Sleep Disorders: How to Recognize Them and What to Do?

We all experience poor sleep from time to time. Sometimes it lasts for a while, for example, when you're experiencing stress. But we consider it a sleep disorder if you experience poor sleep an average of three nights a week for more than three months. A sleep disorder can be caused by a health problem, but also by stress or anxiety.

On average, 20% of Dutch people over the age of 12 experience sleep problems. Young people are also plagued by poor sleep: more than 70% of high school students sleep less than 8 hours per night. It's striking that more women than men report sleep problems.

Depending on the sleep disorder, you may have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. As a result, you may feel very tired during the day. Lack of sleep can affect your energy, mood, concentration, and health.

If a physical or mental condition underlies the sleep disorder, the sleep problems may disappear with treatment. If there are no medical reasons, sleep disorders are usually treated in a sleep clinic, with medical treatment, psychotherapy, or lifestyle changes.

It's important to ensure a good night's sleep. If you suffer from a sleep disorder, ask your doctor for advice. Poor sleep can have serious consequences for your mental and physical health. Read more about various sleep disorders below.

Sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder. When you sleep, all your muscles are relaxed, including those in your throat. With sleep apnea, the muscle relaxation causes your throat to close, making it temporarily impossible to breathe. This is called respiratory arrest.

It sounds frightening, but thankfully, your brain does notice these pauses in breathing. This wakes you up (although you won't always remember it), which automatically causes you to start breathing again. If you experience several of these pauses in breathing per hour, you suffer from sleep apnea.

Waking up nearly or completely multiple times during the night naturally prevents you from getting enough rest. You don't get deep sleep, or you don't stay there long enough.

People with sleep apnea don't get enough sleep, which manifests as excessive daytime fatigue. They may become irritable and have trouble concentrating. Some people are so tired that they fall asleep during the day, while working, watching television, or even driving.

Sleep apnea can be caused by hereditary factors, abnormalities in the nose, throat or ear area, smoking, obesity, abnormalities in the lungs, chronic heart or kidney failure, use of sleeping pills or low muscle tension in the mouth and throat muscles.

People with sleep apnea have an increased risk of heart rhythm disturbances, high blood pressure and mental health problems [1] .

Teeth grinding (also called bruxism) is one of the more common sleep disorders. If you suffer from teeth grinding, you unknowingly grind the teeth of your upper and lower jaws together during sleep. This can be heard as a grinding or grinding sound.

Teeth grinding can alternate with periods of jaw clenching. Instead of grinding your teeth back and forth, you clench your jaw. This all seems relatively harmless, but this grinding occurs under considerable pressure. The force you exert on your teeth is around 125 kilograms. That's enough to crack a nut.

Bruxism affects both adults and children. It naturally negatively impacts teeth, causing them to wear out faster and increasing the risk of cavities. It can even cause your teeth to chip or crack.

In addition, people who grind their teeth may experience jaw pain, headaches, neck and shoulder pain, and fatigue. Grinding also contributes to less deep sleep at night.

People who suffer from insomnia have trouble sleeping several times a week for more than three months. You may have trouble falling asleep or wake up for long periods of time during the night.

It's important to determine the cause of your insomnia. Many people with insomnia suffer from tension and stress. Pain or psychological issues, such as burnout, depression, or an anxiety disorder, can also be the cause of insomnia.

If you want to overcome your insomnia, it's wise to seek help for these symptoms. If the underlying issue is resolved, the insomnia will also disappear.

Sometimes the cause can't be found. It's possible that a combination of factors contributes to insomnia. Insomnia brings with it many unpleasant symptoms that can bother you during the day. These include fatigue, poor concentration, and a negative impact on mood.

Sometimes it may be necessary to conduct a sleep study. A polysomnography can be performed. However, simpler techniques can also be used to gain insight into sleep patterns, such as keeping a sleep log.

To treat insomnia, cognitive behavioral therapy is often used by a sleep therapist or psychologist.

One of the lesser-known sleep disorders is delayed sleep phase syndrome. This is a shift in your biological clock, meaning you're not tired when it's time to go to bed and you have trouble falling asleep.

Someone with delayed sleep phase syndrome may try to sleep, but falls asleep late and then has great difficulty waking up at a normal time. A normal day-night rhythm is difficult for people with this condition. They become increasingly tired and experience problems with work, hobbies, and even in their personal lives.

The symptoms of delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS) are that you notice your bedtime shifting. Your sleep pattern is delayed by at least two hours. However, this remains consistent; your bedtime is later than other people's, but it remains the same every night.

Research shows that in people with this syndrome, melatonin production starts later than normal. This means they don't feel tired when they should. That's why treatment with melatonin supplements can be helpful for some people [2] .

The causes of delayed sleep phase syndrome are not yet known. In some cases, the condition is hereditary. Exposure to light late at night can worsen the symptoms.

Many people wake up tired these days. You need sleep to recharge after a busy day. If you don't sleep well, you can't recover, both mentally and physically. There are several reasons why you wake up tired in the morning. You can address some problems yourself by maintaining healthy sleep hygiene.

