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Updated: Jun 28, 2026

Association Between Sleep Quality and Cognitive Symptoms in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder
Published on: April 26, 2024
[Sexsomnia during treatment with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor]
1Militaire Geestelijke Gezondheidszorg, Regiocentrum Midden, Heidelberglaan 100, 3584 CX Utrecht. dgh.krol@mindef.nl
Abstract:
Sexsomnia is a parasomnia characterised by sexual behaviour. A 30-year-old man, with no history of parasomnias or related precipitating factors, developed sexual behaviour during sleep after three weeks of treatment with escitalopram 10 mg daily. The parasomnia disappeared on the sixth day after the escitalopram had been stopped. The temporal relationship between the use of this selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor and the occurrence of the parasomnia suggests a causal relationship, possibly related to increased serotonergic neurotransmission in the raphe nucleus.
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