Sleeping Problems
Sleeping problems and sleep disorders are grouped into three categories: Insomnia, narcolepsy and sleep apnea.
Insomnia
Insomnia itself is broken down into two sub categories, primary insomnia and secondary insomnia.
Primary Insomnia
Primary insomnia is a condition itself; the sleeplessness is not a symptom of something else. The condition is not a result of other things, but exists as a condition.
Secondary Insomnia
Secondary insomnia is occasioned by some cause and is a symptom of the other thing. For example, these things could precipitate insomnia:
- Pain, stress, depression.
- Alcohol, tobacco, caffeine.
- Some other type of illness
There can also be an increasing effect of secondary insomnia where sleepless nights compound leading to more stress, therefore the cycle continues.
Once the real cause of the insomnia has been identified and treated the insomnia can be overcome.
Chronic Insomnia
Insomnia can be said to be chronic if it continues for more than 3 days per week for more than a month. Less then this would be called acute insomnia or short-term insomnia.
Narcolepsy
Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder that disrupts your normal sleeping pattern. It can cause you to fall asleep suddenly, without warning and also tends to make you feel excessively drowsy during the day time. Narcolepsy can also include sudden loss of muscle control (cataplexy), hallucinations, and disturbed sleep patterns.
Narcolepsy is a relatively rare condition. Research suggests that it affects approximately 3-5 people in every 10,000, with men and women being equally affected.
Sleep Apnea.
Sleep apnea is a different sort of sleep disorder to both insomnia and narcolepsy. Sleep apnea is a common disorder in which you have one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths while you sleep. These pauses often occur 5 to 30 times or more an hour. Normal breathing then starts again, sometimes with a loud snort or choking sound.
Sleep apnea is usually a chronic condition that can disrupt your sleep three or more nights each week. You often move out of deep sleep and into light sleep when your breathing pauses or becomes shallow. Because of the poor quality of the sleep you get you can often feel tired and fatigued the next day.
