Dyssomnia is a term for sleep disorders that affect the quantity, quality, or timing of sleep. Parasomnia refers to unusual behaviors or experiences during sleep that can cause frequent waking or trouble returning to sleep.

Woman with a sleep disorder having difficulty falling asleepShare on Pinterest
THAIS RAMOS VARELA/Stocksy United

Persistent patterns of sleep disruption that affect your ability to function or cause significant distress can indicate the presence of a sleep disorder.

While “dyssomnia” covers a broad range of conditions that affect sleep, you might not hear about it often anymore. Dyssomnias and parasomnias are now categorized under sleep-wake disorders.

Dyssomnia is an umbrella term for sleep disorders that affect how well, how much, and when people sleep. It’s now an outdated clinical term.

Symptoms associated with dyssomnias vary by individual diagnosis but may include:

  • difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or returning to sleep after waking early
  • excessive daytime sleepiness despite getting enough sleep
  • prolonged nighttime sleeping
  • unrestorative napping
  • sudden or uncontrollable sleep episodes
  • breathing difficulties that disrupt sleep
  • irregular sleep patterns or difficulty keeping a regular sleep schedule

The term “dyssomnia” was a stand-alone diagnostic category in early versions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) but was later listed under “sleep-wake disorders” when the fifth edition of the DSM (DSM-5) came out in 2013. This is still the case for the latest text revision of the manual (DSM-5-TR).

As a stand-alone diagnostic term in the DSM, dyssomnia included conditions like:

These conditions remain in the DSM-5-TR edition but were relocated and restructured to provide a more comprehensive and inclusive diagnostic framework.

Breathing-related sleep disorder, for example, was further broken into:

Parasomnias are unusual behaviors or experiences while you sleep. Though they typically occur during sleep transitions, they can affect any part of your sleep cycle and tend to cause periodic waking and difficulty resuming sleep.

Parasomnias can be both a symptom of a sleep disorder and a stand-alone diagnosis. For example, sleep paralysis is a parasomnia that can be a symptom of other conditions, like nightmare disorder and narcolepsy, or can occur on its own as “isolated sleep paralysis.”

General parasomnia symptoms may involve:

Examples of formal diagnoses under the parasomnia category include:

What is the difference between parasomnia and insomnia?

Parasomnias are unusual experiences or behaviors occurring during your sleep stages that may interrupt slumber. Insomnia is the inability to fall, stay, or return to sleep after waking early.

How are parasomnias treated?

Parasomnias require individualized treatment based on the sleep disturbances you experience and how significantly they affect your daily life. Medications, behavioral strategies, and psychotherapy are all commonly used to treat parasomnias.

How are dyssomnias treated?

Dyssomnias are treated with medications, psychotherapy, and behavioral strategies. Each type of dyssomnia may require a customized approach to address specific symptoms.

Are sleep disorders curable?

It may be possible for some types of sleep disorders, like obstructive sleep apnea, to be cured with early treatment. Many have no cure but can be managed successfully with medications, behavioral therapy, medical procedures, and psychotherapy.

Dyssomnia involves sleep conditions that affect sleep quality, quantity, and timing. Parasomnia is a clinical term for unusual behaviors, perceptions, and experiences during sleep, typically during sleep transitions.

Both dyssomnia and parasomnia conditions now fall under the diagnostic category of “sleep-wake disorders” in the latest text revision of the DSM-5.