Psychotic symptoms in narcolepsy: phenomenology and a comparison with schizophrenia.
General Hospital Psychiatry January 1, 2009 Hal A Droogleever Fortuyn, G A Lappenschaar, Fokko J Nienhuis et al.
Hypnagogic hallucinations in narcolepsy are multisensory and holistic, unlike the predominantly verbal-auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia. Among 60 narcolepsy patients, 102 schizophrenia patients, and 120 matched controls, psychotic symptoms such as delusions were no more frequent in narcolepsy than in controls, and the prevalence of formal psychotic disorders was not increased. Almost half of narcoleptics reported moderate interference with functioning due to hypnagogic hallucinations, mostly from related anxiety. These phenomenological differences aid in differential diagnosis.