Hypersomnia
Hypersomnia disorder is classified by inappropriate sleepiness leading to sleep during a time whena person wishes to be awake. There is always an irritable urge to sleep during the day, decreased concentration, excessive yawning and an increase in total sleep time over a 24-hour period.
Hypersomnia is one of the symptoms of major depression. In fact, people who are suffering from clinical depression may suffer from either insomnia (inability to fall asleep) or hypersomnia (excessive sleep) nearly every day. Bi-polar patients may also experience hypersomnia during depressive periods.
Hypersomnia typically affects adolescents and young adults. The causes are the same as that of insomnia. However almost 80% is due to "sleep attacks" which appear during the day as normal sleep but are brief and often precipitated by boredom, after sex, post athletics or while travelling in a vehicle.
Hypersomnia may be caused by drug or alcohol abuse, other sleep disorders such as narcolepsy or sleep apnea, or dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. In some cases it results from a physical problem, such as a tumor, head trauma, or injury to the central nervous system.
Symptoms of Hypersomnia
- multiple sclerosis
- depression
- obesity
- chronic fatigue syndrome
- an injury to the central nervous system resulting from head trauma
- a side effect of taking a medication or stopping a medication
- genetics: there may be a genetic predisposition to hypersomnia
Diagnostic Features of Hypersomnia
- Excessive sleepiness for at least a month, including prolonged sleep episodes or daytime sleep episodes almost daily
- Excessive sleepiness severe enough to cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of life
- Excessive sleepiness does not occur exclusively during the course of another sleep disorder or mental disorder
- Excessive sleepiness is not due to the physiological effects of a substance or a general medical condition
Causes of Hypersomnia
- Self-imposed short sleep time
- Medications (tranquilizers, sleeping pills, antihistamines)
- Sleep disorders (such as sleep apnea syndrome and narcolepsy)
- Other medical conditions (such as hypothyroidism, hypercalcemia, and hypo/hypernatremia)
|
