There are some sleep disorders that most of us are unaware of but play a big part in sleep deprivation. Being aware of these disorders allow you to take the necessary measures to deal with them. The most common ones include:
Sleep Inertia
You know that feeling you have when you wake up? The desire to go back to sleep that is nearly irresistible. Well, that’s sleep inertia! Sleep inertia can make it nearly impossible to wake up when you need to which then makes you groggy and fail to function at your best.
Like physics, objects tend to resist changes in their state of motion, this is the same case with inertia. So when your brain is asleep, it will want to stay asleep even when you wake up.
Symptoms of Sleep Inertia
Immediately after waking up, inertia leads to sleepiness and psychomotor and cognitive impairment. This may affect your ability to perform complex activities or decisions. For instance, immediately after waking up, it may difficult to drive a car.
You may develop a feeling of intense mental grogginess. You may also have irresistible sleep attacks as a result of a strong desire to go back to sleep.
Causes of Sleep Inertia
The symptoms of inertia mostly occur when you abruptly wake up from a slow or deep-wave sleep when the sleep duration is not enough or in the first part of the night. Another common factor is sleep deprivation. It can also be as a result of waking up earlier than you are expected to, for instance setting your alarm early to do something. The symptoms tend to last for minutes to an hour or so after waking up.
Inertia can also be worsened when you have sleep disorders like delayed sleep-wake phase disorder and sleep apnea. Sleep apnea disrupts sleep because sleep is fragmented to restore your breathing. It is associated with gasping, witnessed pauses in breathing, snoring, choking episodes, teeth grinding, frequent urination at night, early morning awakenings, insomnia, among other symptoms.
Delayed sleep-wake phase disorder is a result of delayed natural ability to sleep in the beginning of the night or insomnia. It can start when one is a teenager and remain throughout life. Affected individuals tend to sleep after 2 am or later.
How to Treat Sleep Inertia
It is crucial to optimize your sleep quantity and quality by making sure you obtain sufficient hours of sleep in order to meet your sleep needs. To feel well-rested, you need 7-9 hours of sleep. Older adults need no more than 8 hours of sleep.
If you have any co-existing sleep disorders like sleep apnea, you should see a doctor and have it treated effectively. Getting the right treatment will enhance your quality of sleep which will eventually decrease sleep inertia and reduce morning sleepiness.
You can also benefit from an alarm that will wake you up within a range of times hence prompting you to wake up when you notice any movements or light sleep. Morning sunlight will also be an effective method in waking you up more refreshed. You can also result to caffeine or other interventions like prescription stimulant meds like Provigil and Nuvigil if other methods fail to work. The idea is to promote wakefulness every morning.
Diurnal Sleep Disorders
Diurnal means light, it is also the opposite of nocturnal. By nature, humans are diurnal species seeing as we sleep at night and work during the day. Well, unless your job requires you to work at night and work during the day.
Sleeping during the day may not be such a bad thing especially if you have to. However, this may put you at a risk of sleeping disorders. Some of them include:
- Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome
The delayed sleep phase syndrome is most common in teenagers and it is characterize by staying up till late night. Unless you are able to stay in bed till 10 a.m or 11 a.m, then it is an issue if you stay up until 2 a.m. Teenagers often find themselves in this situation when they have obligations such as homework to do and still need to wake up early for school.
However, if the teenager is simply unable to sleep early, they are prone to daytime sleepiness which means you might have to take them to a problem. Doctors commonly recommend supplements such as melatonin or light box therapy.
- Shift Work Sleep Disorder
This disorder affects people who work a rotating schedule frequently or work at night. It mostly affects those who work between 11 p.m and 6 a.m. those who work at night are forced to sleep during the day because the work schedules go against the body’s circadian rhythm instead of the natural diurnal pattern.
The difficulty of adjusting to the week schedules and different sleep schedules automatically interferes with the sleep. If you find it impossible to change the shifts, you have to see a doctor and get tips for relief. If the case is extreme the sleep medication might be recommended.
- Narcolepsy
This disorder tends to work against the body’s natural diurnal pattern. It is a nervous system disorder that happens when your body refuses to regulate wakefulness and sleep. This results to excessive sleepiness during the day and uncontrolled episodes of daytime sleeping.
The main problem is that the sleeping episodes can happen anytime during any time during day time activity, which can be harmful in more ways than one. If you have his disorder, it is essential that you get medical help. Your doctor may give you medications that will repair the disorder or help you sleep at night.
What We Recommend
If you have any of these three sleep diurnal disorders, seeing the doctor may be inevitable. Sleep medications may seem like the easiest fall back solution, however, we advise against it because like any other pills, they can be addictive. Having a sleep disorder is one thing, adding an addiction to it is another, in this case you should check into an alcohol rehab and get the help you need.
We highly recommend behavioral therapy because it seeks to revert sleep disorders by working towards changing habits, thoughts, actions, and emotions that influence your sleep. It has proven to be more effective that sleeping pills by reducing insomnia symptoms. If you are looking for a long-term situation, this is it! However, you also have to work around making your schedules work in favor of your sleep.