Sleep-related (psychogenic) dissociative disorders as parasomnias associated with a psychiatric disorder: update on reported cases

Sleepwalking, sleep terrors, sexsomnia and other disorders of arousal: the old and the new

“…In this case, patients have an anterograde and retrograde amnesia, and are often clumsy and ataxic, which is not the case in normal sleepwalkers (Pressman, 2011). Psychogenic parasomnias include complex, odd behaviours (impressive, looking like devils possession in movies [Dalloz et al, 2021]), often lasting >1 h, occurring while awake close to bedtime, with self‐inflicted injuries, typically in patients with daytime dissociative disorders and other major psychopathology (Lopez et al, 2021; Schenck et al, 2021). Trauma‐associated sleep disorder is a recently suggested new parasomnia, which includes the inciting traumatic experience as well as clinical features of trauma‐related nightmares and disruptive nocturnal behaviours, occurring upon arousals from all sleep stages (Mysliwiec et al, 2018).…”

“…In this case, patients have an anterograde and retrograde amnesia, and are often clumsy and ataxic, which is not the case in normal sleepwalkers (Pressman, 2011). Psychogenic parasomnias include complex, odd behaviours (impressive, looking like devils possession in movies [Dalloz et al, 2021]), often lasting >1 h, occurring while awake close to bedtime, with self-inflicted injuries, typically in patients with daytime dissociative disorders and other major psychopathology (Lopez et al, 2021;Schenck et al, 2021).…”

From burlesque to horror: a century of sleepwalking on the silver screen

“…They emerge from well-established wakefulness, are observed during daytime, and often (92%) occur in a context of abuse or other trauma [17]. In movies, several sleepwalking scenes may meet these criteria, including hypnotic-induced ambulation and behaviors as well as behaviors triggered by evil possession, displaying amnestic victims wandering at night.…”

“…Indeed, what makes us laugh can also evoke fear, using bizarreness and stiffness as similar emotion triggers. The power of violence in sleepwalkers evolves over the course of the century with a more frequent negative depiction, from a "worrying strangeness" feeling to the character of the "murderer sleepwalker" and the "possessed sleepwalker", which is not genuine sleepwalking but rather a sleep-related dissociative disorder [17]. This character was featured on screen early on by the iconic character of Cesare the sleepwalker in The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920), considered as the first horror movie in history, at a time when séances and paranormal beliefs were influent [20].…”

“…In both instances, the nightwalkers did not act on their own will, but instead had their mind controlled by another entity. This serves an artistic purpose, whereas genuine SRDD may occur in patients with a psychiatric neurotic condition, often attracting the attention of families and physicians by "possession-like" behaviors (large body, shoulder and hip movements with closed eyes when lying in bed, despite being awake) [17]. One may wonder in these cases whether on-screen portrayals of ghost possessions may influence these behaviors.…”