Sleep Disorders

Seasonal Affective Disorder

• Depression that comes on with the start of winter

• Symptoms include sadness, lethargy, and drowsiness

• Could affect 1% to 20% of the population

There is hope!

• Phototherapy - exposure to bright fluorescent lights has been shown to be effective

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Insomnia

• Most common sleep disorder - up to 10% of population

• Persistent trouble falling asleep or staying asleep

Narcolepsy

• Mostly thought to be rare, but could be as high as 250,000 in the U.S.

• Sufferers fall asleep at unpredictable and inappropriate times

• Can go directly into REM mode

• Lasts 5-30 minutes

Sleep Apnea

• Fairly common (almost as common as insomnia)

• Sufferer stops breathing for a short time while sleeping, then is awoken when they gasp for air

• It disrupts sleep and can keep you from getting normal time in deep sleep modes

Sleep Apnea continued

• Can be fatal in extreme cases

• Often goes undiagnosed

• Can be treated with a respiratory machine

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Sleepwalking

• Affects as much as 15% of population

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• Usually occurs early in the evening, during slow wave (stage 3 or 4) sleep

• Most prevalent in children

Night Terrors

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• Sufferers sit up abruptly and scream• Affect up to 15% of population• Most common in children ages 2-8• They usually don’t remember it and resume

sleep immediately afterward• Usually occurs early in night in deep non-

REM sleep• More likely to happen when overtired