Did you know most people suffer from abnormalities of sleep without knowing what is happening?
As everyone is running with time to meet deadlines or make ends meet, one necessity suffers: sleep.
Lack of enough sleep may cause loads of issues on your mind, workplace, health, and socialization.
Since sleep is essential, why not sleep? Our surroundings are not favorable for rest.
Your work needs you, your family craves your attention, decisions need to be made, and much more.
All these on one head are tricky. As much as there are many responsibilities, it would help if you had time for your body.
When your body is healthy, it automatically translates into a great mind and boosted productivity.
Here are the common sleep disorders:
Sleep apnea
Sleep apnea is a prevalent disorder but tricky to identify. It refers to a medical condition where a person experiences an episode of cessation of breathing while asleep.
This condition is usually due to the brain’s failure to maintain breathing patterns while one is sleeping.
It reduces oxygen supply, which causes pain in different parts of the body when a person jerks out of sleep.
In severe cases, sleep apnea may result in fatal conditions such as heart attack, stroke, or sudden death.
Snoring
Most people snore without knowing while in slumber. Surprisingly, the affected do not know they snore.
Snoring is very common among young children and the elderly. However, that does not mean the young are exempt.
It refers to facing difficulties in breathing due to the inability to keep the airway open while asleep.
Snoring is a common sleep disorder associated with obesity, a medical condition related to the breathing system, and a low sleeping position.
Insomnia
In this case, one cannot fall asleep or wake up from sleep and is unable to fall asleep again.
It’s the most common sleep disorder.
Common causes of insomnia include stress, irregular sleeping schedule, poor sleeping habits, mental health disorders.
The disorders include anxiety and depression, illnesses and pain, medications, night coffee, and having nervous system issues.
Narcolepsy
This type of sleep disorder’s main characteristic is disruptive sleep-wake cycles.
Majorly one falls asleep day time other than having slept well at night.
People suffering from narcolepsy are at risk of falling asleep at inappropriate times.
Mainly at work or while driving, which would not end well.
Cataplexy is another characteristic of this disorder, where one suddenly loses muscle torn in response to strong emotion.
Restless legs syndrome
It is characterized by the need to move legs while asleep, which are unpleasant movements that may end up distracting your sleep.
Anyone can have restless legs syndrome, but it’s more common in pregnant women and older adults.
At early stages, these movements are usually mild but with time increase with age.
Unfortunately, it does not have medication, but one can deal with it through counseling.
Shift work disorder
Shift work sleep disorder mainly occurs when your work schedule interferes with your sleeping patterns.
It is common among people who work night shifts, early morning shifts, or rotating shifts.
These work schedules often find you when you have the urge to sleep, or your body needs you to stay awake.
Therefore this interruption ends up disorienting your sleeping patterns.
Adjusting to a shifting work schedule may be tricky for some.
It is evident that shift workers don’t get quality sleep like their daytime shift colleagues.
Sleep deprivation results in sleepiness and mental lethargy on the job affecting productivity.
You can reduce shift work disorder by:
When changing shifts, request a later modification rather than earlier as it’s easier to adjust.
Ensure you have had enough rest after any shift schedule you work on irrespective of the time, either day shift or night.
Avoid using sleep medication as they lead to addiction.
When working at night, let your working environment use a bright light.
Take regular breaks and minimize frequency shift changes.
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Conclusion
Sleeping disorders can bring a whole lot of severe issues if not overlooked.
You can easily adjust your sleeping patterns to manage these conditions.
Some may need medication, counseling, and lifestyle changes.
An hour more in bed can keep these disorders at bay.
