Can't Sleep At Night? You Might Have One Or More Of These 6 Major Sleep-Wake Disorders

I've had a number of conversations this past weekend about sleep, sleep patterns, and trouble sleeping. These are nothing new, of course, but awareness of sleep disorders seems to be. I have known people who have been prescribed a breathing machine, only to abandon it after a year because they were having problems sleeping on their own accord, and didn't want to be hooked up to a machine the rest of their lives. My father is a light sleeper known to be up half the night, my brother is a night owl prone to cooking dinner at 1am, and I am good to go with a six hour maximum of sleep if I am guaranteed a nap in the afternoon.

But what are sleep disorders and what are some of the most common ones?  Here's a breakdown:

According to the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, 5th Edition (DSM-5), a sleep-wake disorder "encompass 10 conditions manifested by disturbed sleep causing distress as well as impairment of daytime functioning. According to the DSM, not only can sleep disorders warn of onset mental disorders, but also other "medical and neurological problems, such as congestive heart failure, osteoarthritis, and parkinson's disease." And they range from insomnia to narcolepsy, to breathing-related disorders and restless leg syndrome.

Here are a number of the key categories of sleep-wake disorders:

1. Insomnia: The inability to fall asleep or stay asleep

2. Hypersomnia: The state of being overly sleepy and falling asleep in inopportune times and places, such as at work or while driving.

3. Sleep-related breathing disorders: The state of being unable to breathe properly while sleeping, obstructed sleep-apnea being one very common form of this category.

4. Circadian Rhythm Sleep-Wake Disorder: The state of sleep times being out of alignment. The individual does not follow regular sleep times at night.

5. Parasomnias: Unwanted events or experiences that occur while your falling asleep or during sleep or waking up.

6. Sleep Movement Disorders: Conditions that cause movement during or prior to sleep.

In future posts, I'll explain these categories in more detail.