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Comorbid Sleep and Psychiatric Disorders pp 137–148Cite as

Zolpidem: The Arrested Woman with No Recollection of Events

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Abstract

Z-drugs, such as zolpidem and zopiclone, have been associated with sleep-related behaviors, parasomnia, abnormal thinking, disinhibition, aggressiveness, mood alterations, and anterograde amnesia. Sleep driving is one of the Z-drug-induced parasomnias reported frequently with zolpidem and often raises diagnostic challenges among clinicians due to its complex presentation and medico legal ramifications. This review focuses on the epidemiology, clinical presentation, psychopharmacology, diagnosis, laboratory tests, and forensic aspects of Z-drug-induced sleep driving. In addition, this review helps practitioners to identify and distinguish Z-drug-induced sleep driving from individuals with history of somnambulism, as this distinction is key for diagnostic clarification in medico legal cases.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA

    Vijayabharathi Ekambaram & Britta Klara Ostermeyer

Authors
  1. Vijayabharathi Ekambaram
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  2. Britta Klara Ostermeyer
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Correspondence to Britta Klara Ostermeyer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Sleep Medicine, VA North Texas Health Care System, Department of Psychiatry and Neurology and Neurotherapeutics UT, Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA

    Imran S. Khawaja

  2. Minneapolis VAHCS, Hennepin County Medical Center, and University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Thomas D. Hurwitz

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Ekambaram, V., Ostermeyer, B.K. (2019). Zolpidem: The Arrested Woman with No Recollection of Events. In: Khawaja, I., Hurwitz, T. (eds) Comorbid Sleep and Psychiatric Disorders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11772-6_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11772-6_13

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-11771-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-11772-6

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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