Patients with parasomnias complain of unusual behaviors during sleep.
The most commonly seen parasomnia is sleep walking. In addition, parasomnias can also include: sleep related eating disorder, nightmares, sexsomnia—sometimes referred to as sleepsex—and confusional arousals. Confusional arousals include symptoms such as moving around in bed, crying during sleep, sleep moaning, or sleep talking.
Each parasomnia can last from one minute to hours. Everyone in the family is affected by these behaviors. Therefore, identifying and treating the parasomnias become vital.
What causes a parasomnia?
Parasomnias often run in families. They can also be triggered by other sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea and can be brought on by various medications.
Prevalence?
Parasomnias affect about 10% of the American population. All age groups are affected, but are more common in children.
One should not attempt to wake up a patient in a parasomnia event by shaking or shouting. Commonly patients can get irritable and aggressive during the response. It is best to redirect the person back to bed gently.
If you or someone you love can identify with the above symptoms, it is important that the affected person be evaluated so that they can be helped in ways in order to get better.
Please contact me if you or someone in your family is dealing with any form of parasomnia.
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