Disorders
Jonathan P Rogers, Cheryl CY Leung, Timothy RJ Nicholson in Pocket Prescriber Psychiatry, 2019
Parasomnias cover a wide range of sleep disturbances and can occur in REM (nightmare disorder, REM sleep behaviour disorder) or non-REM (sleep terrors, sleepwalking) sleep. Night terrors (pavor nocturnus) are distinguished from nightmares by autonomic arousal and a lack of recollection. Somnambulism (sleepwalking) can involve familiar activities such as washing or making tea; it can be precipitated by drugs such as alcohol, hypnotics and lithium. REM behaviour disorder (RBD) is characterised by vivid dreams and failure of the normal skeletal muscle paralysis during REM sleep, resulting in acting out of dreams; it is associated with Lewy body disorders. Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is characterised by an irresistible urge to move one's legs, usually while trying to sleep; it is associated with renal impairment, iron deficiency anaemia, pregnancy and many psychotropic drugs (e.g. SSRIs, SNRIs, TCAs, mirtazapine and antipsychotics).
Sleep disorders and pregnancy
Hung N. Winn, Frank A. Chervenak, Roberto Romero in Clinical Maternal-Fetal Medicine Online, 2021
Parasomnias are undesirable physical events or experiences that occur during entry into sleep, within sleep, or during arousals from sleep. These events are manifestations of central nervous system activation transmitted into skeletal muscle and autonomic nervous system channels, often with experiential concomitants. Parasomnias, such as sleepwalking, and night terrors occurring during pregnancy and exacerbated by the condition have been reported. Hedman and colleagues, however, found that the frequency of most parasomnias decreases during pregnancy. They found a significant decrease in sleepwalking, sleep talking, bruxism, and hypnagogic hallucinations from the prepregnant state. Prevalence of sleep paralysis was noted to decrease during the first trimester, but it increased during later pregnancy from 5.7% to 13.3% in the second trimester.
Digital Therapeutics for Sleep and Mental Health
Oleksandr Sverdlov, Joris van Dam in Digital Therapeutics, 2023
In addition to their poor effectiveness in the long term, the most commonly used pharmacological approaches for treating insomnia are also high risk. Their use has been associated with an increased risk of cancer (Kripke et al., 2012) and doubles the risk of death over 7.5 years (Weich et al., 2014). Moreover, the US. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently introduced a black box warning, the most prominent warning that can appear on prescription-drug packaging for commonly prescribed sleep medications.6 This is due to rare but serious complex parasomnias—behaviors in which patients engage while not fully awake—reported by patients who use them. Parasomnias may include sleepwalking, sleep-driving, and other potentially harmful-when-asleep activities such as swimming. Parasomnias may occur both the first time a patient takes a medication or after long-term use, and they have been reported following even low doses of medications.
Evaluation of the effects of shift work on parasomnia prevalence
Published in Chronobiology International, 2021
Duygu Kurt Gök, İlker Ünal, Kezban Aslan-Kara
Parasomnia refers to a group of undesirable motor phenomena that can during the onset of sleep, during sleep, or during arousal from sleep (Sateia 2014) . The lifetime prevalence among adults varies between 4% and 67% (Bjorvatn et al. 2010; Singh et al. 2018). Although the overall prevalence of parasomnia before adolescence is reported to be 14.4%, it is known to be more common in childhood (Agargun et al. 2004). Studies on the frequency of parasomnia have focused mostly on lifetime prevalence or the results of parasomnia in childhood, whereas the prevalence and outcomes of parasomnia in adults have not been adequately addressed (Bjorvatn et al. 2010; Singh et al. 2018). Especially considering that NREM parasomnias are disorders of arousal, it can be expected that shift work will have an unfavorable impact on parasomnias.
Sexual Behaviors and Sexual Health of Sexsomnia Individuals Aged 18–58
Published in International Journal of Sexual Health, 2021
Sinem Cankardas, Carlos H. Schenck
Sexsomnia (sleep sex; sexual behavior during sleep [SBS]) is classified as a parasomnia in the International Classification of Sleep Disorders, 3rd edition (ICSD-3). Parasomnias comprise the group of sleep-related behavioral and experiential disorders (American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 2014). Instinctual behaviors can be inappropriately released by the parasomnias, including locomotion, aggression, eating and sex that manifest as sleepwalking, REM sleep behavior disorder (with dream-enactment), sleep-related eating disorder, and sexsomnia (American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 2014). Sexsomnia is designated as “Sleep-Related Abnormal Sexual Behaviors” in the ICSD-3, where it is classified as a clinical subtype of Disorders of Arousal from Non-Rapid-Eye-Movement (NREM) sleep (consisting of Confusional Arousals, Sleepwalking, and Sleep [Night] Terrors). The full range of sexuality is expressed with sexsomnia, including masturbation, sexual fondling, spontaneous orgasms, sexual intercourse/attempted intercourse, and sexual vocalizations/verbalizations (“sleepsextalking”).
A primer on sleeping, dreaming, and psychoactive agents
Published in Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions, 2023
Dyssomnias are disorders wherein a person experiences changes to sleep duration and sleeps too much or too little. Of the numerous sleep disorders, which fall under the dyssomnia category, insomnia, the difficulty of initiating or staying asleep, is the most common and has been classified as a North American public health crisis. Over 95% of the studied population have claimed to have experienced at least one period of insomnia during their lifetime (Sateia, 2014). With the exception of Fatal Familial Insomnia,1A rare genetic condition that causes progressively worsening insomnia there exists no consensus on any other intrinsic or primary insomnia. Secondary insomnia, often referred to as chronic insomnia disorder, does not involve intrinsic sleep-wake neurological systems that regulate transitions into and out of sleep, rather, it is typically linked to medical conditions, psychological issues, or everyday anxiety and work-related stress. Parasomnias are disruptions of behavior and consciousness during sleep, typically occurring between states, including sleep to waking, or REM to nREM sleep. Table 1 provides a summary of the ICDS-3 Major Diagnostic Sections and the affiliated sleep disorders.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Autonomic Nervous System
- Cognition
- Major Depressive Disorder
- Rapid Eye Movement Sleep
- Sleep Deprivation
- Sleep Disorder
- NON-Rapid Eye Movement Sleep
- Slow-Wave Sleep
- Motor System
- Sleepwalking