Psychotic symptoms in narcolepsy: phenomenology and a comparison with schizophrenia.
Hal A Droogleever Fortuyn, G A Lappenschaar, Fokko J Nienhuis, Joop W Furer, Paul P Hodiamont, Cees A Rijnders, Gert Jan Lammers, Willy O Renier, Jan K. Buitelaar, Sebastiaan Overeem
General Hospital Psychiatry 2009 DOI: 10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2008.12.002 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional comparative study Qualitative Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 282 |
| Population | Patients with narcolepsy, patients with schizophrenia, and matched population controls |
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Key findings | Hypnagogic hallucinations in narcolepsy are multisensory and holistic, distinct from the verbal-auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia, and psychotic symptoms are not more frequent in narcolepsy than in controls. |
Abstract
Patients with narcolepsy often experience pervasive hypnagogic hallucinations, sometimes even leading to confusion with schizophrenia. We aimed to provide a detailed qualitative description of hypnagogic hallucinations and other "psychotic" symptoms in patients with narcolepsy and contrast these with schizophrenia patients and healthy controls. We also compared the prevalence of formal psychotic disorders between narcolepsy patients and controls. We used SCAN 2.1 interviews to compare psychotic symptoms between 60 patients with narcolepsy, 102 with schizophrenia and 120 matched population controls. In addition, qualitative data was collected to enable a detailed description of hypnagogic hallucinations in narcolepsy. There were clear differences in the pattern of hallucinatory experiences in narcolepsy vs. schizophrenia patients. Narcoleptics reported multisensory "holistic" hallucinations rather than the predominantly verbal-auditory sensory mode of schizophrenia patients. Psychotic symptoms such as delusions were not more frequent in narcolepsy compared to population controls. In addition, the prevalence of formal psychotic disorders was not increased in patients with narcolepsy. Almost half of narcoleptics reported moderate interference with functioning due to hypnagogic hallucinations, mostly due to related anxiety. Hypnagogic hallucinations in narcolepsy can be differentiated on a phenomenological basis from hallucinations in schizophrenia which is useful in differential diagnostic dilemmas.
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on philosophy of mind, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Survey of entity encounter experiences occasioned by inhaled N,N-dimethyltryptamine: Phenomenology, interpretation, and enduring effects. People who had a memorable entity encounter after taking N,N-dimethyltryptamine | 2020 | Survey | n = 2,561 |
| Future directions in meditation research: Recommendations for expanding the field of contemplative science Meditators | 2018 | Cross-sectional online survey | n = 1,120 |
| The Phenomenology of Lucid Dreaming: An Online Survey Respondents to an online survey about lucid dreams | 2014 | Online survey | n = 684 |
| The neurophenomenology of early psychosis: An integrative empirical study. Ultra-high risk for psychosis patients, first episode psychosis patients, and healthy... | 2019 | Cross-sectional | n = 123 |
| Spontaneous Spiritual Awakenings: Phenomenology, Altered States, Individual Differences, and Well-Being People reporting their most powerful Spontaneous Spiritual or Kundalini Awakening | 2021 | Mixed within and between-participants self-report survey design | n = 152 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 14
- The hypnagogic state: A brief update Journal of Sleep Research August 26, 2022
- To be or not to be hallucinating: Implications of hypnagogic/hypnopompic experiences and lucid dreaming for brain disorders. PNAS Nexus December 19, 2023
- Out-of-body experiences in relation to lucid dreaming and sleep paralysis: A theoretical review and conceptual model. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews August 1, 2024
- Hearing voices and other altered perceptual experiences across psychotic, mood, and anxiety disorders: from phenomenology and mechanisms to future directions. Schizophrenia September 29, 2025
- Out-of-body experiences in relation to lucid dreaming and sleep paralysis: a theoretical review and conceptual model PsyArXiv December 4, 2023
and 9 more in the library