Sleep is an integral part of our daily bodily functions. Good and well-rested sleep is important for us to remain healthy. However, sometimes we face problems sleeping like having nightmares or waking up all sweaty and confused. Let’s learn more about what are these parasomnias and how they affect our sleep.

What are Parasomnias?

Parasomnias are a type of sleeping disorder that disturbs the sleep by anomalous movements, emotions, behaviors, and dreams. These can occur anytime in the sleeping cycle; from falling asleep, while sleeping, between different stages of sleep, to waking up from sleep. Doctors consider parasomnias as an altered state of awareness that causes the symptoms. There are mainly 15 types of parasomnias that can affect sleep.

The 15 Types of Parasomnias:

1.     Nightmares

Nightmares are intense dreams that cause fear, horror, anxiety, and could make you wake up suddenly. Once you are up from a nightmare you may have a hard time getting back to sleep. Many things can cause nightmares, especially, illness, anxiety, reaction to a medicine, or loss of someone close.  

2.     Sleep terrors

Similar to nightmares, night terrors or sleep terrors happen in deep sleep and can cause you to wake up abruptly. The sudden arousal from deep sleep can cause two things; either you are in shock and won’t respond to voices, or, you’ll wake up screaming and might try to run away and fight. Sleep terrors usually last for almost 15 minutes and there is a chance you might not remember it in the morning.

3.     Sleepwalking

Sleepwalking is common in young children. In sleepwalking, you move around looking awake but in actual you’re asleep. People don’t remember sleepwalking after waking up. Sleepwalking is not per se dangerous for mental health, but a sleepwalker can trip over things and hurt themselves.

4.     Sleep Talking

Sleep talking is like sleepwalking as the person does not remember anything after waking up. It is not dangerous but can be disruptive for the bed partner. The causes of sleep talking can include fever, stress, exhaustion, and other sleep illnesses.

5.     Sleep Paralysis

In this type of parasomnia, a person is unable to move while falling asleep or waking up. Sleep paralysis can cause fear and terror in the patients as they cannot move their bodies. Hallucinations are also common with sleep paralysis. This happens for a few seconds and can come to an end by someone else’s voice or touch. The possible cause of sleep paralysis might be the REM sleep muscle atonia that prevents movement during dreams so we won’t hurt ourselves.

6.     Sleep Bruxism

Sleep bruxism or teeth grinding/ clenching during sleep can cause severe dental problems. This type of parasomnia usually coexists with other sleep disorders. You should wear a night guard over your teeth if you suffer from bruxism.

7.     Sleep Enuresis

Also called bedwetting, sleep enuresis causes the patient to lose control of their bladder while sleeping. This parasomnia usually occurs in children and usually goes away as they grow up. It can happen in adults too, for example, people with diabetes, urinary tract infections, sleep apnea, and psychological disorders can also have sleep enuresis.

8.     Exploding Head Syndrome

People suffering from this parasomnia may hear a loud banging or exploding noise just as they are about to fall asleep or wake up. This is not a common occurrence and getting a proper night’s sleep may prevent it from happening again.

9.     Rhythmic Movement Disorder (RMD)

This sleep parasomnia happens is babies when are falling asleep or waking up. This disorder is also known as headbanging because of the movement a child makes. The baby may lift their body and then hit the pillow forcefully or do a rocking motion on their hands and knees.

10.  Nocturnal Leg Cramps

The sudden nocturnal leg cramps occur mostly in your calves and the pain can be overbearing. They usually happen because of dehydration, strain, and exhaustion. The cramps can last from seconds to minutes but the pain may stay on for longer.

11.  Confusional Arousals

Sleep drunkenness, sleep inertia, or confusional arousal happens when you are waking up from a deep sleep. This parasomnia state makes you very slow to respond. You may have trouble understanding people talking to you. If you sleep before the episode ends you will not remember it after waking up.

12.  Sleep-Related Impaired/ Painful Erections

In the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) deep sleep phase, men usually have erections due to increased blood flow. In sleep-related impaired erection the person is unable to keep an erection. This parasomnia happens mostly in men with erectile dysfunction.

On the contrary, in some people, the erection can be so painful that it causes them to wake up.

13.  REM Behavior Disorder (RBD)

As we stated above, REM sleep causes muscle atonia so the body would not hurt itself while dreaming. In this parasomnia, the muscle atonia is impartial or completely absent and the person can act out their actions in a dream. This can be a dangerous disorder as the person is unaware of their actions and may hurt themselves or others around them.

14.  Nocturnal Paroxysmal Dystonia (NPD)

Nocturnal paroxysmal dystonia is a very rare sleep disorder that mimics the effects of an epileptic seizure. This is a neurological disorder that causes seizure-like motor attacks in patients.  

15.  Sleep-related Eating Disorder (SRED)

In this parasomnia, people eat while sleeping. This is a sleep-wake disorder. Muscle atonia during REM sleep is also missing in this disorder. People suffering from this disorder also sleepwalk. The memory of the incident after happening is absent in most cases.

Parasomnia Treatments:     

The treatment for parasomnia differs from type to type. For example, you can only comfort someone for random nightmares, but if the nightmares are recurring then you must seek professional help. Most parasomnias on this list are acute and usually go away with time. You may take ginger or turmeric tea before bed to help you sleep better. Now, you may ask what is turmeric to do with sleep disorders. Well, a study found that the antioxidative properties of turmeric are actually beneficial for sleep and can prevent the negative effects of sleep deprivation. However, if the parasomnia is chronic, meaning it is recurring, then you must visit your doctor and seek professional help.

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