What Are The Different Types Sleep Disorders?

Sleep disorders are neurological conditions that can affect sleep in a variety of ways. The International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD) lists over 84 different types of sleep disorders that affect the body’s normal cycle of daytime wakefulness and night time sleep (About Sleep Disorders, 2008).

Sleep disorders are often categorized into four types: (1) Primary Sleep Disorders, (2) Sleep Disorders Related to Another Mental Disorder, (3) Sleep Disorders Due to a General Medical Condition, and (4) Substance-Induced Sleep Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Examples of Primary Sleep Disorders are:

Primary Insomnia: The common complaint of primary insomnia is difficulty falling or staying asleep that is consistent for at least one month. Symptoms include decreased energy, lower concentration, and fatigue. Although symptoms are similar, primary insomnia should not be confused with insomnia related to a mental health impairment or another health condition. Insomnia, in general, often increases with age and affects women more (National Women’s Health Information Center, n.d.).

Narcolepsy: Narcolepsy’s primary characteristic is the occurrence of sleep attacks, which can occur at any time and during activity or conversation. Individuals with narcolepsy have abnormal sleep patterns and enter Rapid Eye Movement (REM) before going through their regular sleep sequence. Cataplexy (a weakness or paralysis of the muscles), sleep paralysis, and hallucinations are common symptoms of narcolepsy (Neurology Channel, 2005).

Hypersomnia: Hypersomnia’s symptoms include excessive sleepiness for a minimum of one month. Excessive sleepiness is often characterized by extended sleep episodes or by daytime sleep episodes that occur daily. Individuals with hypersomnia often sleep 8 to 12 hours a night and have difficultly waking up (American Psychiatric Association, 1994).

Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS): The primary complaint of individuals with RLS is that sensations in the legs, described as pins and needles, crawling, and tingling, occur during sleep. As a result of these sensations, there is an overwhelming urge to move the legs. People with RLS are often sleepy during the day due to lack of sleep. Between 5-10% of Americans have RLS; iron deficiencies and genetics may play a factor in the occurrence (Haran, 2005).

Sleep Apnea: Over 12 million Americans have sleep apnea; it is more common in men over 40 years of age (National Institute of Health, 2003). There are two different types of sleep apnea: (1) central sleep apnea and (2) obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Nine out of ten people with sleep apnea have OSA. The main characteristic of sleep apnea is that an individual stops breathing for 10-30 seconds at a time while sleeping. As a result, the individual never completes a full sleep cycle and has significant daytime sleepiness. The most common treatment for sleep apnea is the nighttime use of a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine, which is a mask that is worn at night to force air into an individual’s airway. The CPAP keeps a person’s airway open while sleeping so the person can reach a deep sleep (American Psychiatric Association, 1994).

Shift Work Type: Ten percent of all shift workers have been diagnosed with shift-work type sleep disorder. Shift work type is a result of disruptions of sleep and wakefulness patterns due to irregular schedules. Rotating shift work is the most disruptive because sleep is never habitual. Serious health conditions can arise out of this, including peptic ulcer disease and heart disease (Basner, 2005).

Resources: Accommodation and Compliance Series: Employees with Sleep Disorders

Exactly What are Sleep Disorders?

Sleep/Snooze can be broken down straight into two varieties: REM or non-REM (NREM) Sleep. NREM rest possesses several stages connected with significantly serious rest. Point 1 rest may be the lightest, whilst point several may be the biggest.


Through typical rest, a person circuit by way of these types along with stages connected with rest. But if your rest is usually continuously cut off therefore you can't circuit generally by way of REM along with NREM rest, chances are you'll feel exhausted, tired, and still have trouble mentally focusing along with focus whilst awake. Sleepiness positions a person with greater risk with regard to vehicle wrecks as well as other mishaps.

If you have trouble dealing with rest or maybe slumbering through the night, if you wake up to soon or maybe have got a hard time stumbling out of bed in any respect, or maybe for anyone who is overly exhausted throughout the day, you may have one of several next sleep issues.

Circadian Rhythm Problems

Commonly, people rest at night -- cheers not simply to the conventions with the 9-to-5 workday, but in addition to the close connection in between the natural rest along with alertness tempos, which might be motivated by means of an enclosed "clock. "

This time clock is usually a little area of the mind known as the particular suprachiasmatic nucleus with the hypothalamus. This rests merely previously mentioned the particular anxious feelings leaving behind a corner individuals face. Gentle along with work out "reset" the particular time clock which enables it to move it onward or maybe backward. Abnormalities in connection with that time clock are known as circadian tempo issues ("circa" means "about, " along with "dies" means "day").

Circadian tempo issues contain plane lag, modifications to be able to adjust work, delayed rest stage predicament (you drift off along with wake up too late), along with advanced rest stage predicament (you drift off along with wake up too early).

Sleep problems

Individuals who have sleeping disorders will not feel like they will acquire plenty of rest at night. They might have got trouble dropping off to sleep or maybe might wake up regularly at night time or maybe first each day. Sleep problems is usually a issue when it influences your normal activities. Sleep problems possesses several probable will cause, as well as tension, stress and anxiety, major depression, bad rest behavior, circadian tempo issues (such as plane lag), along with having a number of prescription drugs.

Snoring

Numerous grownups snore. Your noise is usually made if your oxygen a person take a breath rattles on the relaxed flesh with the can range f. Snoring can be quite a issue simply because of the particular noise it will cause. This can also be any gun of an much more serious rest issue known as anti snoring.

Sleep apnea

Sleep apnea takes place if your higher air passage becomes totally or maybe in part clogged, interrupting normal inhaling with regard to limited amounts of time -- which then wakes a person upward. It might cause significant normal sleepiness. If quit untreated, significant anti snoring might be linked to large blood stress and the risk connected with heart stroke along with heart episode.

Being pregnant along with Snooze

Girls usually expertise sleep deprived evenings along with normal tiredness inside initial along with finally trimesters of the carrying a child. During the initial trimester, frequent visits to the restroom along with early morning health problems might disturb rest. After inside carrying a child, vibrant ambitions along with actual physical distress might prevent serious rest. Right after delivery, the revolutionary infant's care or maybe the particular mother's postpartum major depression might interrupt rest.