(Image source from: Medical News Today)

Do you have a habit of kicking, punching or yelling during sleep? In that case, you possibly would want to know the risk factors of violent sleep disorder.

According to a study, taking anti-depressants or having post-traumatic stress disorder or anxiety are risk factors for a disruptive and sometimes violent sleep disorder called Rapid Eye Movement (REM), the dream state of sleep.

During REM sleep, a person may act out violent to the point of harming themselves or a sleep partner. In normal REM sleep, your brain sends signals to stop your muscles from moving. But, for people with REM sleep behavior disorder, those signals are disrupted.

"While much is still unknown about REM sleep behavior disorder, it can be caused by medications or it may be an early sign of another neurologic condition like Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies or multiple system atrophy," said study author Ronald Postuma at the McGill University in Canada.

The study was performed on 30,097 people with an average age of 63 among whom 958 people, otherwise 3.2 percent identified with possible REM sleep behavior disorder, apart from participants with Parkinson's disease, dementia, Alzheimer's disease or sleep apnea.

The findings published in journal Neurology showed that 13 percent of those with the disorder taking anti-depressants to treat depression compared to 6 percent without the disorder.

People with the disorder were as well two-and-a-half times as possible to have post-traumatic stress disorder and twice as possible to have a mental illness, findings showed.

Further findings were that men were two times as likely as women to have possible REM sleep behavior disorder and individuals with possible REM sleep behavior disorder were 25 percent more likely to be moderate to heavy drinkers than those without the disorder.

"Our hope is that our findings will help guide future research, especially because REM sleep behavior disorder is such a strong sign of future neuro-degenerative disease," said Postuma.

Identifying lifestyle and personal risk factors accompanying to this sleep disorder may lead to finding ways to lessen the chances of developing it, the team noted.

By Sowmya Sangam