SLEEP DISORDERS

Sleep disorders are changes in normal sleeping patterns or habits. They may involve excessive daytime sleepiness, changes in breathing rhythms or increased movement during sleep, difficulty sleeping, and abnormal sleep behaviors. A sleep disorder can interfere with your overall health, safety and quality of life.
There are two major types of sleep disorders, namely dyssomnias and parasomnias. Dyssomnias involve problems with the amount, quality, or timing of sleep. A common dyssomnia is insomnia. It may involve difficulty falling asleep, waking and inability to fall back to sleep, waking too early or waking and not feeling rested. A second common sleep disturbance is sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder (e.g. related to cardiac difficulties) in which breathing is not continuous during sleep, but rather stops for brief periods. You may have sleep apnea if you snore loudly and you feel tired even after a full night’s sleep.

Parasomnias involve disturbed behaviours or abnormal physical reactions during sleep. The three major types of parasomnias are nightmare disorder, sleep terror disorder, and sleepwalking disorder. The first course of treatment for these disorders is often prescribed medication. These medications are often seen as a short-term solution, however, because of the potential for psychological and/or physical dependence.

Cognitive-behavioural therapy has been found to be of significant benefits in helping people with many sleep disturbances.