14/05/2025
On May 8, 2025, the Department of Sciences at the Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences (FNAS) at Notre Dame University-Louaize (NDU) held an international conference on sleep disorders, organized by Dr. Esther Ghanem and Dr. Colette Kabrita. The meeting hosted locally and internationally recognized scientists and clinicians in the fields of sleep and respiratory medicine, psychiatry, clinical psychology, physiology, neurobiology, genomics, and orthodontics.
The president of the Lebanese Psychological Association (LPA) Dr. Michel Nawfal was a guest speaker at this conference shedding the light on a less common but equally severe disorder: somniphobia, the fear of falling asleep,
Dr. Nawfal then explored its symptoms, causes, impact on one’s daily life, diagnosis and treatment. In a nutshell, a somniphobiac is anxious of losing control while asleep due to previous trauma, nocturnal enuresis, nightmares, existential uncertainties and anxiety among many other factors, translating into panic attacks and resulting in sleep deprivation and weakened immune system.
Somniphobia is diagnosed through medical and clinical interviews, and treated by psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy and self-help strategies.
