Psy 240 week 6 sleeping disorders

SLEEP DEPRIVATION Adam Preston 240 6-10-2012 JULIE DELICH SLEEP DEPRIVATION As a mid-aged adult with four children, I can count many sleepless nights. Some of the scariest moments have been while driving a long distance. On a trip to Florida I had 3 children along with myself as the only driver. The trip was approximately sixteen hours. The night prior to the trip I went to bed at a decent hour and waking having about nine good hours of sleep. During the trip about twelve hours in, I felt like I needed to stop and rest as I began seeing things, such as black spots or animals running in front of me. I tried to roll the windows down to get some fresh air but it only worked for a moment. I had children in the car who were all resting and the smartest thing for me to do was to pullover as it could be very dangerous driving under those conditions. I pulled over for a few hours and woke to begin driving again only to find that the 2 hours were just not enough to go the remaining 4 hours. I believe I may have fallen asleep at the wheel as I jerked and woke. I immediately pulled over and resting until the following morning and woke feeling lousy, like a cloudy head feeling. I felt as my energy level was compensated from the lack of sleep and the intervals of sleep that I did get. I suppose that sleeping in a van was not the most comfortable place to sleep and it seemed I tossed and moved every ten minutes during that time. After arriving to my destination I was still cloudy and I felt worn out it took until the following day after a good night’s rest in a bed before I had my full mind and energy as I know it to be. I have listed four of the common sleeping disorders, but there are many, Insomnia, Sleep apnea, Narcolepsy and restless leg syndrome. Insomnia is described when one has difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep. Sleep apnea is described as a condition when a person’s breathing is interrupted during sleep as they stop breathing many times; when this is left untreated it can be very dangerous. It is said that one can stop breathing hundreds of times during one night of sleep. Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder of sleep that affects the control of sleep and wakefulness. People with narcolepsy have lots of daytime sleepiness and uncontrollable episodes of falling asleep during the daytime. This sudden sleepiness can happen at any time no matter what is going on, even during what one would consider a very awake moment. This also can be dangerous if it was to happen during operating machinery. Most with this type of disorder have restrictions for driving if at all, because this can occur at any given moment without warning. Lastly, restless legs syndrome, this causes a tingling, pulling, and or a painful sensations in the legs at night while trying to rest. When this occurs it is difficult to sleep as walking it off may help control the sensations making it hard to rest Treatment is much depending on the specific sleep disorder that one may have, some find it necessary to use psychological strategies, but it seems that medications are widely used in many cases. There are also many tips to allow ample time to get rested and prepare for bedtime. Often caffeine should be avoided for those with sleep disorders as it can enhance wakefulness. In the case of insomnia sleeping medications are often not used on a regular basis as the patient and doctor must discuss the advantages and the disadvantages of chronic use. Some common treatment in medications is benzodiazepines. Benzodiazepines that are used as sleeping pills include Valium and Restoril. Ambien is a drug that is not in the benzodiazepine class, but has a similar effect. Some that can be found over the counter that are similar to Ambien are Nytol and Sominex. They claim to be safe, however one can get used to the effects very quickly which leads to taking more than what is said to take. Those with sleep apnea are required to use a machine during the night to control breathing. I believe my story would fits with insomnia, as I did get some sleep, but it felt as I had not. During that time I never felt like I was refreshed after sleeping.