A study indicates that REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), which often leads sufferers to kick and yell while asleep, may be linked to various forms of mental illness.
For this study, published on Dec 26, 2019 by the American Academy of Neurology, researchers surveyed 30,097 people in Canada with an average age of 63.
Their responses to a lifestyle questionnaire enabled the researchers to identify 958 people, or 3.2% of the initial group, who were possible RBD sufferers.
Analysis of the medical records of this subgroup showed that people with RBD were 2.5 times more likely to take anti-depressants, twice as likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, and 2.5 times more likely to suffer from mental illness.
