SLEEP DEPRIVATION

Sleep Deprivation, Disorders and Drugs

Sleep Deprivation, Disorders and Drugs

Introduction

Lack of sleep has existed since the dawn of time. It is clearly more common in our time it has ever been. The demands of modern life, the sacrifices made to "career development", the feeling of not having enough time for oneself leads to a lack of sleep. The electricity and artificial light have allowed the extension of our parties and the development of shift work and therefore a net reduction in our sleep time. The number of hours of work per year as the proportion of people working at night is rising. Thus, many adults, otherwise healthy, accumulate a sleep debt due to a chronic lack of sleep.

Many people will experience a sleeping disorder at some point in their life. There are two primary categories of sleeping disorders: insomnia, difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep; and hypersomnia, an excess of sleep or sleepiness. The major types of insomnia are sleeping pill dependence and subsequent withdrawal; sleep apnea, cessation of breathing during sleep; nocturnal myoclonus, musculature twitching during sleep; and restless leg syndrome, tension and discomfort at night that makes it difficult to fall asleep. (Mostaghimi, 2005)

Discussion and Analysis

I am currently going through a high-stress period in my life. I am, of course, working toward completion of a degree, but I am also going through a custody battle, finding myself having to replace a heat pump, major vehicle repairs, and an over-abundance of family drama. (Do not we all have too much family drama that adds unnecessary stress?) To say that my stress level runs high at this time would be an understatement. The effects of this overburden of stressors include a significant decrease in the amount of sleep I am getting.

I find that many aspects of my personality and behaviors are negatively affected by lack of sleep. Usually even-tempered, lack of sleep makes me subject to mood swings, in particular, irritability later in the day. My behavior changes in that the things I like to do or feel the need to do (keep a clean house) fly out the window, because I cannot seem to find the energy to keep up with everything. My cognitive abilities are altered, and I find that I have difficulty concentrating and sometimes difficulty in thinking clearly. My motor skills are changed; I find myself being more klutzy than usual, my reflexes are ...