He probably slept more than he should and yet woke up drowsy. In some cases, he may be so drowsy during the day that he barely got up. You may have hypersomnia on these occasions.
Sleep disorders include 10 disorders or groups of disorders, including insomnia, hypersomnia, narcolepsy, breath-related sleep disorders, sleep-wake heart rhythm disorders and restless legs syndrome, among others.
- In this article we will talk about one of them: hypersomnia.
- In a rude way.
- Hypersomnia means sleeping too much or sleeping too much.
- People with hypersomnia do not feel rested and experience excessive sleepiness.
Hypersomnia is a broad diagnostic term. It includes symptoms of excessive sleep (e. g. prolonged night sleep or involuntary daytime sleep), propensity to sleep during the day, and sleep inertia.
People with hypersomnia sleep fast and have a good sleep efficiency of more than 90%, may have difficulty waking up in the morning, sometimes seem confused, combative or attacking. Ataxia refers to the lack of coordination of certain parts of the body. This prolonged change in alertness in sleep-wake transition is sometimes called sleep inertia. This can also occur after a nap is aroused during the day.
During this time, the person appears to be awake, but their motor skills decrease and behavior can be very inappropriate. Memory deficits, temporal-spatial disorientation and dizziness are also common.
This period can last a few minutes or even a few hours. Persistent need for sleep can lead to automatic behaviors that the person has little or no subsequent memory. For example, there are people who find that they have traveled several kilometers unconsciously after they begin. automatic driving in the previous minutes.
For some people with hypersomnia, nighttime sleep lasts 9 hours or more; However, sleep is usually not restful and it is difficult to wake up after these hours of sleep.
In such cases, excessive sleepiness is characterized by several involuntary naps during the day. These daytime naps tend to be relatively long (an hour or more) and do not increase the sense of alertness (the person continues to feel tired).
Daytime naps occur almost every day, despite the prolonged duration of nighttime sleep; On the other hand, sleep quality may or may not be good, these people experience drowsiness over a long period of time. It’s different from a ‘sleep crisis’.
Involuntary sleep episodes occur in situations of low stimulation and low activity, for example, they occur in conferences, reading, television or driving long distances, in the most severe cases can occur in situations that require a lot of attention. such situations are work, meetings or social gatherings.
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the criteria for diagnosing hypersomnia disorder are:
A: Individual reports excessive sleepiness (hypersomnia) even though they have slept for a significant period of time lasting at least seven hours, with one or more of the following symptoms:
B. La hypersomnia occurs at least three times a week for at least three months.
D. La hypersomnia is not best explained by another sleep disorder and does not occur exclusively during another sleep disorder (e. g. narcolepsy or parasomnia).
E. La hypersomnia cannot be attributed to the physiological effects of a substance (e. g. a drug or medication).
F. La of mental disorders does not sufficiently explain the presence of hypersomnia.
In addition, the DSM-5 specifies three types of hypersomnia severity
Although automatic behavior, difficulty waking up in the morning, and sleep inertia are common in cases of hypersomnia, these facts can also be identified in other disorders, such as narcolepsy.
Approximately 80% of people with hypersomnia report that their sleep is not restful and they have difficulty waking up in the morning.
Sleep inertia, although less common, is very specific to hypersomnia. Short naps (less than thirty minutes) usually do not allow you to rest.
People with hypersomnia often look drowsy and can even sleep in the doctor’s waiting room.
A small proportion of people with hypersomnia have a family history of hypersomnia and, in all cases, show symptoms of autonomous nervous system dysfunction, such as vascular headaches, peripheral vascular system reactivity (Raynaud’s syndrome), and fainting.
Hypersomnia is diagnosed in approximately 5-10% of people who visit sleep disorder clinics due to daytime sleep problems. Approximately 1% of the population in Europe and the United States has episodes of sleep inertia.
Hypersomnia affects men and women with a similar frequency
Treatment of this disorder can be done on two fronts: on the one hand, drug treatment. The sleep specialist may prescribe specific medications to help the patient stay awake longer.
This is preferable to taking many psychoactive substances, such as coffee. Excessive use of psychostimulants can have serious health consequences, especially cardiac.
Non-pharmacological treatment of hypersomnia is essentially a change in sleep patterns, for this purpose a stimulus control training is carried out in order for the person to learn to detect the appearance of drowsiness, so it is time to perform a series of exercises that help him to be alert.
Concentration techniques are also used. In this sense, mindfulness might be indicated. Finally, sleep hygiene techniques are very important, which teach the patient to establish certain sleep conditions that help him or her rest better.
These sleep hygiene guidelines refer to both environmental factors (ambient temperature, lighting, etc. ) and dietary factors (not eating certain foods before bedtime) and other types of rest-related factors.
Hypersomnia is a medical or psychological condition that can be treated, if after reading the diagnostic criteria you think you may have hypersomnia, we advise you to see your doctor, keep in mind that the diagnosis can only be made by a qualified professional.
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