Sleeping is easily one of the most important activities we engage in as humans. If you do not get proper and enough sleep, you will be very likely to be fatigued and also irritable. What is even worse is the fact that these sleeping disorders are linked to some serious medical conditions as well. It can even affect your social and personal life as well.
It does not matter if you are an adult or a child, if you think you are not getting the sleep you need, then you need to seek medical attention asap. However, while you still have the chance to know more about sleep disorders in general, we highly recommend you do so. Being aware of what this condition looks like can lead to early detection and prevention of the condition. Let us take a look at sleep disorders in closer detail.
The Different Kinds Of Sleep Disorders
The Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine has posited that there are over a hundred different types of sleep disorders. Although there are over a hundred different kinds of sleep disorders, they will all broadly fall under one of the following categories.
Insomnias
When we talk about insomnia, we are referring to a lot of different and distinct types of sleep disorders. They are all related to the fact that the individual affected has problems with going to sleep and also with staying asleep. A lot of these types of conditions are known as initiation and maintenance disorders (DIMS).
People who suffer from this condition, not only have problems sleeping but due to their ineffective sleep patterns, their functioning capabilities during the daytime are also impaired.
Shift Work Disorders and Circadian Rhythm
There are several things that affect our circadian rhythm, or our sleeping patterns if we were to talk in lay terms. These things include exposure to light and also to darkness and how much we participate in engaging activities. It is important to note that the circadian cycle is not influenced by any actual clock. The sun is also not a factor if you are not exposed to its rays.
Whenever you have your brain telling you that you ought to be awake, you will typically go into a type of arousal. This particular clock is completely internal and how it functions has a lot to do with the genetic makeup of a person.
Restless Leg Syndrome
When someone has this type of disorder, they will have their limbs twitching during the night and this will mean that they will be in a state of arousal. One of the most effective ways of finding out if you suffer from this condition is to go visit one of the sleep disorder clinics. When you are in one of these clinics, you can get a proper assessment from seasoned professionals. They have different means of determining if this is the particular reason behind your inability to sleep properly.
Parasomnias
This is a somewhat odd condition. If you suffer from this, then you will most likely engage in some form of abnormal activity when you are asleep. Some kinds of this sleep disorder include having nightmares and also experiencing sleep terror disorders, sleepwalking, sleep eating disorder, talking during sleep, and also REM behavior disorders, known as RBDs. While this condition mostly arises in children, adults can also get it.
As we have mentioned previously., this type of sleep disorder is generally associated with abnormal behavior during sleep. A very important thing to note is that your muscles will maintain their tone as if you were awake. This means that you will be most likely acting out the dreams you have. You may also experience some muscles of your body twitching or behaving in certain ways that are very unsafe. This can even lead to some form of injury as well.
Sleep Breathing Disorders
Sleep apnea is easily one of the most common sleeping problems that people have. If you are suffering from sleep apnea of the obstructive form, your airways that contain soft tissues will collapse when sleeping. Your airway will be obstructed or it may even be shut off. This will mean that air will not be able to enter or go out of your lungs. This can cause snoring, waking up, and gasping for some air. The worst-case scenario in this scenario is getting a stroke due to the lack of oxygen in your body.
Hypersomnias
When an individual suffers from this condition they will experience excessive sleepiness. Often, it will come in the form of sleepiness during the day, narcolepsy, or some other types of sleeping disorders. Please note that sleeping too much is not at all advisable just like not getting enough sleep.
What To Do? Try Light Therapy
Light therapy is one of the most effective deep sleep disorder treatments. One of the main reasons why a lot of people suffer from these conditions is their inability to get enough exposure to sunlight.
This is where light therapy can really help. Getting regular doses of light therapy will mean that you are making up for lost sunlight exposure. Light therapy is also known for its ability to fix circadian rhythm problems. As this is one of the main reasons behind poor sleep, you really ought to invest some time in learning more about light therapy and seeing how it can help you.