Alex Martin

Psychology
Ring 2
25 September 2015
Sleep Disorders and Issues
What is sleep? Sleep is our bodies natural reaction to gain energy and rest our minds and
bodies. Sleep is a state where the human body and mind are essentially at rest and your
consciousness is basically lifted, this normally happens at night but people take naps throughout
the day. When youre body is asleep your eyes are shut, muscles are relaxed and your nervous
system is inactive to an extent. This is when your body is at rest and regenerating energy.There
are four stages of sleep; Early stages I, II, III, and the late stage or stage IV also known as the
REM stage (Rapid Eye Movement), there is also NREM (non-REM). During the early stages of
sleep is when you begin to rest your eyes, your breathing slows down and your body relaxes
completely. When you reach the REM sleep stage, there is a raise in blood pressure, adrenaline,
sexual hormones, and physical twitching. Non-REM sleep displays slower brain waves and no
rapid eye movement. Dreams are a series of thoughts that go through a persons mind when they
are sleeping. Dreams occur when your consciousness is lifted and your subconscious takes over.
Sleeping for some people isnt always as simple and peaceful as the definition suggests.
There are many disorders known to man, some are hereditary, some come from traumatic
experience, and some just develop overtime. A few disorders I will be focusing on are
Nightmares, REM Behavior Disorder, Sleepwalking/Talking Restless Leg Syndrome, Excessive
Sleepiness, Sleep Apnea, Insomnia, and Narcolepsy.

Nightmares are dreams with disturbing content. Sometimes nightmares can be realistic or
unrealistic but they are all vivid and bothersome none the less. Nightmares mostly happen during
a child's REM sleep but it can still happen to adults. Most Nightmares end in a panicking
awakening and good recollection of the entire dream (nightmare). Although nightmares only
happen during REM sleep, sleep terrors happen during non-REM sleep. Sleep terrors are very
similar to nightmares, the only differences are the person screams and panics for a few minutes
while theyre still asleep until they relax. Sleep terrors can be accompanied by sleepwalking and
the person doesnt tend to remember the sleep terror. When people have sleep terrors it is
generally unhealthy to wake them up.
Most people just dream in their subconscious and it is strictly a mental act, however some
people have RBD (REM behavior disorder). REM behavior disorder is when a person is in the
last stage of sleep and they begin to dream, they act out their dreams. This particularly disorder
can be dangerous to the person sleeping and their sleep partner if they have one. Depending on
the dream, the person asleep can begin to sleep talk, sleepwalk, scream, punch, kick, or even fall
out of the bed due to excessive motion. In some disorders, including RBD it is merely one stage
of sleep invading another. The diagnosis of RBD is usually constructed once the person with
RBD hurts their bed partner, themselves, or anyone and anything they come into contact with
while asleep. However, years before the diagnosis of RBD a person can show slight signs such as
talking in their sleep and jerking of the limbs.
Sleep talking is also known as somniloquy, its the act of talking in your sleep and not
being aware of it. Some sleep talkers have complicated dialogues or monologues, and some just
mumble. Sleep talking usually happens in men and children, and since the sleep talker is most
likely unaware of what they are saying or even the fact that they are talking their voices may

sound completely different than they normally do. Not very much information is known about
sleep talking, but some sleep talking may be about past experiences or other significant events
that are revealed by ones subconscious during REM sleep, but some sleep talking makes no
sense and has no relevance at all.
Sleepwalking, also known as somnambulism, is the act of walking or doing other
complicated actions in your sleep. This usually happens to children and people who are sleep
deprived. Many times sleepwalking is misinterpreted. It doesnt only involve walking, it can be
sitting up in bed and looking around the room while sleep, or even driving while you are asleep.
Contrary to popular belief, you should wake someone who is sleepwalking up because it is more
dangerous to allow the sleepwalker to continue to sleepwalk. Sleepwalking is related to sleep
terrors as stated above and they run in the family as well.
Some people have restless leg syndrome, RLS is when you have the urge to move your
legs or your legs become uncomfortable while sitting or lying down. The reason why it is called
restless leg syndrome is because when the person moves their legs it feels better but not for the
rest of their sleep. It has been described as a burning and tingling sensation. There is no known
reason for RLS except for a certain condition or medicines that makes someones legs feel
uncomfortable while they are asleep. Sometimes daytime stretching and relaxation tends to help
with RLS, but if that doesnt work then there are medicines that can help with RLS.
Excessive sleepiness is a well known issue for people who dont have a good or regular
sleeping habit and are sleep deprived due to work or an inability to sleep. Most adults need 7-9
hours of sleep and when that amount of time is cut short by as much as half an hour it can begin
to mess with the person's ability to be energetic and productive when they wake up from their
sleep. This is called a sleep debt. Normally when people are sleep deprived it happens on many

more than one occasion, thus racking up their sleep debt. In some cases, people will get 7-9
hours of sleep and still feel exhausted, this could be due to the amount of sleep debt you have,
whether or not you wake up in the night and how many times, and also if you have a sleep
disorder such as sleep apnea.
Obstructive sleep apnea is a very dangerous disorder, it causes people to stop breathing
multiple times and for a long periods at a time during their sleep. The word apnea means a
breathing pause for 10 or more seconds. This is so dangerous because a person can stop
breathing in their sleep for so long to the point their heart stops. The brain can also fail to control
the act of breathing while asleep and this is called central sleep apnea. This disorder can cause
heart disease in the future, low blood oxygen levels, and can cause bad moods and memory.
More than 18 million American adults suffer from sleep apnea.
Some people suffer from insomnia. Insomnia is when a person has a hard time falling
asleep, and cant stay asleep for very long and usually happens 3 nights a week for 3 months
straight at least if it is chronic insomnia. Most people have experienced acute insomnia which is
just a short, rare experience with insomnia. Symptoms of insomnia are, troubles falling asleep,
troubles staying asleep, waking up too early in the mornings (or nights), non-restorative sleep,
low energy, difficulty concentrating, bad mood changes, feeling aggressive, difficulty at work or
school, and problems with personal relationships. The brain has a sleep and an awake cycle,
when one is turned on and activated the other is turned off. Insomnia is when there is a problem
with one or both cycles, too much wake cycle, or too little sleep cycle.
Narcolepsy is essentially the opposite of insomnia. Narcolepsy also involves the sleep
and wake cycles, but with narcolepsy there can be too much sleep cycle, or too little wake cycle.
There are many different forms of Narcolepsy. Narcolepsy can be when a person has to take

many naps during the day to stay energized and productive. It can also be a person could be in
the middle of performing a task and fall straight to sleep. People with narcolepsy tend to get the
same amount of sleep as a normal sleeper, they just cannot control when they fall asleep and
for how long. Narcolepsy affects both men and women, and tends to develop with age. In most
cases narcolepsy is a combination of genetic make-up and the environment in which someone is
raised. Most times the symptoms in the early stages of life are not normally noticed until they
become worse.
These are just a few sleep disorders that I have covered. There are many more known to
man and possibly more that have not been discovered. It isnt always the genetic makeup or the
environment of a persons upbringing. Sleep disorders can happen and affect anyone, because
everyone is different it can affect them in different ways.