Types of Sleep Disorders Insomnia Insomnia, an inability to sleep, is a symptom that may be caused by many conditions.
Some of them are psychological (chronic depression or temporary stress), environmental (noise), or physiological (chronic breathing disorder or temporary pain). Another common cause of insomnia is misuse and/or over- use of sleeping pills.
Narcolepsy People who are very sleepy during the day and who may feel muscular weakness when they are angry, surprised or amused may have narcolepsy, an uncontrollable attack of sleep. Sometimes narcoleptics experience terrifying dreams or hallucinations and a temporary sense of paralysis as they fall asleep. Narcolepsy often emerges in young adults and is a lifelong medical disorder which usually responds well to treatment.
Leg movements during sleep People who have periodic leg movements (nocturnal myoclonus) or excessive body movements during sleep may not get proper rest and may feel they have insomnia or excessive daytime sleepiness. These movements are often only noticed by the person's spouse.
Parasomnias Parasomnias are clinical disorders that are undesirable physical phenomenons that occur during sleep. Nightmares, night terrors, bedwetting, sleepwalking, and sleep talking are just a few of the parasomnias people may experience.
Nightmares are frightening experiences during sleep which may be recalled at a later time when awake. These may occur at any age.
Night terrors are usually experienced by young children and they are characterized by a sudden arousal from a deep sleep with a piercing scream or cry. The child is usually inconsolable, very frightened, and sweaty. He probably will not remember the incident when he arises in the morning.
Sleep talking, sleepwalking and bedwetting are all common parasomnias in childhood. Sleepwalking can be dangerous if the sleep walker is not protected against the risk of failing, walking off steps, etc. Sleep talking is usually mumbling and rarely of psychological significance. Bedwetting is particularly common, and in most cases the cause is unknown.
In these cases, a sleep evaluation is used to determine whether the troublesome behavior is benign or a sign of sleep-related epileptic seizures.
