Clinical and psychological aspects of hypersomnia and narcolepsy

Abstract

Hypersomnias (hypersomnolence) are a group of neurological diseases with the main manifestations in the form of pathological daytime sleepiness and/or excessive need for sleep. Most sleep disorders are also accompanied by increased sleepiness during the day, which requires differential diagnosis of various causes of hypersomnia and identification of central hypersomnolence, which are rare diseases. There are difficulties both with the determination of the pathology of drowsiness and the subjective assessment of the duration of sleep. High sleepiness disrupts daytime functioning and reduces performance, the ability to drive a car, and can cause accidents and injuries. Hypersomnia is often comorbid with psychiatric disorders such as bipolar disorder, depression, and seasonal affective disorder. Depressive thoughts, aggressiveness, as well as comorbidity of hypersomnia with hysterical personality disorder are noted. Clinical and psychological aspects of hypersomnia at this stage have not been studied enough. The presented psychological consequences, as a rule, were described from the point of view of doctors’ observation of the behavior of patients, while a targeted study of the psychological characteristics of the personality of patients in most cases was not carried out. In the framework of future research, it seems relevant to study the clinical and psychological characteristics of patients with various forms of hypersomnia and to determine the targets of psychocorrectional work.