Dolphins sleep for about ten hours a day. Pythons sleep for eighteen hours a day. House cats sleep twelve hours a day. Humans are supposed to sleep on average eight hours a day.  It is no secret sleep is an essential key to survival for all animals, but what happens to you if it is challenging to get a full night’s sleep? Sleep disorders are a serious problem that affect many American’s almost every night, but these disorders are rarely looked at deeper both by doctors and sufferers. The short and long term affects that can result from these disorders are hard for many people to deal with, especially since there are multiple treatment options for each disorder. *The side effects that people will suffer from can cause serious issues to those around them as well, which is why doctors should really pay more attention to a person’s sleep.* Each disorder is different, therefore *people need a* proper understanding of each disorder in order to correctly understand how serious this issue really is and why *doctors, the media and adults suffering* should care more about it. 

Sleep is a necessity for all animals, but sometimes sleep can get interrupted. An occasional interruption, like a crying baby or the urge to use the bathroom, is normal for most people. However, if someone is having interruptions more than four days a week, he or she could have a sleep disorder (Loney et al. 46). *The person should immediately go to their physician and talk to them about their problems in order to get on a helpful treatment path.* A sleep disorder is defined as “a condition that affects normal patterns of sleep and wakefulness.” One out of every two Americans have problems sleeping and a lot of those people have a sleep disorder (Sheen 6). So many people suffer from these diseases, yet it is not as focused on in the medical field or in the media. *These disorders are not something that people should take lightly because they could lead to long-term diseases later in life.* Not only is it a problem in adults, but it is also starting to become a bigger problem in teens and young adults. 

Although many people confuse sleep deprivation with a type of sleep disorder, it cannot be categorized as a disorder. However, sleep disorders can sometimes be caused by sleep deprivation, which is what teenagers and young adults are going through more often in today’s society (King Marhefka 20). Younger people are faced with having to balance their academics with their athletics and social lives and jobs and families and anything else that is important to their lives which is a lot of pressure. With only 24 hours in a day, some activities are going to have to get cut out and most people choose to cut down on sleep. When people intentionally get less and less sleep every night they began to develop a disorder. Situations like that are the reason there are about 18 million Americans who are undiagnosed with a sleep disorder (Sheen 9). Doctors are not paying enough attention to people’s sleeping habits and the way it is affecting their bodies, which is why the number of people with sleep disorders is so high. People are not well educated by their doctors about sleep disorders therefore they may not believe they have a serious problem. *The media and the doctors themselves are to blame for the reasons that so many American’s are suffering from a sleep disorder. They do not create enough awareness for the people to understand that they might actually have a problem.*

There are two different categories that sleep disorders can fall under, parasomnia or dyssomnia. Parasomnias are a group of conditions that have abnormal noises, movements and behaviors associated with them. These conditions can also result in violence or injury, to the person themselves or the people around them, even though the person suffering from the disorder does not mean to hurt anyone. Reoccurring Nightmares, Sleep Terrors and Sleep Paralysis are some of the more serious parasomnias that affect a high amount of people (Haupt et al. 211). Dyssomnias are a group of disorders in which people either have trouble going to sleep and maintaining sleep or they cannot stop sleeping. These types of disorders are more common than parasomnias, but are not as frightening or disruptive to the person suffering. Insomnia, Narcolepsy, Sleep Apnea, and Restless Leg Syndrome are examples of dyssomnias and are the four most common disorders sleep disorders in the world. However, Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder of them all (Sheen 26).

Experts have determined about thirty million people suffer from insomnia in the United States (Terry A1). Insomnia is when a person suffers from a severe lack of sleep in which it could inhibit their daytime routines. The person will have problems going to sleep and staying asleep. This disorder is often jump-started by sleep deprivation because of the lack of sleep a person goes through (World Book Science Year). Doctor Daniel J. Buysse, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine who teaches psychiatry and clinical and transition science states, “Insomnia is not the problem of too little sleep. It is the problem of too much brain activation” (Petersen). People believe their insomnia gets worse because of the lack of sleep they get; however, it is actually because their brain has too much happening. The part of the brain that is affected is called the default mode network. This part of the brain controls a person’s thoughts about themselves and makes the person’s mind wander when they are trying to go to sleep (Petersen). Insomnia has two sub-types, short-term and chronic (World Book Science Year).

Short-term insomnia is a form of insomnia which can last up to several weeks. A person is usually going through a stressful time period and it causes him or her to be unable to go to sleep normally. Since stress is a struggle for a lot of people, they do not believe they have insomnia, therefore they do not seek medical attention. Short-term insomnia does not lead to future health problems *unlike Chronic Insomnia does*(World Book Science Year). Chronic insomnia differs from short-term insomnia for more than the length of time. 

