Nocturnal emission

A nocturnal emission or wet dream is a type of spontaneous orgasm involving either ejaculation during sleep for a male or lubrication of the vagina for a female if she perceives that it resulted in an orgasm. Nocturnal emissions are most common during adolescence and early young adult years, but they may happen any time after puberty. It is possible to wake up during a wet dream or to simply sleep through it.

In men
The frequency of nocturnal emissions is highly variable. Some reported that it is due to being sexually inactive, either intercourse or masturbation. Some men have experienced large numbers of nocturnal emissions as teenagers, while others have never experienced one. In the USA, 83% of men will experience nocturnal emissions at some time in their life. 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 five-and-a-half 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. In some parts of the world nocturnal emissions are more common. For example in Indonesia surveys have shown that 97% of men experience nocturnal emissions by the age of 24.

Some men have the emissions only at a certain age, while others have them throughout their lives following puberty. The frequency that one has nocturnal emissions has not been conclusively linked to frequency of masturbation. Alfred Kinsey found there may be "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." He added, "Some of these males credit the frequent emissions to the fact that they do not masturbate; but it is just as likely that the reverse relationship is true, namely, that they do not masturbate because they have frequent emissions."

One factor that can affect the number of nocturnal emissions men 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.

13% of males experience their first ejaculation as a result of a nocturnal emission. 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.

In women
The frequency of nocturnal emissions is variable, just as with men. In 1953, sex researcher Alfred Kinsey found that nearly 40% of the women he interviewed have had one or more nocturnal orgasms or wet dreams. Those who report experiencing these say that they usually have 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. Studies have found that more boys and men have spontaneous nocturnal sexual experiences than girls and women, but female wet dreams may 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.

Spermatorrhea
In the 18th and 19th centuries, if a patient had ejaculations outside of marital intercourse, or released more semen than is typical, then he was diagnosed with a disease called spermatorrhea or "seminal weakness". A variety of drugs and other treatments, including circumcision and castration, were advised as treatment. Some alternative practitioners, especially herb healers, continue to diagnose and advise treatments for cases of spermatorrhea.

Cultural views
There are numerous cultural and religious views on nocturnal emissions. Below is a limited summary of some perspectives.

Antiquity
In ancient Rome nocturnal emission was perceived as quite natural: ...Again, those males Into the surging channels of whose years Now first has passed the seed (engendered Within their members by the ripened days) Are in their sleep confronted from without By idol-images of some fair form— Tidings of glorious face and lovely bloom, Which stir and goad the regions turgid now With seed abundant; so that, as it were With all the matter acted duly out, They pour the billows of a potent stream And stain their garment.

Patristic Christian view
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.

Liturgy of the Hours
The second part of the prayer Te lucis ante terminum (Before the Ending of the Day) said during the late evening Compline service, part of the Liturgy of the Hours, might refer to nocturnal emissions and their supposed connection to erotic dreams:

Procul recedant somnia et noctium phantasmata hostemque nostrum comprime ne polluantur corpora

Literal translation: "Let dreams and nocturnal phantasies run far away; suppress our enemy, lest our bodies be polluted."

Jewish and Samaritan views
Some examples of passages under the Mosaic law of the Bible teach that under the law of Moses a man who had a nocturnal emission incurred ritual defilement.

A third passage relates more specifically to priests, requiring "a man who has had an emission of semen," among other causes of ritual defilement, to abstain from eating holy until after a ritual immersion in a mikveh (see paragraph below) and a subsequent night-fall (Leviticus 22:4).

The regulations required the defiled person (tamei) bathe in a mikveh. A man who had normal intercourse with his wife was also considered ceremonially unclean, and he too was required to bathe in a mikveh and he became pure after the sun had set (Leviticus 15:18). Leviticus makes similar statements about menstruation (15:19–24) and childbirth (Leviticus 12).

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.

Most rabbis feel that nocturnal emissions are associated with daytime thoughts, and there are comments impinging the wisdom of those who suffer from immodest dreams. A midrash relates that the prophet Elisha did not have nocturnal emissions any time he was a guest in someone's home, and attributes this control as being an attribute of holiness.

Islamic view
Muslim scholars consider ejaculation something that makes one temporarily ritually impure, a condition known as Junub; meaning that a Muslim who has had an orgasm or ejaculated must have a Ghusl (this consists of ablution followed by bathing the entire body so that not a single hair remain dry on the whole body, requiring one to rub the body (Dalk in Arabic) while showering) before they can read the Qur'an or perform the formal prayer known as salat. Informal supplications and prayers known as du'a do not require a bath.

A wet dream is not a sin in Islam. Moreover, whereas a person fasting (in Ramadan or otherwise) would normally be considered to have broken his or her fast by ejaculating on purpose (during either masturbation or intercourse), nocturnal emission is not such a cause. He or she is still required to bathe prior to undergoing some rituals in the religion.

Medieval folklore
In European folklore, nocturnal emissions were believed to be caused by a succubus copulating with the individual at night, an event associated with sleep paralysis and possibly night terrors.