Parasomnia, Sleep Behavior Disorder

Parasomnia is a collection of sleep disorders in the form of unusual behavior when going to sleep, sleeping, or the period between sleeping and waking. In addition to making it difficult for you to sleep well, parasomnias can also disturb those sleeping near you.

If you have parasomnia, you may talk, walk, or behave aggressively during sleep. When this happens, people around you may think you are awake. You also usually won't remember things you did or said when you wake up.

Parasomnia can be dangerous because you are not aware of your surroundings. This disorder can also reduce the quality of sleep, causing negative effects on health.

Causes of Parasomnia

The normal sleep cycle is divided into wakefulness (wakefulness), non-rapid eye movement (NREM), and rapid eye movement ( BRAKE). The NREM phase is further divided into 3 phases before entering the REM phase. This cycle will repeat every 90 minutes throughout the night.

Parasomnia is thought to occur due to an incomplete transition between NREM and REM. Sleep disorders are also thought to be triggered by the following conditions:

• Sleep deprivation
• Fever
• Stress, anxiety, or depression
• PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder)
• Take sedatives
• Certain medical conditions, such as narcolepsy, multiple sclerosis, or a brain tumor
• Alcohol abuse
• Have a family history of parasomnia

Types of Parasomnia

Parasomnias are grouped according to the sleep phase when this disorder occurs, namely NREM and REM parasomnias. However, there are also types of parasomnias that do not fall into either group. Here are the types of parasomnias:

Parasomnia non-rapid eye movement (NREM)

NREM is the stage when a person begins to fall asleep and then sleeps deeply. Parasomnia non-rapid eye movement (NREM) consists of several types, namely:

• Confusional arousals, occurs when you are in a semi-conscious state but seem confused and difficult to understand when spoken to
• Sleepwalking, ie walking while sleeping with your eyes open but you are not aware of your surroundings
• Night terror (sleep terror), occurs when you scream or cry and are accompanied by a rapid heart beat, gasping for breath, and sweating. This condition can make you suddenly wake up in a state of fear for no apparent reason
• Sleep disorders involving abnormal behavior, occurring when you sleep while masturbating, penetrating, making sounds as if you are having sex, or eating foods that would not be eaten while awake

Parasomnia rapid eye movement (REM)

After the NREM phase is over, you will enter the REM phase. In this phase, your eyes move rapidly behind your eyelids and your brain waves look similar to those of waking. The REM phase is also characterized by an increase in heart rate and blood pressure

Dreams aka sleeping flowers occur in this phase. During the REM phase, your arms and legs become temporarily paralyzed to prevent you from physically reacting to your dreams.

Parasomnias that occur during the NREM phase include the following conditions:

• Recurrent isolated sleep paralysis or paralysis, which is a condition characterized by the inability to move the body even though you are awake
• REM sleep behavior disorder (RSBD), occurs when you talk, laugh, scream, scream, or make aggressive movements such as kicking and punching during sleep. This type of parasomnia is commonly experienced by people with neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease, lewy body dementia, or stroke
• Nightmare disorder, occurs when dreams feel so real that you can describe them in detail. This condition is more likely to occur if you are stressed, sick, tired, have experienced a traumatic event, or are under the influence of alcohol

In addition, several other types of parasomnias are exploding head syndrome (exploding head syndrome), teeth grinding, hallucinations, and bedwetting.

However, bedwetting is only categorized as a parasomnia if it is experienced by children aged more than 5 years and occurs at least 2 times a week for at least 3 months.

How to Overcome Parasomnia

To treat parasomnias, the doctor will perform a physical examination and study your medical history, such as sleep patterns, medications taken, lifestyle, psychiatric conditions, and family history of parasomnias.

Information from the person you sleep with is also necessary because you may not remember what happened during your sleep.

The doctor will also perform other tests, such as a sleep study or polysomnography to record your brain activity, breathing, and heart rate while you sleep.

After the results of the examination come out, the doctor will provide treatment tailored to the cause of the parasomnia, namely:

Medication administration

Doctors can prescribe medication to treat parasomnias. The types of drugs that may be given by the doctor are:

• Topiramate
• Antidepressants
• Aginis dopamine
• Melatonin
• Clonazepam

Therapy

Parasomnia is often associated with mental disorders. Therefore, doctors also usually recommend undergoing cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), such as psychotherapy, relaxation therapy, or hypnosis.

In addition to undergoing treatment recommended by the doctor, you are also advised to apply sleep hygiene, get into the habit of going to bed and waking up at the same time every day, as well as moving or securing dangerous objects from your room. .

Quality sleep is very important for physical and mental health. If you think you have parasomnia, don't hesitate to go to the doctor to get the appropriate treatment, especially if the parasomnia is dangerous to you and those around you.

Label : Health cat_Health