SLEEP DISORDERS 

• 2020-07-20

In this fast-moving world, people have become so busy in their lives be it work, parties, etc. that they have reduced or deducted the most important process of their lives which is ‘sleep.’ They manipulate their sleep cycles according to their own conveniences and workloads without being aware of the harm they are doing to their mental and physical well-being. Because of the over workload and deadlines, they compromise their sleep leading to sleep deprivation in turn leading to other problems. I think most of us do the same thing right? We as adolescents and the adults of course keep ourselves awake late at night for doing projects, watching series, scrolling down in the phone, etc. But we should better be aware of its consequences and try to improve our habits. 

Sleep disorders are defined as conditions ad involve problems that cause disturbances in our sleep patterns, the amount of sleep we take, and our quality of sleep causing disturbances in our everyday life.  

There are a variety of causes of sleep disorders :  

     Genetics: familial transmission of certain sleep disorders also increases the risk of developing them.  

     Certain disorders like depression and anxiety  

     Medications for certain illnesses  

     Caffeine and alcohol consumption 

     Having a stressful environment of job stress and workload  

     Having an age of 65 years and above automatically leads to a reduction disbalancing of sleep cycles.  

TYPES OF SLEEP DISORDERS : 

Insomnia: it is a condition in which a person is not able to fall asleep or stay asleep for a long time. It is said to be the most common type of sleep disorder. 

Sleep apnea: it is a type of breathing disorder in which a person is not able to breathe for 10 seconds or more during sleep. 

Restless leg syndrome (RLS): It is a condition in which a person experiences a tingling or prickly sensation in legs along with a powerful urge to move them. 

Hypersomnia: it is a disorder in which a person is not able to stay awake during the day. This also includes narcolepsy, a condition in which extreme daytime sleepiness is experienced.  

Circadian rhythm disorders: this refers to the condition in which the sleep-wake cycle. It does not let a person sleep and wake at the right times.  

Parasomnia: it includes acting in unusual ways while falling asleep or waking from sleep.  

PREVALENCE :  

The TIMES OF INDIA in 2015 reported that 93% of people in India are sleep deprived and only 2% of people tend to have reported their problems with sleep. According to www.nmji.in, 33% of adults have insomnia in India in 2019. According to the information provided by THE ECONOMIC TIMES in 2020, most Indian men lying between the ages of 20 to 30 years suffer from sleep disorders. Female cases go up to 16% for the same age group and 45% for males as per data received in 2019.  

TREATMENT :  

Pharmacotherapy: drugs like benzodiazepines can be used to treat anxiety, increase drowsiness that helps you sleep. It can be an effective way to treat sleep problems.  

Cognitive behavior therapy: it helps us to learn to recognize and alter our negative beliefs and thoughts that lead to our seep problems. 

Behavior therapy: it teaches us how to avoid maladaptive behaviors that prevent us from sleeping and try to replace them with adaptive behaviors.  

Relaxation techniques such as mindfulness meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, and breathing exercises can help us relax at night, relieve us from anxiety and negative thoughts and stress and help us sleep well.  

You should have a calm, cool, and quiet environment to have a good and relaxed sleep without any stress.  

Most importantly we should have a healthy diet like more healthy drinks than caffeine and sugary foods and early meals.