Abstract
Parasomnias are defined as unpleasant or undesirable behavioral or experiential phenomena that occur predominantly or exclusively during the sleep period. These were initially thought to represent a unitary phenomenon, often attributed to psychiatric disease. As more parasomnias are being carefully studied both polygraphically and clinically, it is becoming apparent that parasomnias are not a unitary phenomenon, but rather are due to a large number of completely different conditions, most of which are diagnosable and treatable. Moreover, most, in fact, are not the manifestation of psychiatric disorders and are far more prevalent than previously suspected. The parasomnias may be conveniently categorized as primary parasomnias (disorders of the sleep states per se), and secondary parasomnias (disorders of other organ systems manifest themselves during sleep). The primary sleep parasomnias can be classified according to the sleep state of origin: rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, non-REM (NREM) sleep, or miscellaneous (i.e., those not respecting sleep state).
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine |
Subtitle of host publication | Fifth Edition |
Publisher | Elsevier Inc. |
Pages | 1075-1082 |
Number of pages | 8 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781416066453 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 2010 |