Monday, January 31, 2005

Exploding Sex in Slumberland

Finally I've learned what parasomnia is. It's the one sleep disorders I'd been having trouble understanding by context clues or by linguistic breakdown. I'm a person who likes to figure things out for herself by looking and researching rather than just asking (that's how I managed to learn geometry; I am not, however, one of those who refuses to ask for directions when lost; and sometimes I have episodes of ADD and start asking all kinds of questions with little regard when someone begins answering the questions; maybe I can't classify myself after all.)

I'm working on some powerpoint presentations for The Good Doctor (2 currently, to be 4 within the next couple of days) for when he travels to India. The first one is on how to approach a patient who has sleep complaints. The second is on parasomnias. Here is the definition straight from the presentation: Abnormal movements or behaviors intruding into sleep intermittently or episodically without generally disturbing sleep architecture.

Sleepwalking, night terrors, nightmares, and bedwetting among others are included as manifestations of parasomnia. There also are subtypes of parasomnia. One of these includes SEXSOMNIA. There is no direct definition for this in the presentation. However, an
article posted online tells me that sexsomnia is when someone initiates sex while he or she is asleep. For example,

Mr K had admitted engaging in attempted cunnilingus and sexual intercourse with his sleeping wife. He claimed he was aware of these activities only because his wife told him. Apparently, he had no recollection of the events. He admitted to past voyeuristic activities and sexual arousal from having sex with his wife when she was “tied up.” In addition, they had engaged in mutually consenting “swinging.”

Another parasomnia subtype is ye olde Exploding Head Syndrome, which came up in a previous post about insomnia. I have what I call exploding head syndrome, but I thought that was just a joke between me and me when we are fighting with one another about who's really going to conquer the world.

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