearly 30 Percent Sleep Orgasm Rate
Everything is bigger down South, and it turns out that 29 percent of folks down there are having totally larger than life dreams.
4. The Midwest Was The Most Orgasmic
The Midwest was where the most happy dreams happened, with 32 percent of respondents from there saying that had orgasmed in their sleep, which is over 10 percent more than in the Northeast. I don't know why there would be such a big divide, but I'm certainly going to remember it next time I go to the Midwest. Must be something in the water.
Whether you have orgasms or not, remember it or don't, it's all normal. And if you have them a lot? Just think of it as an added bonus, with all the orgasms and none of the work.
Images: Fotolia; Giphy (4)
