Welcome to FitKiter, where we look at your health and fitness from all angles, including a most essential area in life—sleep. Not too many of us actually sit down to ponder how important sleep is until we get problems. The following article discusses five widespread types of sleeping disorders and their effects on people’s well-being whose life it touches. There is no exception from this rule for sleeping disorders; they can soundlessly demolish our mental health.
5 Types of Sleeping Disorders
Insomnia
Quite possibly the leading disorder of sleep, a person with insomnia has trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, or wakes up too early without feeling completely rested.
Chances are high that the mind is working overtime, while one is tossing and turning. This deprivation of sleep could lead to high-stress levels, anxiety, and depression, which do not make the daily activities run in smooth fashion.
Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea, characterized by one having pauses in breathing or shallow breaths while one sleeps, is more than just loud snoring. It’s a serious health havoc—disrupting sleep patterns with deprivation of rest. The result? You might feel too tired during the day, get irritable, and have difficulties concentrating. Everything not really attractive for your mental health.
Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS)
This is categorized as one of the nervous system disorders. It gives one an unpleasant feeling in their legs that makes them want to move the legs, especially in the evenings and sometimes at the time set to sleep. Persistent sleep deprivation through RLS could also lead to mood swings and affect the quality of life.
Related: How to Stop Overthinking and its Effects on your Body
Narcolepsy
Narcolepsy is characterized by sudden attacks of sleep. It does not matter what the situation may be at that particular moment. In this regard, it can be problematic for a person with narcolepsy to stay for a long time awake in any setting. This can make one feel tired and unfocused. Also, unpredicted sleep attacks may create even greater anxiety.
Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorders
These are disorders that occur when internal timing contradicts the timing in the environment. Signs show excessive sleep during the day and reduced at night. When such a matching does not occur, it can bring great distress in the life of an individual due to the disturbance of the social life, productivity in work, and general mental state.
Tips to Manage and Prevent Sleeping Disorders
Conducting a bedtime routine while setting a regular time for sleeping, making your bedroom fit for sleeping is very essential to conduct if you have to prevent and manage the disorders from taking place. More so, if the symptoms continue, it is very essential to seek the help of your healthcare provider.
Related: 4 Types of Mental Illness and Their Symptoms?
Final Thought
Sleeping problems, therefore, silently threaten mental health; they affect aspects ranging from mood to day-to-day functioning capabilities. At FitKiter, we believe it’s our personal and professional commitment to taking these issues at face value, seeking help whenever deemed necessary, and adapting healthy sleeping habits.
So, If this resonates with you because you’ve struggled in this regard, then remember that you are not alone. Visit our website to find more such resources or share your experiences in the comment section below. Let’s help each other get better sleep and better health.
FAQ
How to fix sleeping disorders?
Treatment for sleep disorders is often multifaceted and includes changes in lifestyle, medical treatments, and sometimes psychological therapies.
Common approaches include establishing the same sleep time, formulating a quiet and pleasant bedtime ritual, consuming less caffeinated and alcoholic drinks, and creating a friendly sleeping surrounding. Some drugs, and in particular cases, even treatment with cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), are now available by prescription from a physician.
Is sleep disorder curable?
Most of the sleep disorders are generally curable if treated appropriately, e.g., most cases of primary insomnia, or circadian rhythm sleep disorders. Most of these sleep disorders can be effectively managed with proper treatment and lifestyle changes, hence generally curable in most cases.
The difference is that some conditions, such as sleep apnea, may require lifelong management by the use of a CPAP machine.
How to avoid sleeping disorders?
Other measures include regular hours of sleep, which means carrying out bedtime rituals to relax and getting enough rest in a comfortable environment free of stimulants such as drinking caffeinated beverages close to the time of going to bed. The other major steps for preventing a sleep disorder include regular physical activity and effective stress management.
What is the main cause of sleeping disorders?
The reasons for sleep disorders may be very different, and among them, one can mention factors of a psychological nature (like stress, anxiety), factors of a physiological nature (genetics, brain chemistry), health conditions (such as asthma, acid flux), and aspects concerning the type of lifestyle one is leading (like having an unbalanced sleeping schedule, watching too much TV before going to bed).
How to fix sleep problems?
Treatments, like those for sleeping disorders, most often involve:
- Maintaining a regular sleep schedule.
- Improving the bedroom environment to be cool, dark, and quiet.
- Avoiding caffeine and large meals at night.
- Reading or meditating to relax before going to bed.
- If those do not help, then they need to see a healthcare provider.
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