Rip Van Winkle Syndrome

Rip Van Winkle Syndrome

A term that has been commandeered by at least three specialties referring to various aspects of Washington Irving’s short story about a lazy Dutch farmer who fell asleep for 20 years in colonial and post-colonial America
Neurology Confusion and irresistible somnolence after a stroke Psychiatry Dementia syndrome of depression, depressive pseudodementia, melancholic dementia, reversible dementia and affective disorder A condition affecting older individuals in whom depression is of such severity that it clouds mental activity and simulates dementia
DiffDx Alzheimer’s disease, other dementias
Management Antidepressants, electroconvulsive therapy
Sleep disorders Pathological hypersomnia which primarily affects teenage boys, far more commonly known as Kleine-Levin syndrome