Whether you are spending most of your nights tossing and turning in bed or waking up feeling restless, there are many notorious yet subtle ways sleep disorders can show their presence. While many people brush it off as incidents of not sleeping right, the extent of damage can be detrimental over time.
Unfortunately, sleep disorders are fairly common in adults as well as children. While opting for sleep improvement programs at facilities like Clinic Les Alpes can be beneficial to tackle the long-term impact of the disorder on one’s health, it is equally essential to recognise the extent of damage that comes with sleep disturbances and disorders.
Here’s everything you need to know about them:
What are sleep disorders?
Sleep disorders affect a person’s sleeping patterns, making it challenging to feel refreshed or well-rested after waking up or having trouble falling asleep. Staying asleep or waking too early may also become difficult.
Common Types of Sleep Disorders
Sleep disturbances affect a person in different ways. Here are some common sleep disorders to know about:
Chronic insomnia: You have been finding it hard to fall asleep or remain asleep throughout the night.
Restless leg syndrome: A constant urge to move your legs when resting.
Obstructive sleep apnea: You snore consistently and have moments when you tend to stop breathing.
Narcolepsy: You cannot regulate when you are falling asleep or awake.
Delayed sleep phase syndrome: Falling asleep is often delayed by a few hours, eventually making it challenging to wake up the next day.
Snoring, sleep terrors, and sleepwalking are other common sleep disorders that can be dangerous in the long run.
Symptoms of Sleep Disorders
Feeling excessively sleepy throughout the day and unexpectedly falling asleep while at work or if relaxing.
Inconsistent breathing patterns often result in snoring, snorting, or gasping during sleep.
An urge to continue moving to find a comfortable spot to rest fully.
Tingling sensation in arms and legs as well as teeth grinding.
Unnatural activities like sleepwalking, sleep-eating, or bed-wetting.
Mood changes like irritability, annoyance, and issues managing your emotions.
Falling from the bed on accident.
Risk Factors
Many conditions can contribute to sleep disorders. They are:
Age factor: Sleep quality deteriorates as we age, making people more vulnerable to sleep disorders as they age.
Medical conditions: Brain and nervous system-related conditions, including Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, and even cases of traumatic brain injury, can cause sleep disturbances.
Genetics: Sleep issues like sleep apnea, sleepwalking, and restless legs syndrome can be passed on genetically in some families.
Schedule changes: Frequent changes in sleep patterns due to work or travel (especially air travel) can also lead to sleep disturbances.
Medicines: Certain medications can cause excessive sleepiness or insomnia. Aside from medication, the use of illicit drugs, excessive caffeine consumption, and alcohol can also cause sleep disturbances.
How to Care when Affected by Sleep Disorders
Inadequate sleep can make it challenging for an individual to function normally and be at their best. Aside from hampering thinking abilities, insufficient sleep also impacts judgment, making it nearly impossible to make sound decisions quickly.
But all hope is not lost. Sleep disorders are fairly common, and there are sleep improvement services that aim to help people with these disorders reclaim their lives. As most of these programs are customised to target specific reasons that cause disturbances, these treatments are more effective.
Untreated sleep disorders can make it challenging for individuals to abide by their life commitments while also becoming home to severe health conditions like dementia, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and, in some cases, even cancer.
Along with getting professional help to recover or manage your sleep disorder, it is equally pivotal to improve your lifestyle. For instance, avoiding caffeinated beverages before bed, limiting blue light exposure, and working on stress management are effective ways to safeguard oneself from sleep disturbances.
Bottomline
Sleep disorders can severely affect various aspects of one’s life, making one less attentive and focused while awake and making falling asleep a frustrating process. Sleep disturbances can increase the risk of accidents as the brain is not well-rested enough to make quick, practical decisions. Seeking professional help can be incredibly beneficial to ensure underlying issues are promptly addressed.
