Sleep-related Eating Disorder

Definition:
People with a sleep-related eating disorder have frequent episodes of compulsive eating while sleepwalking during the night. The person has impaired consciousness while preparing food and eating it, with little or no memory of these actions the next morning. A sleep-related eating disorder can cause dangerous use of kitchen appliances or injury from eating something toxic.

Symptoms:
Little or no appetite for breakfast, Eating more food after dinner than during the meal, Eating more than half of daily food intake after dinner hour, A persisting pattern for at least two months.

Statistics:
Sleepwalkers were more anxious than patients with idiopathic nightmares (Spielberger Trait anxiety/STAI-T), but the patient groups did not differ on any personality dimension as estimated by the TCI. Compared to controls, parasomnia patients (sleepwalkers together with patients with idiopathic nightmares) scored higher on the Novelty Seeking (NS) TCI scale and in particular on the exploratory excitability/curiosity (NS1) subscale, and lower on the Self-directedness (SD) TCI scale, suggesting a general increase in reward sensitivity and impulsivity.