From Psychology Wiki

Community portal · Tasks to do · News · Help

Clinical · Educational · Ind&Org · Other fields · Professional · Transpersonal · World

Assessment | Biopsychology | Comparative | Cognitive | Developmental | Language | Personality | Philosophy | Research Methods | Social | Statistics

Clinical: Approaches · Group therapy · Techniques · Types of problem · Areas of specialism · Taxonomies · Therapeutic issues · Modes of delivery · Model translation project · Personal experiences ·

---

A sleep disorder (somnipathy) is a disorder in the sleep patterns of a person or animal. Some sleep disorders can interfere with mental and emotional function.

Contents 1 Common sleep disorders 2 Broad classifications of sleep disorders 3 Common causes of sleep disorders 4 Assessment of sleep disorders 5 General Principles of Treatment 6 See also 7 External links

[edit] Common sleep disorders

The most common sleep disorders include:

• Bruxism: The sufferer involuntarily grinds his or her teeth while sleeping.
• Delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS): A sleep disorder of circadian rhythm, characterized by the inability to wake up and fall asleep at the desired times, but not by inability to stay asleep.
• Hypnagogia: vivid hallucinations whilst falling asleep.
• Hypopnea syndrome: Abnormally shallow breathing or slow respiratory rate while sleeping.
• Insomnia: While not considered a sleep disorder in its own right, insomnia is characterized by the inability to fall asleep and/or remain asleep for a reasonable amount of time.
• Jet lag or desynchronosis: Temporary condition resulting in out of sync sleep patterns as a result of rapidly traveling across multiple time zones.
• Narcolepsy: The condition of falling asleep spontaneously and unwillingly.
• Night terror or Pavor nocturnus or sleep terror disorder: abrupt awakening from sleep with behavior consistent with terror.
• Parasomnias: Include a variety of disruptive sleep-related events.
• Periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD): Involuntary movement of arms and/or legs during sleep. See also Hypnic jerk, which is not a disorder.
• Rapid eye movement behavior disorder (RBD): Acting out violent or dramatic dreams while in REM sleep.
• Restless legs syndrome (RLS): An irresistible urge to move legs while sleeping. Often accompanies PLMD.
• Shift work sleep disorder (SWSD).
• Sleep apnea: The obstruction of the airway during sleep.
• Sleep paralysis: Conscious paralysis upon waking or falling asleep.
• Sleepwalking or somnambulism: Engaging in activities that are normally associated with wakefulness (such as eating or dressing), which may include walking, without the conscious knowledge of the subject.
• Snoring: Loud breathing patterns while sleeping, sometimes accompanying sleep apnea.

[edit] Broad classifications of sleep disorders

• Dysomnias - A broad category of sleep disorders characterized by either hypersomnolence or insomnia. The three major subcategories include intrinsic (i.e., arising from within the body), extrinsic (secondary to environmental conditions or various pathologic conditions), and disturbances of circadian rhythm. MeSH
  • Insomnia
  • Narcolepsy
  • Obstructive Sleep Apnea
  • Restless Leg Syndrome
  • Periodic limb movement disorder
  • Hypersomnia
    • Recurrent Hypersomnia - including Kleine-Levin Syndrome
    • Posttraumatic Hypersomnia
    • "Healthy" Hypersomnia
  • Circadian rhythm sleep disorders
    • Delayed sleep phase syndrome
    • Advanced sleep phase syndrome
    • Non-24-hour sleep-wake syndrome
• Parasomnias
  • REM Sleep Behaviour Disorder
  • Sleep Terror
  • Sleepwalking (or somnambulism)
  • Tooth-grinding
  • Bedwetting or sleep enuresis.
  • Sudden infant death syndrome (or SIDS)
  • Sleep talking (or somniloquy)
  • Sleep sex (or sexsomnia)

• Medical or Psychiatric Conditions that may produce sleep disorders
  • Psychoses (like Schizophrenia)
  • Mood disorders
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Panic
  • Alcoholism
• Sleeping sickness - can be carried by the Tsetse fly
• Snoring - Not a disorder in and of itself, but it can be a symptom of deeper problems.

[edit] Common causes of sleep disorders

Changes in life style, such as shift work change (SWC), can contribute to sleep disorders.

Other problems that can affect sleep:

• Back pain
• Chronic pain
• Sciatica
• Neck problems
• Environmental noise
• Incontinence
• Babies that wake frequently
• Various drugs - Many drugs can affect the ratio of the various stages of sleep, thus affecting the overall quality of sleep. Poor sleep can lead to accumulation of Sleep debt.

Any time back pain or another form of chronic pain is present, both the pain and the sleep problems should be treated simultaneously, as pain can lead to sleep problems and vice versa.

[edit] Assessment of sleep disorders

Main article: Sleep assessment

[edit] General Principles of Treatment

Treatments for sleep disorders generally can be grouped into three categories: 1) behavioral/ psychotherapeutic treatments, 2) medications, and 3) other somatic treatments. None of these general approaches is sufficient for all patients with sleep disorders. Rather, the choice of a specific treatment depends on the patient's diagnosis, medical and psychiatric history, and preferences, as well as the expertise of the treating clinician. In general, medications and somatic treatments provide more rapid symptomatic relief from sleep disturbances. On the other hand, some emerging evidence suggests that treatment gains with behavioral treatment of insomnia may be more durable than those obtained with medications.

Some sleep disorders, such as narcolepsy, are best treated pharmacologically, whereas others, such as chronic and primary insomnia, are more amenable to behavioral interventions. The management of sleep disturbances that are secondary to mental, medical, or substance abuse disorders should focus on the underlying conditions.

For most sleep disorders, behavioral/psychotherapeutic and pharmacological approaches are not incompatible and can be effectively combined to maximize therapeutic benefits.

[edit] See also

• International Classification of Sleep Disorders
• Environmental noise health effects
• Reversed vegetative symptoms
• Sleep hygiene
• White noise machine
• Sleep research organizations

[edit] External links

This article or section may contain spam. Wikipedia spam consists of external links mainly intended to promote a website. Wikipedia spam also consists of external links to websites which primarily exist to sell goods or services, use objectionable amounts of advertising, or require payment to view the relevant content. If you are familiar with the content of the external links, please help by removing promotional links in accordance with Wikipedia:External links. (You can help!)

• ShutEye.com, providing information about insomnia symptoms and solutions to bring relief.
• SleepNet.com's sleep disorder information
• American Academy of Sleep Medicine, a practitioner-oriented web site
  • SleepEducation.com, patient-oriented web site from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine
• Sleep Disorders - General Principles of Treatment
• Your Guide to Sleep Disorders
• The Sleep Library
• Sleep Disorders: Types, Diagnosis, Risk Factors, and Prevention
• Getting the Sleep You Need: Sleep Stages, Sleep Tips and Aids
• Talk to a fellow sleep disorder patient - Advocates for Sleep Patient to Patient Mentoring
• Better Sleep Health Hub
• Interviews with Sleep Disorder Experts
• Sleep Disorder Symptoms, Treatment, and Information

This page uses content from the English-language version of Wikipedia. The original article was at Sleep disorder. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Psychology Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.