What are Sleep Disorders?

Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder. It can have a devastating impact on one’s emotion, physical, occupation and social life. While it occasionally can be seen in the clinical setting as a primary diagnosis, it most often presents as a comorbidity to a medical or psychiatric issue;

Sleep is a complex mysterious phenomenon that we don’t know much about including why we dream and different actions associated with lack of sleep like yawning or illness, but there are many theories as to why these things occur along with facts. Why do we dream or have nightmares? What is the point to these things and how do they contribute to our health? Scientists are doing their best to research these things but sleep and things related to it are very mysterious and many things are still left unsolved. There are also many disorders and illnesses connected to the need for sleep and sleep itself, including sleepwalking, sleep apnea, snoring, yawning, dreaming, nightmares, and other various things.

Commonly known as Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder (DSPD) and other names, is a disorder in which the persons internal body clock is not in sync with the morning-rise evening-sleep pattern of the majority of people. Individuals with this disorder are not able to sleep and wake at the times that are regulated by normal work and school hours. They usually get enough sleep to keep them at a functional level through the day but not enough to be considered “well rested”. Polysomnography and actigraphy are tests commonly ordered for some sleep disorders to determine the illness. The cause of Delayed Sleep Phase can include a variety of reasons; puberty being one of the main causes, but some people are born with the disorder. The short term and long term effects of this illness is unfortunate for a person’s overall health. Overall cures to this disorder have not been found yet. Doctors have suggested sleeping pills to help or other alternatives. The disorder affects the timing of sleep, peak period of alertness, the core body temperature rhythm, hormonal and other daily cycles.

Sleep disorders alter ones sleep pattern and often results in the inability to either sleep or sleep soundly. They often cause you to feel restless, tired, fatigued, and irritable. It is estimated that nearly 75 percent of adult Americans experience sleep disorder symptoms at least a few nights per week. At the same time, sleep disturbances in some form are seen in as many as 25 to 30 percent of infants and children (“Sleep Disorders” 2013). Clearly a huge conundrum in the world, sleep disorders affect an inordinate amount of people. Millions of people suffer or have suffered from a sleep disorder at one point in their lives and if mistreated can impact organ systems functioning negatively. Physical disturbances, medical issues,

Universal to every human from birth to death, sleep is a necessary function to survival, productivity, and happiness. While most fall asleep at night with ease, it is estimated that 50-70 million Americans battle sleep or wakefulness disorders. Although sleep disorders do not immediately present with a threat comparable to other common disorders such as depression, bipolar, or schizophrenia, sleep disorders prove very disruptive to one’s quality of life. Insufficient sleep may result in difficulty concentrating, difficulty with memory, trouble with personal care such as hygiene, driving, or managing finances, and poor performance in the workplace. While there is a wide array of sleep related illnesses that may plague any given individual,

Not all sleep disorders are the same. There are two different type of sleep disorders called dyssomnias and parasomnias (Learn the Types, n.d.). Dyssomnias are not psychosocial hindering sleep disorders unlike parasomnias. Not getting enough sleep, a tough time trying to go to sleep, and attaining an increased amount of sleep are all symptoms considered as dyssomnia (Learn the Types, n.d.). More people suffer from this disorder than a much unusual symptom called parasomnia. Dissimilar to dyssomnia, parasomnia is a sleep disorder that interferes with our sleep during sleep. The clinical disorder obstructs our sleep during sleep because of inappropriate physical behaviors (Learn the Types, n.d.). These two types of disorders are not always treatable with medicine, but people can be cured with time.

I have learned many things about sleeping problems called sleep disorders. There are several different sleep disorders that can restrict the individuals’ daily tasks. Not every time there is a sleep problem does it mean that it is a disorder. Three things have to occur to make the sleep problem a disorder and they are: the sleep problems regularly occur, they cause grief, and they restrict individuals’ daily tasks. Most of these conditions can be dangerous to the individual.

