[Hypersomnias. Myth and reality. Global approach].

Given the progress in neurophysiology the authors are attempting to define the concept of hypersomnia. In the first part they review the principal clinical tables in which this symptom finds its place in adults and children. The second part treats a study of psychogenic hypersomnia in light of the psychoanalytical theory concluding with what seems to be the apparent relationship between the body's signs and the significant.