You might regularly go to bed too late, or go to bed at different times. Regularity is important for a good night's sleep, so go to bed and wake up at the same time every day. Your body gets used to this, making it easier to fall asleep.

It's also a good idea to take a look at your bedroom. Is it too hot or too cold? Is it nice and dark and quiet? Is your mattress still comfortable? You might be able to address some of the disruptive factors, for example, by hanging blackout curtains or replacing your mattress. This can help you sleep better and wake up feeling well-rested.

Sleepwalking is one of the sleep disorders that falls under the category of parasomnias. A parasomnia is a sleep disorder in which someone exhibits abnormal behavior.

Sleepwalking can take various forms, but it's characterized by the fact that someone is sleeping and is physically active. So, you might walk around, get dressed, wash yourself, or even drive while asleep.

Someone who sleepwalks appears awake, but is actually still asleep. Sleepwalking occurs when the sleeper is in the NREM (Non-Reactive Empathic) state. This is the stage in which the body is still active, but the brain has already fallen asleep.

So you're not acting out your dream, because dreaming occurs in the REM phase. Sleepwalking usually lasts less than 10 minutes, sometimes longer. It's possible for someone to move to another room in their sleep and then continue sleeping there.

Sleepwalking doesn't always have to cause health problems. But if you sleepwalk frequently, multiple times a night, it will disrupt deep sleep and you may experience daytime fatigue and drowsiness.

Nightmares are unpleasant, disturbing, and scary dreams. Everyone has one from time to time. On average, 50 to 80% of adults experience a nightmare at some point . If it occurs more frequently and you regularly suffer from nightmares, you have a nightmare disorder. This disorder falls under the sleep-wake disorders.

Nightmares are more common in children. Often, they are overcome by growth. With nightmare disorder, you experience frightening dreams about threatening situations. You may wake up in a panic, filled with feelings of anxiety, stress, or sadness. The dreams can be very realistic, and upon waking, you can still remember all the specific details.

The problem is that these frightening dreams can make you dread falling asleep. This can, in turn, cause other sleep problems. The many nightmares lead to interrupted sleep, fatigue, and difficulty concentrating.

Causes of nightmare sleep disorder may include:

• Suppressed emotions
• Pregnancy
• Use of drugs or alcohol
• Stress
• Trauma
• Depression
• Hormone changes
• Other sleep disorders (insomnia, restless legs, sleep apnea)
• Medication use

Treatment for nightmare disorder can involve addressing the underlying cause (addressing stress, using different medications). Talking with a therapist can also be helpful. Sometimes medication is used.

One of the relatively common types of sleep disorders is restless legs syndrome (RLS). Those who suffer from this experience an itchy, burning, and restless sensation in their legs when lying down in bed. Moving your legs briefly relieves the feeling.

Another complaint that can occur is jerky movements of the legs and sometimes also the arms during sleep. This is called PLMD, Periodic Limb Movement Disorder. RLS is actually still a rather mysterious condition that is not yet well understood [3] .

RLS symptoms often begin in the evening and persist well into the night. Because you feel so physically restless, it's difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep.

RLS can often coexist with other conditions, such as thyroid disorders, varicose veins, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, or Parkinson's disease. A vitamin deficiency can worsen symptoms, as can the use of certain medications and anemia. RLS can also occur during pregnancy.

If there is no underlying condition, lifestyle changes can alleviate the symptoms. For example, it's important to maintain a regular sleep pattern, and it's advisable to stop smoking and drinking coffee.

A disrupted circadian rhythm can make daily life quite difficult. It's more common in people who have to work irregular hours, but can also occur after jet lag, drug use, or stress. A disrupted circadian rhythm throws your biological clock off track.

This can make it difficult for you to stay awake during the day, fall asleep or sleep through the night, and waking up on time can be problematic.

The consequences of this condition are varied. Some people experience mood swings, others experience difficulty concentrating or develop appetite problems. You may experience headaches, fatigue, and memory problems. Psychiatric disorders can also result from this sleep disorder.

A chronic lack of sleep can eventually lead to depression, psychosis and possibly even suicidal tendencies [4] . It is therefore important to treat a disturbed day-night rhythm. This can be done with light therapy, melatonin or chronotherapy (adjusting bedtime in small steps) and cognitive behavioral therapy.

Unusual sleep behavior, or parasomnia, encompasses all strange, unwanted behaviors and feelings that can occur during sleep. This sleep disorder encompasses various behaviors, some more common than others, and some cause more problems (including for the partner) than others.

Sleep talking and sleepwalking are relatively common parasomnias. However, the sleeper may also dream of being attacked, after which they may become violent toward the person lying next to them. Recurrent nighttime movements (rhythmic movement disorder) also occur, in which someone may bang their head or sway their body from side to side.

Another parasomnia is a brief paralysis of all the muscles in the body (except for the eyes and breathing). This occurs when falling asleep or waking up and can be very frightening.

Parasomnias can disrupt sleep and therefore cause daytime problems. These conditions are generally harmless, but if they lead to excessive fatigue or insomnia, it's important to seek treatment.