Nocturnal emission

{{About|the biological function|the sound art group|Nocturnal Emissions|the condition of excessive, accidental ejaculation|spermatorrhea|spontaneous ejaculation which does not occur during sleep|Spontaneous orgasm}}

A wet dream, sex dream, or sleep orgasm, is a spontaneous occurrence of sexual arousal during sleep that includes ejaculation (nocturnal emission) and orgasm for a male, and vaginal lubrication and/or orgasm for a female.

Context

Nocturnal emissions can happen after stressful dreams in REM sleep which activate the sympathetic nervous system, hence leading to ejaculation.{{Cite book |last=Hall |first=John E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Po0zyO0BFzwC |title=Guyton and Hall Textbook of Medical Physiology E-Book |date=2010-07-19 |publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences |isbn=978-1-4377-2674-9 |language=en |access-date=2022-10-17 |archive-date=2023-01-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230113030031/https://books.google.com/books?id=Po0zyO0BFzwC |url-status=live }} They can also happen after sex dreams.

Nocturnal emissions can start as early as age ten,{{cite web |url=https://amaze.org/video/puberty-wet-dreams/ |title=What is a Wet Dream? |publisher=AMAZE |access-date=2023-09-14 |archive-date=2023-09-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230902080951/https://amaze.org/video/puberty-wet-dreams/ |url-status=live }} and are most common during adolescence and early young adult years, but they may happen any time after puberty. Men can wake up during a wet dream, or sleep through it, but for women, some researchers have added the requirement that they should awaken during the orgasm, and perceive that the orgasm happened before it counts as a wet dream. Vaginal lubrication alone does not mean that the woman has had an orgasm.{{cite web|title=Do women have wet dreams, too?|publisher=Go Ask Alice!|date=1999-05-07 |access-date=2012-09-27 |url=http://goaskalice.columbia.edu/do-women-have-wet-dreams-too|archive-date=2012-01-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120200554/http://goaskalice.columbia.edu/do-women-have-wet-dreams-too|url-status=dead}}

Composition

Due to the difficulty in collecting ejaculate produced during nocturnal emissions, relatively few studies have examined its composition.{{Cite journal

| pmid = 23987518

| year = 2013

| last1 = Meng

| first1 = X

| title = Fresh semen quality in ejaculates produced by nocturnal emission in men with idiopathic anejaculation

| journal = Fertility and Sterility

| volume = 100

| issue = 5

| pages = 1248–52

| last2 = Fan

| first2 = L

| last3 = Liu

| first3 = J

| last4 = Wang

| first4 = T

| last5 = Yang

| first5 = J

| last6 = Wang

| first6 = J

| last7 = Wang

| first7 = S

| last8 = Ye

| first8 = Z

| doi = 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2013.07.1979

| doi-access = free

}}{{Cite journal

| pmid = 10439013

| year = 1999

| last1 = Hovav

| first1 = Y

| title = Nocturnal sperm emission in men with psychogenic anejaculation

| journal = Fertility and Sterility

| volume = 72

| issue = 2

| pages = 364–5

| last2 = Dan-Goor

| first2 = M

| last3 = Yaffe

| first3 = H

| last4 = Almagor

| first4 = M

| doi=10.1016/s0015-0282(99)00239-3

| doi-access = free

}}

In the largest study, which included nocturnal emission samples from 10 men with idiopathic anejaculation, the semen concentration was equivalent to samples obtained from the same men by penile vibratory stimulation, although the proportions of sperm which were motile, and which were of normal morphology, were higher in the nocturnal emission specimens.

Frequency

In a detailed study, men and women reported that roughly 8% of their everyday dreams contain some form of sexual-related activity. 4% of sex dreams among both men and women resulted in orgasms.{{cite web |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070614085118.htm |title=Sexual Activity Reported In Dreams Of Men And Women |author=American Academy of Sleep Medicine |author-link=American Academy of Sleep Medicine |date=2007-06-15 |work=ScienceDaily |access-date=2018-02-28 |archive-date=2007-06-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070616200030/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070614085118.htm |url-status=live }}

=In males=

The frequency of nocturnal emissions is highly variable. Some reported that it is due to being sexually inactive for 5–26 weeks, with no engagement in either intercourse or masturbation. Some males have experienced large numbers of nocturnal emissions as teenagers, while others have never experienced any. In the U.S., 83% of men experience nocturnal emissions at some time.{{cite book|last1=Kinsey|first1=Alfred C.|title=Sexual Behavior in the Human Male|date=1948|page=190|publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=0253334128 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pfMKrY3VvigC&pg=PA519|access-date=2014-10-20 }}

