Sleep Issues

Discussion 8: Sleep Issues in Adults
By: Alley Dezenhouse, BA ABS
Sleep is an essential part of healthy development and functioning.  A good sleep is essential to proper executive functioning, and diagnosis of sleep disorders is essential to facilitate the process. Takahashi (1999) as cited in Pinel (2012) notes that it could take an insomniac over one hour fall sleep; this provides a good framework for assessing normal sleep issues, from sleep disorders.

Sleeping disturbances impact nearly every aspect of functioning, whether it’s insomnia or narcolepsy too much or too little sleep can be debilitating (Pinel, 2012). Sleep apnea impact the sleeping process by causing recurrent night waking, due to lack of airflow which causes the individual to stop breathing and awaken. Interestingly, many do not know that they have sleep apnea (Pinel, 2012); but rather, complain of sleeping poorly and describe symptoms of insomnia (Pinel, 2012). Not surprisingly, sleep apnea can be linked to comorbid asthma, which symptomatically worsens at night (Nihat Annakkaya, Akin, Balbay, Arbak, Toru, 2012). 

Restless leg syndrome is described as a build-up of tension that presents itself in the individual’s legs (Pinel, 2012); the individual complains about tension, anxiety and restlessness at bed time that is hard to shake. Interestingly, one of the primary interventions, or therapies, for sleep disturbances like insomnia, is “sleep restriction” (Pinel, 2012, p.393). In the process of sleep restriction, systematic teaching is used to slowly increase the time spend in bed; this intervention calls for a very behavioural approach to treatment (Pinel, 2012).

References

Annakkaya, A., Akɩn, N., Balbay, E., Arbak, P., & Toru, Ü. (2012). Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome

in Adult Patients with Asthma. Healthmed, 6(1), 53-64.

Pinel, J.P. (2012) Basics of biopsychology. Wadsworth; Allyn & Bacon