Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-29T18:32:38.641Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Night terrors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2015

B. Van Sweden
Affiliation:
Medisch Centrum St.-Jozef, Bilzen
J. Bollen
Affiliation:
Psychiatrisch Ziekenhuis Sancta Maria, Melveren
B. Leroy
Affiliation:
Universitair Centrum St.-Jozef, Kortenberg, K.U. Leuven
F. Mesotten
Affiliation:
Medisch Centrum St.-Jozef, Bilzen

Summary

The parasomnias are important yet badly recognised dysfunctions in clinical psychiatry. The clinical presentation and consequences in adults differ considerably from the often benign dysfunction in childhood. We present a case of incubus in a patient suffering from recurrent unipolar affective psychosis (type mania). The polysomnographic features are discussed and the differentiation from other paroxysmal amnestic conditions is emphasized. Pathophysiology encompasses a Slow Wave Sleep (SWS) arousal disorder probably related to a serotoninergic dysfunction. The relationship withpsychopa-thology is discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Scandinavian College of Neuropsychopharmacology 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literatuur

1Parkes, JD. The parasomnias. Lancet 1986;2:1021-5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2Kales, JD, Kales, A, Soldatos, CR, Caldwell, AB, Charney, DS, Martin, ED. Night terrors. Arch gen Psychiat 1980;37:1413-7CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3Thorpy, MJ. Rhythmic movement disorder. In Handbook of Sleep Disorders. Thorpy, MJ, ed. New York: Marcel Dekker, 1990:609-29.Google Scholar
4Broughton, RJ. Sleep disorders: disorders of arousal? Science 1968;159:1070-8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5Kales, A, Soldatos, CR, Bixler, ED, Ladda, R, Charney, D, Weber, G, Swetzer, P. Hereditary factors in sleepwalking and night terrors. Br J Psychiat 1980;137:111-8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6Pedley, TA, Guilleminault, CH. Episodic nocturnal wanderings responsive to anticonvulsant drug therapy. Ann Neurol 1977;2:30-5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7Maselli, RA, Rosenberg, RS, Spire, JP. Episodic nocturnal wande rings in non-epileptic young patients. Sleep 1988;11:156-61.Google Scholar
8Halasz, P, Ujszaszi, Y, Gadoros, J. Are microarousals preceded by EEG-SW synchronisation precursors of confusional arousals? Sleep 1985;8:231-8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9Blatt, I, Peled, R, Gadoth, M, Lavie, P. The value of sleep recor ding in evaluating somnambulism in young adults. Electroenceph clin Neurophysiol 1991;78:408-12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10Mellman, TA, Uhde, TW. Electroencephalographic sleep in panic disorder. Arch gen Psychiat 1989;46:178-84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11Mahowald, MW, Schenck, CH. Status dissociatus - a new perspective on states of being. Sleep 1991;14:6979.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12Nausieda, PA, Weiner, WJ, Kaplan, LR, Weber, S, Klawans, HL. Sleepdisruption in the course of chronic levodopa therapy: an early feature of the levodopa psychosis. Clin Neuropharmacol 1982;5:183-94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13Charney, DS, Kales, A, Soldatos, CR, Nelson, JC. Somnambulistic-like episodes secondary to combined lithium-neuroleptic treatment. Br J Psychiat 1979;135:418-24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14Glassman, JM, Darko, D, Gillin, JC. Medication-induced somnam-bu lism in a patient with schizo-affective disorder. J clin Psychiat 1986;47:523-4.Google Scholar
15Borbely, AA, Akerstedt, T, Benoit, O, Holsboer, F, Oswald, I. Hypnotics and sleep physiology: a consensus report. Eur Arch Psychiat clinNeurosci 1991;241:1321.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16Murphy, DL, Campbell, IC, Costa, JL. The brain serotonergic system in the affective disorders. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiat 1978;2:131.Google ScholarPubMed
17Sallanon, M, Janin, M, Buda, C, Jouvet, M. Serotoninergic mechanisms and sleep rebound. Brain Res 1983;268:95104.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18Wehr, TA, Sack, DA, Rosenthal, ME. Sleep reduction as a final common pathway in the genesis of mania. Am J Psychiat 1987;144:201-4.Google ScholarPubMed
19Linkowski, P, Kerkhofs, M, Riebaut, C, Mendlewicz, J. Sleep during mania in manic-depressive males. Eur Arch Psychiat neurol Sci 1986;235:339-41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
20Hudson, JI, Lipinski, JF, Frankenburg, FR, Grochocinski, VJ, Kupfer, DJ. Electroencephalographic sleep in mania. Arch gen Psychiat 1988;144:201-4.Google Scholar
21Coccaro, EF. Central serotonin and impulsive agression. Br J Psychiat 1989;155(suppl 8):5262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22Oswald, I, Evans, J. On serious violence during sleepwalking. Br J Psychiat 1985;147:688-91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
23Rauch, PK, Stern, TA. Life-threatening injuries resulting from sleepwalking and night terrors. Psychosomatics 1986;27:62-4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
24Barabas, G, Ferrari, M, Schemp, P. Childhood migraine and somnambulism. Neurology 1983;33:948-9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
25Comings, DE, Comings, BG. A controlled study of Tourette Syndrome IV. Early development, sleep problems, allergies and handedness. Am J hum Genet 1987;41:822-38.Google Scholar
26Emrich, HM, Zerssen, DV, Kissling, W, Moller, HJ, Windorfer, A. Effect of sodium valproate on mania. The Gaba-hypothesis of affective disorders. Arch Psychiat Nervenkr 1980;229:116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
27Nutt, D, Lawson, C. Panic attacks. A neurochemical overview of models and mechanisms. Br J Psychiat 1992;160:165-78.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
28Tamminga, CA, Thaker, GK, Ferraro, TN, Hare, TA. GABA-agonist treatment improves tardive dyskinesia. Lancet 1983;2:262-3.Google ScholarPubMed
29Vincent, SR, Hokfelt, T, Skirboll, LR, Wu, JJ. Hypothalamic g-aminobutyric acid neurons project to the neocortex. Science 1983;220:1309-11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
30Hobson, JA, Mc Carley, RW. The brain as a dream state generator: an activation-synthesis hypothesis of the dream process. Am J Psychiat 1977;134:1135-48.Google ScholarPubMed