For males who have experienced nocturnal emissions, the mean frequency ranges from 0.36 times per week (about once every three weeks) for single 15-year-old males to 0.18 times per week (about once every six weeks) for 40-year-old single males. For married males, the mean ranges from 0.23 times per week (about once per month) for 19-year-old married males to 0.15 times per week (about once every two months) for 50-year-old married males.{{cite book|last1=Kinsey|first1=Alfred C.|title=Sexual Behavior in the Human Male|date=1948|page=190|publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=0253334128 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pfMKrY3VvigC&pg=PA275|access-date=2014-10-20 }}

In Indonesia surveys have shown that 93% of men experience nocturnal emissions by the age of 24.{{cite web |url=http://www.measuredhs.com/pubs/pdf/FR157/04Chapter04.pdf |title=Knowledge about Human Reproduction and Experience of Puberty |work=Indonesia Young Adult Reproductive Health Survey 2002–2003 |publisher=Badan Pusat Statistik (BPS-Statistics Indonesia), Jakarta, Indonesia; National Family Planning Coordinating Board, Jakarta, Indonesia; Ministry of Health, Jakarta, Indonesia, ORC Macro, Calverton, Maryland, U.S. |page=27 |access-date=2011-04-07 |archive-date=2012-12-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121209171035/http://measuredhs.com/pubs/pdf/FR157/04Chapter04.pdf |url-status=live }}

Some males have the emissions only at a specific age, while others have them throughout their lives following puberty. The frequency with which one has nocturnal emissions has not been conclusively linked to the frequency of masturbation. Alfred Kinsey found: {{quote|"...some correlation between the frequencies of masturbation and the frequencies of nocturnal emissions. In general, the males who have the highest frequencies of nocturnal emissions may have somewhat lower rates of masturbation."{{fact|date=September 2023}} }}

One factor that can affect the number of nocturnal emissions males have is whether they take testosterone-based drugs. In a 1998 study by Finkelstein et al, the number of boys reporting nocturnal emissions drastically increased as their testosterone doses were increased, from 17% of subjects with no treatment to 90% of subjects at a high dose.{{cite journal |last1=Finkelstein |first1=Jordan W. |author2=Elizabeth J. Susman |author3=Vernon M. Chinchilli |author4=M. Rose D’Arcangelo |author5=Susan J. Kunselman |author6=Jacqueline Schwab |author7=Laurence M. Demers |author8=Lynn S. Liben |author9=Howard E. Kulin |year=1998 |title=Effects of Estrogen or Testosterone on Self-Reported Sexual Responses and Behaviors in Hypogonadal Adolescents |journal=The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism |volume=83 |issue=7 |publisher=The Endocrine Society |pages=2281–2285 |doi=10.1210/jcem.83.7.4961 |pmid=9661595 |display-authors=6 |doi-access=free }}

Thirteen percent of males experience their first ejaculation as a result of a nocturnal emission.{{cite book|last1=Kinsey|first1=Alfred C.|title=Sexual Behavior in the Human Male|date=1948|page=190|publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=0253334128 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pfMKrY3VvigC&pg=PA190|access-date=2014-10-20}} Kinsey found that males experiencing their first ejaculation through a nocturnal emission were older than those experiencing their first ejaculation by means of masturbation. The study indicates that such a first ejaculation resulting from a nocturnal emission was delayed a year or more from what would have been developmentally possible for such males through physical stimulation.{{cite book|last1=Kinsey|first1=Alfred C.|title=Sexual Behavior in the Human Male|date=1948|page=299|publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=0253334128 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pfMKrY3VvigC&pg=PA190|access-date=2014-10-20}}

=In females=

In 1953, sex researcher Alfred Kinsey found that nearly 40% of the women he interviewed had had one or more nocturnal orgasms or wet dreams. Those who reported experiencing these said that they usually had them several times a year and that they first occurred as early as thirteen, and usually by the age of 21. Kinsey defined female nocturnal orgasm as sexual arousal during sleep that awakens one to perceive the experience of orgasm.

