People’s life has been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although we still need to take classes and study, life is different. We do not have a regular schedule as we used to do. Everything is happening at home, study and resting are happen at the same time. It is even easy to sleep late because we do not need to think about commute early in the morning to work/school anymore. Everyone’s life get affected by COVID-19, some people lost jobs, some people might lost their loved ones. All these little pieces of life have increased our stress and changed our lifestyle invisibly. Our regular sleep behavior has been changed quietly. Many people might affected by sleep disorder but they they never noticed.
After reading through this post, you will be able to:
Understand what is sleep disorder
List different types of sleep order
Have a better understanding of their sleeping status
According to American Psychiatric Association,
“Sleep disorders involve problems with the quality, timing, and amount of sleep, which cause problems with functioning and distress during the daytime. There are several different types of sleep disorders, of which insomnia is the most common. Other sleep disorders are narcolepsy, obstructive sleep apnea and restless leg syndrome.”
Types of sleep disorder
Insomnia
Insomnia is most common sleep disorder that can make people hard to fall asleep, hard to stay asleep, or cause a person to wake up too early and not be able to get back to sleep. A lot of people might affect by this disorder without awareness.
Insomnia symptoms may include:
Difficulty falling asleep at night
Waking up during the night
Waking up too early
Not feeling well-rested after a night's sleep
Daytime tiredness or sleepiness
Irritability, depression, or anxiety
Difficulty paying attention, focusing on tasks, or remembering
Increased errors or accidents
Ongoing worries about sleep
Restless legs syndrome (RLS)
Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a sleep disorder that causes an almost irresistible urge to move your legs (or arms) at night.
Restless legs Syndrome symptoms may include:
Sensations that begin after rest.
Relief with movement.
Worsening of symptoms in the evening.
Nighttime leg twitching.
Narcolepsy
Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder that involves excessive, uncontrollable daytime sleepiness. It is caused by a dysfunction of the brain mechanism that controls sleeping and waking. If you have narcolepsy, you may have “sleep attacks” in the middle of talking, working, or even driving.
Narcolepsy Symptoms may include:
Excessive daytime sleepiness: People fall asleep without warning, anywhere, anytime
Sudden loss of muscle tone.
Sleep paralysis.
Changes in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. REM sleep is typically when most dreaming happens.
Sleep apnea
Sleep apnea is a common (and treatable) sleep disorder in which one is breathing temporarily stops during sleep, awakening you frequently.
Sleep apnea Symptoms may include:
Loud snoring
Episodes in which you stop breathing during sleep — which would be reported by another person
Awakening with a dry mouth
Morning headache
Difficulty staying asleep (insomnia)
Excessive daytime sleepiness (hypersomnia)
Difficulty paying attention while awake
Irritability
Self-assessment
How do you feel about your sleep lately? Take an assessment here to know better about your sleep status.
If you have checked more then 5 option for the last question, you might consider yourself have sleep disorder.
Extended Readings
Sleep disorders form Canadian public health campaign on sleep
Reference
What is Healthy Sleep? - National Sleep Foundation. (2019). Sleepfoundation.Org. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/what-healthy-sleep
Comentários