A Curious New Sleep Disorder That

Affects One in Seven

Survey of almost 20,000 people finds 15%
had experienced this sleep disorder in the
last year and half of these at least once a
week.
As many as one in seven people may be affected
by sleep drunkenness disorder soon after theyve
woken up or during the morning, a new study finds.
Sleep drunkenness disorder involves severe
confusion upon wakening way more than just
the usual morning grogginess and/or
inappropriate behaviour: things like answering the
phone instead of turning off the alarm.
Confused awakenings can happen to people when
very short of sleep or jet-lagged, but are regular
occurrences for those with the disorder.
Following a forced awakening, the disorder may
even lead to violent behaviour and then complete
amnesia about the event.
The study, published in the journal Neurology,
surveyed 19,136 people in the US (Ohayon et al.,
2014).
It asked them about their sleep habits and whether
they had suffered any of the symptoms.
The researchers found that 15% of people had
experienced at least one episode of sleep
drunkenness in the last year.
Of those, over half had one episode every week.
Most of those with the disorder also had a sleep
disorder or were taking medications affecting their
mental state, such as antidepressants, which are
known to affect the sleep cycle.
Specifically, amongst those who had an episode:
37% had a mental disorder, such as depression,
panic attacks or anxiety.
31% were taking psychotropic medications, like
antidepressants.
Both people who got too little sleep (less than six
hours), and those who got too much (over nine
hours) were also more likely to experience sleep
drunkenness.
Whether or not the disorder really justifies a
separate category as opposed to being another
symptom of troubled sleep is still up for debate.
Maurice M. Ohayon, who led the study, said:
These episodes of confused awakening have not
gotten much attention, but given that they occur at
a high rate in the general population, more
research should be done on when they occur and
whether they can be treated.
People with sleep disorders or mental health issues
should also be aware that they may be at greater
risk of these episodes.
Treatment for the disorder involves targeting the
underlying sleep problems then it usually abates.