The Seven Sleep Disorder Signs

A sleeping disorder is defined as, “a disruptive sleep pattern that may include difficulty falling or staying asleep, falling asleep at improper times, excessive total sleep time, or abnormal behaviors associated with sleep.”

There are seven signs that indicate you have a sleeping disorder. These seven signs include

• Waking up often throughout the night
• Difficulty waking up in the morning and/or waking up too early in the morning
• Snoring on a regular basis
• Restless Leg Syndrome
• Drifting off to sleep at work or in school
• Difficulty concentrating
• Feelings of depression, anxiety, moodiness or general irritability

Waking up often throughout the night

Frequent waking up in the night is one of the seven signs that indicate you have a sleep disorder. This could be the symptom of sleep apnea and any number of other problems, be they physical or psychological in nature.

Quite often this sleep problem is due to what is known as inappropriate “sleep hygiene” which is basically just lifestyle considerations such as eating habits, exercise habits, drinking, smoking, jet lag, etc. The good thing about these lifestyle factors is that they are under a person’s control.

Difficulty in Waking Up or Too Early Waking Up

If you have a difficult time waking up in the morning, even after getting 7 to 8 hours sleep and you don’t feel as if you slept a wink or if you find yourself waking up too early in the morning and you cannot fall back to sleep you are suffering from a sleep disorder.

Poor quality of sleep can be as detriment to one’s health as can an insufficient amount of sleep. The sleep cycle is of four stages and our body secretes a number of hormones that play a role in regulating our metabolic rate along with other health considerations during each of these stages.

The sleep cycles are thrown off resulting in feelings of exhaustion upon waking, lethargy and lack of readiness to embrace a new day if our sleep is disrupted on a regular basis. If you experience this problem a visit to the doctor would be well advised in order for the cause of the problem to be uncovered.

Snoring on a Regular Basis

Another sign of sleep disorder is snoring in and of itself is not harmful but it can very often be the symptom of a sleeping disorder known as sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a disorder where breathing is interrupted or stops all together during sleep.

The signs that indicate you may be suffering from sleep apnea included gasping for air, a choking sensation, gagging, interrupted breathing and frequently waking throughout the night. There are three types of sleep apnea

• Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)
• Central sleep apnea (CSA)
• Mixed sleep apnea

Difficulty Concentrating

If you develop problems with concentrating on small or big tasks at work or school, coordination, reaction time, attention span and /or a difficulty with problem solving then a sleep disorder could be to blame.

Getting a good night’s sleep is often undervalued. Sleep is an essential part of the human condition and sleeping well enables us to function to our optimum best throughout the day.

Any sleep disorder left to its own devices can lead to chronic sleep deprivation which can wreck havoc with many aspects of a person’s life including their work, home life, physical and mental health, driving abilities, and social activities.

Drifting off to sleep at work

Drifting off to sleep at work or in school can simply be the sign of staying up too late the night before, drinking too much, worrying too much right before bedtime or visiting with a friend or staying up late watching a movie.

We all have the occasional sleepless night but when it becomes a regular problem it has developed into a sleep disorder and will very soon begins to worsen your performance of work.

Any number of sleep disorders could be to blame including insomnia, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, or restless legs syndrome. Seek the advice of a health professional.

Feeling Depression, Irritability

Another sign our sleep disorder is feelings of moodiness, irritability, depression or anxiety. Generally life is easier to cope with on a day-to-day basis when we are well rested and at our best health wise. Look closely into the cause of your depression, mood swings, etc.

In some causes a sleeping disorder, for instance short-term insomnia might be the result of situational factors such as a recent death in the family, a move or a job loss, but in other causes it could be something more serious and more long-term.

Restless Legs Syndrome

15% of the population is suffering from Restless legs syndrome (RLS) and it is characterized by a creepy, crawling feeling in the legs or some people describe it as pins and needles.

The feeling can make it difficult to fall asleep or can wake a person up all of a sudden and make them want to shake out the discomfort in their legs.

Although not considered serious or even life threatening, RLS can be a frustrating sleep disorder for a person and if he/she doesn’t sleep solo, for the other person in the bed as well. Medications can be prescribed to relieve the symptoms if this condition becomes frequent and extremely disruptive.