Parasomnia and Dissociative Disorders

Abstract

Objective: Parasomnias are Sleep Disorders characterized by abnormal behavioral and physiological events. Dissociative experiences that occur in dissociative Disorders can emerge at night and may be the cause of parasomnia. The aim of this study is to compare the Sleep characteristics of parasomnia patients with and without dissociative disorder in order to investigate whether dissociative experiences may continue while aSleep and to what extent they change parasomnia. Method: Of patients who were evaluated after admission to the Center of Sleep Disorders (n: 2217) and polysomnography patients (n: 822), the study was conducted with 36 patients diagnosed with parasomnia according to the International Clasification of Sleep Disorder-2 diagnostic criteria. To patients diagnosed with parasomnia were evaluated with psychometric tests such as Dissociative Experiences Scale, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index, Iowa Sleep Experiences Survey, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, and Structured Clinical Interview for Dissociative Disorders. The patient group with parasomnia and dissociative disorder was called group I, and the patient group with parasomnia alone was called group II. Results: Dissociative disorder was detected in 41.6% of patients with parasomnia. The difference in psychometric test scores between Group I and Group II was statistically significant. In polysomnographic examination, all subjects in Group I and Group II were superficial with Sleep delta wave. Conclusion: Dissociative experiences and childhood trauma are more common in people with Parasomnia conditions. Patients with Parasomnia and Dissociative Disorder are more depressed, according to both the clinician’s and their own views on the subject. Delta slow wave bursts are similar in both groups.