Chronic insomnia lasts for a prolonged period of time ranging from months to years. It could be caused because the person suffers from anxiety disorders or depression (World Book Science Year). This type of insomnia can also be linked to the genetics of the person’s family (Terry A1). Chronic insomnia is linked to different diseases the longer insomnia lasts. Diabetes, heart disease, and depression are a couple examples of diseases a person can develop while having chronic insomnia. The University of Arizona completed a study which showed a person who suffers from chronic insomnia increases their chance of death by fifty-eight percent (Loney et al. 46).

Both short-term and chronic insomnia have treatments options. One option for short-term insomnia is removing electronics from the bed or nightstand. Another option is to avoid high amounts of caffeine in the late afternoon or evening (Terry A1). Finally, a person could remove stress from his or her life by going to a relaxation therapy. Relaxation therapy teaches people to meditate and deep breath in order to rid themselves of stress (World Book Science Year).   

For chronic insomnia, a study done by Harvard Medical School showed only six sessions of mindfulness meditation, which alters the default mode network in the brain, will help to relieve insomnia (Loney et al. 46).  Medications, such as Lunesta or Ambien, can help a person with insomnia. A different solution for insomnia is cognitive behavioral therapy, also known as CBT-I. For CBT-I, doctors will teach the two aspects of the therapy called sleep restriction and stimulus control (Petersen). Sleep restriction is when the person with insomnia must make a log book that has the times they spent actually sleeping. They are only allowed to stay in the bed for that certain amount of time. For example, if a person sleeps only two hours out of eight, then they must leave the bed after two hours.  Stimulus control is when the person must wait to go to bed until they cannot keep his or her eyes open anymore. If when they go to bed they find themselves lying there awake, they must get out of bed and find an activity to do. Both sleep restriction and stimulus control help make the person extremely tired before they go to bed causing them to fall asleep easier (World Book Science Year). *Whether a person has short-term or chronic Insomnia, the person is still lacking sleep which is harmful to the body. Although this disorder might seem like it is not a big deal, doctors should really make people more aware of it and the treatments that are availiable.*

This next dyssomnia is broken down into a smaller category known as a “hypersomnia”. A hypersomnia is when a person suffers from excessive daytime sleepiness. These disorders are especially dangerous because a person can fall asleep while driving. (Sheen 37). This sleep disorder is Narcolepsy.

Narcolepsy is when a person suffers from uncontrollable daytime attacks of sleepiness. This onset can happen at any time. For example, a person could be driving down the street and suddenly fall asleep. Not only is it dangerous for the person who has narcolepsy, but it is equally dangerous for people around them. People who have narcolepsy can have the disorder with or without cataplexy. Cataplexy is a sudden loss of muscle tone when narcolepsy occurs (Dauvilliers et al. 496).  Bob Cloud, a person who suffers from cataplexy says, “Imagine a puppet on strings and suddenly the strings, which are your muscle tone, are immediately let go and so you fall to the ground” (Sheen 40). Cataplexy is the best way for a person to tell if they have narcolepsy (Dauvilliers et al. 496). *Doctors should pay more attention to this disorder and how serious the person has it. It can be extremely dangerous for a person to be doing certain tasks, such as driving, because this disorder can be so unpredictable. The doctor should make the patient more aware of what they actually have to deal with on a day-to-day basis.*

Narcolepsy with cataplexy not only affects a person’s sleep during the day, but it also affects it during the night. The normal, five stages of sleep a person goes through is not possible for a person with narcolepsy. They immediately go into the fifth and final sleep stage. Since they skip the first four stages, they do not get a quality sleep and wake up a lot during the night. Their brains also are not able to switch into sleep mode quickly enough since they go to the fifth stage automatically (Sheen 39). There are treatments options for people who have narcolepsy, mostly antibiotics.

The first antibiotic used to treat narcolepsy is Modafinil. Modafinil is a drug that helps promote wakefulness. It has been shown to very effective and has a low-rate shown of people abusing the drug. Another option of medication is amphetamines. Amphetamines are almost the same as Modafinil, except they fight off sleepiness. Although amphetamines work well to treat narcolepsy, they have side effects which are harmful to the person and people around them. One side effect amphetamines have is anxiety. Another possible side effect is aggressiveness (Dauvilliers et al. 501). Those are drugs used to control just narcolepsy; however, there are drugs to help people who suffer from cataplexy as well. Doctors prescribe antidepressants to subdue REM sleep since that is the immediate stage they go into. The antidepressants also help to reduce cataplectic scenes (Sheen 48). Narcolepsy affects people’s ability to stay awake, but sleep apnea affects breathing and could become very dangerous. 

Sleep apnea is a disorder that causes people to suddenly stop breathing during their sleep (Terry A1). This occurs throughout the night and can last anywhere from ten seconds to two minutes (Sheen 29). This disorder can also be accompanied by snoring, which is one of the main signs of sleep apnea. It is hard for people to stay asleep at night, therefore making them very tired during the day. The main reasons for sleep apnea is a person has abnormalities of the throat or nose and large throat muscles. Obesity can also be a cause of sleep apnea because extra fat can block airways, making it harder for the person to breathe (World Book Science Year). Having sleep apnea is dangerous considering it makes people tired during the day, especially in the case of Bill.

