By Sree Roy

If you think sleep paralysis is always an indication of narcolepsy, Jon Atkinson, BS, RPSGT, CCSH, FAAST, will be happy to share details of other scenarios in which the frightening experience can occur. Atkinson will be discussing RISP—recurrent isolated sleep paralysis—during a short topic session (“Sleep Paralysis: More than Just a Cardinal Symptom of the Narcolepsy Pentad”) at the 2018 AAST Annual Meeting, to be held Sept 28-30 in Indianapolis.

The main objectives of his session include explaining the prevalence of RISP, its treatment options, and to show a graphic of overlapping states of being and how it helps to understand parasomnias. “My main goal is to share what I’ve learned with others to help them with their understanding of sleep phenomena and spur their interest in educating themselves and sharing with others,” he says.

“The biggest point is overlap of states of being and parasomnias,” Atkinson says. “It knocked my socks off when I heard if from Dr Mark Mahowald at a NESS [North East Sleep Society] meeting in Baltimore in the late 90s or early 2000s. It was like a fog had been lifted.”

Sree Roy is editor of Sleep Review.