Hypersomnia

Not to be confused with Narcolepsy.
Hypersomnia
Other namesHypersomnolence
SpecialtyPsychiatry, neurology, sleep medicine

Hypersomnia is a neurological disorder of excessive time spent sleeping or excessive sleepiness. It can have many possible causes (such as seasonal affective disorder) and can cause distress and problems with functioning.[1] In the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), hypersomnolence, of which there are several subtypes, appears under sleep-wake disorders.[2]

Hypersomnia is a pathological state characterized by a lack of alertness during the waking episodes of the day.[3] It is not to be confused with fatigue, which is a normal physiological state.[4] Daytime sleepiness appears most commonly during situations where little interaction is needed.[5]

Since hypersomnia impairs patients' attention levels (wakefulness), quality of life may be impacted as well.[6] This is especially true for people whose jobs request high levels of attention, such as in the healthcare field.[6]

This is not to be confused with clinophilia, a sleep disorder where a person intentionally refuses to get out of bed, regardless of a disease or not.

  1. ^ "Sleep Disorders". American Psychiatric Association. 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  2. ^ "Recent Updates to Proposed Revisions for DSM-5: Sleep-Wake Disorders". DSM-5 Development. American Psychiatric Association.
  3. ^ American Academy of Sleep Medicine. The international classification of sleep disorders: diagnostic & coding manual (2nd ed). Westchester, IL: American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 2005.
  4. ^ Grossman, A., Barenboim, E., Azaria, B., Sherer, Y., & Goldstein, L. (2004). The maintenance of wakefulness test as a predictor of alertness in aircrew members with idiopathic hypersomnia. Aviation, space, and environmental medicine, 75(3), 281–283.
  5. ^ Wise, M. S., Arand, D. L., Auger, R. R., Brooks, S. N., & Watson, N. F. (2007). Treatment of narcolepsy and other hypersomnias of central origin. Sleep, 30(12), 1712–1727.
  6. ^ a b Morgenthaler, T. I., Kapur, V. K., Brown, T. M., Swick, T. J., Alessi, C., Aurora, R. N., … Zak, R. (2007). Practice Parameters for the Treatment of Narcolepsy and other Hypersomnias of Central Origin. Sleep, 30(12), 1705‑1711. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/30.12.1705