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Parasomnia

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Sleep Medicine and Mental Health

Abstract

Parasomnias are a group of sleep disorders characterized by abnormal, unpleasant motor, verbal, and/or behavioral events that occur during sleep or wake to sleep transitions. They are classified as nonrapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep parasomnias depending on the stage of sleep they normally occur. Sleep disturbance, emotional stress, and safety are common concerns. Several psychiatric disorders and medication commonly used to treat psychiatric symptoms can exacerbate parasomnias. On the contrary, parasomnias can cause emotional stress and significant sleep disruption to worsen psychiatric symptoms. This review aims to highlight the pathophysiology and clinical features of various types of parasomnias, appropriate diagnostic and pharmacological approaches, and parasomnias link to mental health disorders.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Drexel University College of Medicine, St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Divya S. Khurana & Karen S. Carvalho

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  1. Divya S. Khurana
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  2. Karen S. Carvalho
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Correspondence to Karen S. Carvalho .

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  1. Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Mount Laurel, NJ, USA

    Karim Sedky

  2. Mount Laurel, NJ, USA

    Racha Nazir

  3. College of Medicine, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    David Bennett

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Khurana, D.S., Carvalho, K.S. (2020). Parasomnia. In: Sedky, K., Nazir, R., Bennett, D. (eds) Sleep Medicine and Mental Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44447-1_12

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