Bill suffers from sleep apnea, but at first he did not believe it. His wife would count the number of times she heard him not breathe and how long each interval was. He started to agree with his wife after she counted on numerous occasions, but he would never take action on solving the problem. One day he went to the doctor and finally admitted to her that he believed he had sleep apnea. He also admitted he often was exhausted during the day and would sleep at any chance he had. He even admitted to going to sleep while at stop lights. However, Bill had kept this from his doctor for so long that it really harmed his body. His blood oxygen level was fifty percent when the normal body is ninety-five percent. He learned it was a good decision to tell his doctor and take care of the problem before it did kill him (Bill 128). *In this case, it was Bill’s mistake of not telling his doctor sooner so he could get help faster. The sufferer can be just as guilty as the doctor when it comes to figuring out certain health problems. It is imperative that a person makes their doctor aware of any sleep problems they are having. Luckily,* the treatment options for Bill and anyone suffering from sleep apnea is the same. 

One simple treatment option for sleep apnea is to lose weight. Since obesity was one of the causes of this disorder, losing the extra weight will help make the breathing easier. Another treatment option is to wear a breathing mask. Most people who wear the breathing mask automatically has an easier time breathing in and out of their airways. If the case is severe enough, another option is to have surgery. Doctors can perform a surgery to expand the nose and throat (World Book Science Year).

The next disorder is an example of a parasomnia. In some cases, these disorders can be very dangerous. A person suffering from this disorder should try to seek immediate help in order for them to properly relieve the effects of this disorder. This disorder can happen during any time the person is sleeping, whether that is a nap during the day or when the person actually goes to sleep at night. Also this disorder occurs abruptly when the person begins to suffer from it (Haupt et al. 213). This disorder is called a Sleep Terror.

Sleep terrors are a disorder more prominent in males than females and can be passed on in families. When a sleep terror occurs, the first thing to happen is the person will sit straight up in their bed and scream. The person will appear to be awake since their eyes are open, but they can still continue to scream or make other noises. If another person tries to talk to them to wake them up, they usually will not respond. However, in rare occasions the person might respond awkwardly or understand simple commands. When the person does wake up, they do not remember all of the situations that happened. That aspect separates them from nightmares again because a person would be able to fall asleep soon after the sleep terror because they would not be emotionally affected as in a nightmare (Haupt et al. 214). *Doctors should begin to focus in this disorder a lot more than they have previously. This disorder can be self-harming and cause straim on a person’s emotional mind. Sleep Terrors are a very serious and scary disorder and can cause physical harm to loved ones around the person who suffers. That was the case for Brian and his wife.*

There are different levels of severity in this disorder. For instance, in the case of Brian Thomas, he went above and beyond of a normal sleep terror occurrence. Brian and his wife were trying to sleep in their motorhome when a group of loud teenage boys came. Brian became very upset and he decided he was going to move the motorhome to a different site. Once they got resettled in their new location, they went to sleep. All of a sudden Brian had begun to suffer from a sleep terror. Of course, the sleep terror was about the loud boys so Brian proceeded to fight them in his sleep terror. In his sleep terror, he strangled one of the boys. Unannounced to him, he ended up strangling his wife. During a sleep terror, the person is not aware of the outside surroundings so Brian was unaware that he had strangled his wife. When he woke up later he was surprised when he saw his wife’s body lying lifeless in the bed (Randall). He called emergency services and proceeded to tell them “I think I’ve killed my wife, Oh my God. I thought someone had broken in. I was fighting with those boys, but it was Christine. I must have been dreaming. What have I done?” (Randall). 

The degree of severity is based on two circumstances; one is if the person is affected during the day, they cannot perform normal tasks, and second if the other people around the person suffering from sleep terrors are being affected. In Brian’s situation, he had an extreme case of night terrors. His treatment option would be medical therapy. For people whose cases are in the middle of severity can opt for either benzodiazepines or gabapentin, which are antibiotics that help with anxiety or stress. The antibiotics help people relax, enabling them to become calm before falling asleep. People who have the least severe types of cases can normally just have self-treatments at home, such as avoiding stressful situations or keeping a strict sleep schedule (Haupt et al. 214).

Although most of these disorders resemble *one another*, they all have their own signature way of causing harm to one’s sleep. Sleep disorders are all unique and have their own ways of getting treatment. Between antibiotics, therapies, or just reassurance from a loved one, sleep disorders can be beaten. *However, doctors and the media need to make people more aware of the issue of Sleep Disorders. The treatments are out there, they just need to make the people of America more aware of the conditions and what can come from having one.* The next time sleep is an issue, do not just ignore it because it could be a bigger problem.  