Insomnia is another sleep disorder that has an effect on the daily lives of others. There are four different types of insomnia that a person may have: difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, waking up too early, and Sleep State Misperception. Sleep State Misperception occurs when a person gets a full night sleep, but they feel like they have not gotten any sleep at all. Insomnia can also be classified into three different categories: transient insomnia, short-term insomnia, and chronic insomnia. Transient insomnia occurs only a few nights, short-term insomnia occurs up to four weeks, and chronic insomnia happens most every night for a month or longer. It is common for most everyone to suffer from short-term insomnia at some point

Sleep has a major function in the physical and mental health of an individual. It is important to assess elements of sleep disorders when evaluating for any mental health condition. According to Perese (2012), “Psychiatric disorders characterized by sleep disturbances include anxiety disorders, depression, bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s disease” (pp 222-223). Normal sleep length should be at least 7 or 7.5 hours per night and when poor sleep pattern exists, it could affect alertness, memory, cognition, creativity and quality of life (Perese, 2012). Sleep-wake disorders can be described as any problem with sleeping including; difficulty falling or staying asleep, sleeping too much, sleeping at the wrong time and abnormal behaviors during sleep (MedlinePlus, 2015). According to DSM-5 (2013), “Sleep-wake disorders encompasses 10 disorders or disorder groups: insomnia disorder, hypersomnolence disorder, narcolepsy, breathing-related sleep disorders, circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders, non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep arousal disorders, nightmare disorder, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder, restless leg syndrome, and substance/medication-induced sleep disorder” (p. 361).

Parasomnia refers to a wide variety of disruptive, sleep-related events or, "disorders of arousal." These behaviors and experiences occur usually while sleeping, and most are often infrequent and mild. They may however happen often enough to become so bothersome that medical attention should be sought out. "Parasomnias are disorders characterized by abnormal behavior or physiological events occurring in association with sleep stages, or sleep-wake transitions."(DSM pg. 435)

Sleep disorders is one of the pivotal behavior in modern times when shortage of time for oneself is often the case with everyone. The problem is far more chronic when the patient has a condition of ADHD (Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder). The article sums up this condition, its effect on sleep and its remedy through different medications. The article describes that sleep disturbance can be divided into four categories which are; Initiation Insomnia, Restless Sleep, Difficulty Waking and Intrusive Sleep. Then articles discuss different theories from respected psychiatrists like Myron Brenner and Thomas Brown on the causes of this type of sleep disorder. Articles progresses with a explaining different ways to remedy the situation like using bed for sleeping and not thinking bout the problems of life, sticking to a vigorous routine of sleeping as well

Many disorders and diseases can result from abnormal sleeping patterns that are triggered from sleep deprivation. The most common forms of sleep disorders include insomnia, sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, and narcolepsy (NINDS 10). All of these sleep disorders begin from sleep deprivation and can be managed once they are diagnosed correctly. According to Urban, “Nervousness, dizziness, and sleeplessness may occur”, as a result of sleep deprivation (1). This proves that the slightest health changes can occur if sleep deprivation becomes a problem. According to NINDS, “The disorders and the resulting sleep deprivation interfere with work, driving, and social activities” (10). This shows that the effects of being sleep deprived can drastically change one’s everyday

When asked to conduct an exploration paper regarding a specific disorder including treatment, complicated issues, opinions, and reactions, my disorder of choice is Idiopathic Hypersomnia (IH). IH by definition according to MedlinePlus is “a sleep disorder in which a person is excessively sleepy (hypersomnia) during the day and has great difficulty being awakened from sleep. Idiopathic means there is not a clear cause.” The interesting thing about IH is that it is closely related to a similar sleep disorder called narcolepsy, but lacks the research and information of other sleep disorders (hence the term idiopathic). This sleep disorder came to existence around 1966 when William Dement suggested that those with excessive

Night terrors, nightmares, and sleepwalking are all cases that fall into sleep disorders called parasomnias. Parasomnias are disruptive sleep disorders that can occur during arousal from either rapid eye movement or even non-rapid eye movement. Children from the age’s four to twelve of ages experience night terrors.

Sleep deprivation is a common issue among people around the world, and everyone has or will experience it in their life. Not getting enough sleep makes it difficult for the body to function properly. Insomnia is a well-known disorder, mainly known in the United States; one in ten adults suffers from this disorder (Kloc). There are many reasons why people end up with a sleeping disorder, and the most common reason is stress. When people do not have enough sleep they behave differently, and do not make the same choices as if they were fully rested. There are four stages of sleep. The fourth stage, REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep is the most important stage of sleeping. A common side effect of BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder) is sleep