Anxiety is related to kicking, screaming during sleep: Study

New York: Taking anti-depression or having post-traumatic stress disorder or anxiety is a risk factor for disturbing and sometimes cruel sleep disorders called rapid eye movement sleep disorder (REM), said a study.

REM sleep is a dream sleep condition. One can act harshly by shouting, swinging their arms, punching or kicking, to the point of injuring themselves or their sleeping partners. During normal REM sleep, your brain sends a signal to prevent your muscles from moving. However, for people with REM sleep behavior disorders, the signals are disrupted.

"While much is still unknown about REM sleep behavior disorders, it can be caused by drugs or may be an early sign of other neurological conditions such as Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies or multiple system atrophy," said study author Ronald Postuma at the University McGill in Canada.

For the study, the researchers looked at 30,097 people with an average age of 63 years. They identified 958 people, or 3.2 percent, with possible REM sleep behavioral disorders, after excluding participants with Parkinson's disease, dementia, Alzheimer's disease or sleep apnea.

In addition, the findings, published in the journal Neurology show that 13 percent of those who suffer from the disorder take anti-depression to treat depression compared with 6 percent without interference.

People with this disorder are also two and a half times more likely to have post-traumatic stress disorder and are twice as likely to have mental illness, the findings show.

Another finding is that men are twice as likely as women to have REM sleep behavior disorders.

People with a possible REM sleep behavior disorder are 25 percent more likely to be moderate to severe drinkers than those without disruption.

"Our hope is that our findings will help guide future research, especially since behavioral disorders of REM sleep are a strong sign of future neuro-degenerative disease," said Postuma.

Identifying lifestyle and personal risk factors associated with this sleep disorder can lead to finding ways to reduce the possibility of developing it, the team noted.