Research published by Barbara L. Wells in the 1986 Journal of Sex Research indicates that as many as 85% of women have experienced nocturnal orgasm by the age of 21. This research was based on women waking up with or during orgasm.{{fact|date=September 2023}}

Studies have found that males typically have more frequent spontaneous nocturnal sexual experiences than females. However, female wet dreams may also be more difficult to identify with certainty than male wet dreams because ejaculation is usually associated with male orgasm while vaginal lubrication may not indicate orgasm.{{cite web |title=Nocturnal Orgasm...or...Female wet dream? |url=http://kimee.newsvine.com/_news/2009/09/27/3322558-nocturnal-orgasmorfemale-wet-dream |publisher=Newsvine |access-date=2012-07-29 |date=2009-09-01 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100630143344/http://kimee.newsvine.com/_news/2009/09/27/3322558-nocturnal-orgasmorfemale-wet-dream |archivedate=2010-06-30 |author=Absolute Zero }}

Cultural views

Numerous cultural and religious views have been advanced related to nocturnal emissions. Below is a limited summary of some perspectives.

=Jewish and Samaritan=

Some examples of passages under the Mosaic law of the Hebrew Bible teach that under the law of Moses, a man who had a nocturnal emission incurred ritual defilement (as with any other instance of ejaculation):

{{blockquote|"If a man has an emission of semen, he shall bathe his whole body in water and be unclean [Hebrew tameh] until the evening. And every garment and every skin on which the semen comes shall be washed with water and be unclean until the evening."|sign=Leviticus{{bibleverse-nb||Leviticus|15:16–17|ESV}}}}

{{blockquote|"When you are encamped against your enemies, then you shall keep yourself from every evil thing. If any man among you becomes unclean [Hebrew lo yihyeh tahor, literally 'will not be clean'] because of a nocturnal emission [literally: 'by reason of what happens to him by night'], then he shall go outside the camp. He shall not come inside the camp, but when evening comes, he shall bathe himself in water, and as the sun sets, he may come inside the camp."|sign=Deuteronomy{{bibleverse-nb||Deuteronomy|23:9-11|ESV}}23:9–11}}

The first of these is part of a passage{{bibleverse||Leviticus|15|ESV}} stating similar regulations about sexual intercourse and menstruation. Leviticus 12 makes similar regulations about childbirth.{{fact|date=September 2023}}

A third passage relates more specifically to priests, requiring any "of the offspring of Aaron who has ... a discharge", among other causes of ritual defilement, to abstain from eating holy offerings until after a ritual immersion in a mikveh and until the subsequent nocturnal emission.{{bibleverse||Leviticus|22:4|ESV}}

In Judaism, the Tikkun HaKlali, also known as "The General Remedy", is a set of ten Psalms designed in 1805 by Rebbe Nachman, whose recital is intended to serve as repentance for nocturnal emissions.{{fact|date=September 2023}}

=Patristic Christian=

Saint Augustine held that male nocturnal emissions, unlike masturbation, did not pollute the conscience of a man, because they were not voluntary carnal acts, and were therefore not to be considered a sin.This view is confirmed by the Protestant theologian Philip Schaff. [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf103.v.ii.xxiv.html S.23] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011071549/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf103.v.ii.xxiv.html |date=2017-10-11 }}

A similar view was expressed by Aquinas, who wrote in the Summa Theologica II-II-154-5: {{quote|"For there is no one who while sleeping does not regard some of the images formed by his imagination as though they were real, as stated above... ...Wherefore what a man does while he sleeps and is deprived of reason's judgment, is not imputed to him as a sin, as neither are the actions of a maniac or an imbecile."}}

=Indian traditions=

The Hindu text suggests those who had nocturnal emissions to bathe and chant mantras praying to return their virility.

For Buddhist monks, masturbation is against the vinaya, but a nocturnal emission is not. During the third Buddhist council, it was suggested that having wet dreams as an Arhat does not count as an offence.{{cite web|url=https://www.buddhisma2z.com/content.php?id=491|title=NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS|website=Guide To Buddhism A To Z|access-date=2023-03-08|archive-date=2023-03-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230308062157/https://www.buddhisma2z.com/content.php?id=491|url-status=live}}

=East Asia=

Traditional East Asian medicine considered it problematic because it was considered to be an act of evil spirits that tried to rob the life of a person. The literature suggests a "cure" for nocturnal emissions, which prescribes fried leek seeds three times a day.{{cite web|url=https://www.joongang.co.kr/article/2402850#home|title=[갓 쓴 양반들의 性 담론 ③] 자위행위|website=Joongang Ilbo|date=2005-07-27|access-date=2023-03-08|archive-date=2023-03-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230308063015/https://www.joongang.co.kr/article/2402850#home|url-status=live}}

References

Bibliography

{{cite book |title=Sexual Behavior in the Human Male |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.187552 |last=Kinsey |first=Alfred C. |author2=Wardell B. Pomeroy |author3=Clyde E. Martin |author-link=Alfred Kinsey |year=1948 |publisher=W. B. Saunders Co |location=Philadelphia}}