Insomnia and Hypersomnia are the commonest sleep disorders.
Insomnia means,
1. Disorder in initiating sleep
2. Disorder in maintaining sleep – Frequent awakening at night and Early morning awakening
3. Non-restorative sleep (Feeling of not having slept well even though the patient has slept well)
Common causes of insomnia, a type of sleep disorder, are:
- Any painful condition
- Heart disease
- Respiratory disease
- Rheumatic or musculoskeletal disease
- Caffeine
- Stressful life situation
- Drugs like steroids, fluoxetine
- Alcohol withdrawal syndrome
- Mania
- Major depression
Insomnia is one of the sleep disorders that affect 15% to 30% of the general population, requiring treatment.
Hypersomnia means,
- Excessive daytime sleepiness
- Sleep attacks during daytime (Falling asleep unintentionally)
- Sleep drunkenness (Needs more time to awaken)
1% to 2 % of the general population complains of hypersomnia, another sleep disorder, during any given time.
Few important causes of hypersomnia are:
- Narcolepsy
- Sleep Apnea
- Alcohol intoxication
- Hypothyroidism
- Head injury
- Kleine-Levin Syndrome
- Sleep deprivation
- Menstrual associated somnolence
- Dysthymia
- Atypical depression
