Sleep Disorders

Insomnia

· The chronic inability to fall asleep, stay asleep, or feel fully rested

· Prevalence: 6% of men, and 15% of women in the US

· Treatment:

· Many take sleeping pills, but this significantly disrupts sleep patterns

· Noticeable after a week, is drastic after 1 month

· Better ideas:

· Modify sleep schedule so that you getup and go to sleep at roughly the same times each day.

· Relax for half an hour before bed

· For other ideas, see handout on improving sleep quality

Narcolepsy

· Excessive daytime sleepiness and/or sudden, uncontrollable lapses into sleep during the day

· Sometimes suddenly lose muscle tone, collapse on the floor, and enter REM sleep

· At this point, no cure

· Use stimulants to increase alertness

· Use antidepressants (which decrease REM sleep) to decrease collapses

Sleep Apnea

· Sleep disorder where a person repeatedly stops breathing during sleep

· Most often caused by a blockage of the upper airway from sagging tissue

· Air blocked, person can’t breath, and is forced to wake up to get more air

· Can occur 300-500 times per night, often with the person having no recollection of waking up

· Do usually feel tired a great deal of the time

· Treated through surgery to remove sagging tissue or wearing a mask that is pressurized to keep airway open

Sleepwalking

· Does NOT occur during REM sleep (remember sleep paralysis)

· Occurs during stage 3 or 4 sleep

· More typical in children (25% of children sleep walk at least one time)

Night terrors

· More typical in children

· Usually during stage 3 or 4 sleep (nightmares are almost often during REM sleep)

· Sit up in bed and give out blood chilling screams and thrash around

· Ends shortly and then child returns to sleep often with no recollection of what happened