Sleep Disorders
If you have ever experienced a sleepless night, you know just how difficult it can be to get through the next day. Of course nearly everyone has a bad night’s sleep now and then, but in most cases, taking a mid-day nap (if possible) and getting a good night’s sleep the next night will usually get life back to normal.
For people with a sleep disorder, however, the idea of “getting a good night’s sleep” can feel impossible. A sleep disorder is defined as any condition that regularly or frequently impedes your ability to sleep well. And persistent lack of sleep can, unfortunately, have a significant impact on your overall lifestyle, undermining your energy, concentration, mood, and even your health.
Generally speaking, a sleep disorder can involve difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, or both. Other symptoms of a sleep disorder can include daytime fatigue and the need to take one or more naps throughout the day, an increase in irritability and anxiety, a lack of concentration or focus, and even depression.
Types of Sleep Disorders
Medical professionals generally define five different types of sleep disorder:
· Insomnia: an inability to fall asleep or stay asleep, usually caused by an underlying condition, environmental issue, or stress and anxiety. Insomnia can be chronic, intermittent, or transient.
· Sleep Apnea: the inability to take in sufficient oxygen because of pauses in breathing during sleep, causing frequent wake-ups throughout the night and lack of restful, restorative sleep.
· Parasomnias: the inability to establish restorative sleep due to abnormal movements and behaviors during sleep such as sleepwalking, sleep talking, teeth grinding or jaw clenching, bedwetting, and nightmares.
· Restless leg syndrome (RLS): an overwhelming feeling of movement in the legs, or the need to move the legs, often with a tingling sensation.
· Narcolepsy: the sudden and uncontrollable urge to sleep unexpectedly and without warning throughout the day and at odd and unusual times, potentially accompanied by sleep paralysis.
Causes and Treatments for Common Sleep Disorders
For a sleep disorder to be treated successfully, it is critical to first get an accurate diagnosis of the type of sleep disorder and identify the underlying cause of the sleep disorder. For many people, the key to successful treatment lies in removing or minimizing the underlying conditions at the root of the sleep disorder.
Some sleep disorders may be a side effect or symptom of an underlying medical condition. If the underlying condition can be treated successfully, then—at least in theory—that will also resolve the sleep disorder. For instance, insomnia may be due to asthma, allergies, or respiratory problems, which usually respond well to allergy and cold medications. Sleep apnea is usually treated through the nightly use of a CPAP or other breathing aid.
Of course, many underlying conditions at the root of some sleep disorders are chronic, such as nocturia (frequent urination) due to hormonal imbalance or urinary tract disease, or chronic pain due to arthritis, fibromyalgia, back pain, or inflammatory back pain. In these cases, it may be possible only to manage the sleep disorder with tailored medications and lifestyle changes.
For some sleep disorders, especially those caused by stress and anxiety, and for patients who are concerned about long-term dependence on habit-forming sleep aids, therapy can offer a beneficial and often quite successful way to manage and even eliminate some types of sleep disorders. Therapy can be especially effective when coupled with specific lifestyle changes designed to improve overall sleep health, such as creating a regular sleep schedule, eliminating (or minimizing) caffeine, and developing an exercise routine.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on recognizing, identifying, and altering patterns of negative thinking that may be undermining your quality of sleep. Once you begin to recognize cycles of negative thinking, you can begin to challenge those negative thoughts, and replace them with more realistic, accurate, and positive thought patterns. In addition, CBT focuses on changing bedtime behaviors that may be impacting your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep.
CBT—or therapy of any kind—is neither quick nor easy as a potential treatment for sleep disorders. However, with determination, hard work, and the help of a licensed, experienced therapist, it can be successful as a treatment for some types of sleep disorders. If you are suffering from a sleep disorder and you believe therapy may help, we encourage you to make an appointment today.
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