Sara Farkas

Mr.Ring
Final draft
9/25/15
Sleeping Disorders
Sleeping disorders are simply changes in sleeping patterns or habits. Signs and symptoms
of sleeping disorders include excessive daytime sleepiness, irregular breathing or increased
movement during sleep. There are various sleeping disorders a person can have. If a sleep
disorder is occurring it can have a big impact on the individuals body. The different kinds of
sleeping disorders have different symptoms and impacts on the body. Most sleeping disorders
dont have a specific treatment and if so it would take a long time to cure. Also most sleeping
disorders can not be determined why they occur. Some sleeping disorders dont have as big as an
impact as others do on an individuals body. The amount of sleep a person need to function
depends on age; infants sleep most of day around 16 hours, teenagers usually need 8 to 9 hours
and adults need and average 7 to 8 hours a day. This is important because most sleeping
disorders affect the amount of hours the individual needs to sleep which causes the individual to
have symptoms like daytime sleepiness, this makes it more difficult for your body to function.

Depending which sleep disorder they occur in different stages of sleep. There are 5
different stages of sleep and I will describe and classify which stage each sleep disorder occurs
in. Stage one is light sleep where you drift in and out of sleep and can be awakened easily. The
eyes move slowly and muscle activity shows in stage one. Stage two eye movement stops and
brain waves become slower with only an occasional burst of rapid brain waves. Then stage three
comes around and the brain waves slow down extremely, these waves are called delta waves.

Once you have reached stage four the brain is exclusively producing delta waves. Stages three
and four are referred to deep sleep or delta sleep. In these stages there are no eye movement or
muscle activity. This is the stage that children might experience bed wetting, sleep walking or
night terrors. These are also considered sleeping disorders. After stage four you fall into the REM
stage. In this stage breathing becomes more rapid, eye jerk rapidly, heart and blood pressure
increases. While youre sleeping you go threw all these stages over and over again every 30
minutes to an hour. Sleeping disorders can disrupt your stages of sleep or make it harder for you
to fall into a stage. This can also affect the amount of sleep an individual get and can have a big
affect on their body function.

There are many sleeping disorders but one of the most common one is insomnia.
Insomnia is a sleeping disorder in which people have difficulty falling or staying asleep. People
with insomnia have one or more of the following symptoms; difficulty falling asleep, waking up
often during the night and having troubles going back to sleep, waking up to early, daytime
fatigue. Insomnia varies in how long it lasts and how often it occurs. This sleeping order can be
long-term or short-term, it can last from 1 night to a few weeks. Insomnia is called chronic when
a person has insomnia at least three nights a week for a month or longer. Insomnia occurs more
often in women and in the elderly. Insomnia doesnt occur in a specific stage of sleeping. Most
people with chronic insomnia do not even reach stage 3 when theyre sleeping, they are
constantly woken up due to their sleeping disorder. Once the individual has finally made it to
stage 1 they will probably only get to stage 2 before there awaken due to insomnia. There are
psychological and behavioral techniques that can be helpful for treating insomnia which are;
relaxation training, stimulus control, sleep restriction, and cognitive behavioral therapy. There is

not a medical treatment for insomnia unfortunately. But an individual with insomnia can do the
nonmedical treatments and can improve or cure their condition.

Narcolepsy is another common sleeping disorder. Narcolepsy is a disorder that affects the
control of sleep and awakeness. People with narcolepsy experience excessive daytime sleepiness
and uncontrollable episodes of falling asleep in the daytime. These sudden sleep attacks may
occur during any activity or anytime of the day. People that suffer with narcolepsy go straight
into the REM stage, this explains some of the symptoms of narcolepsy. A symptom of narcolepsy
is cataplexy. Cataplexy consists of a loss of muscle tone that leads to feelings of weakness. It can
also cause symptoms of ranging from slurred speech to body collapse depending on what
muscles are involved. Another symptom of narcolepsy is hallucinations. Some of the
hallucinations can be vivid and frightening. Sleep paralysis is another symptom this can also
occur to any individual during the REM stage of the sleep cycle. There is no proven explanation
why narcolepsy is caused. Narcolepsy can be cured but most people with the disorder do not, this
is because most of the symptoms like daytime sleepiness can be caused by a lot of things not just
narcolepsy. Also it can take a long time to diagnose, it can range from one year to a decade. This
sleeping disorder has big impact on individuals life and everyday functioning.
Sleep Apnea is another sleeping disorder that has a big impact on an individuals life.
Sleep apnea is a common disorder in which you have one or more pauses in breathing or shallow
breaths while you sleep. The breathing pauses can last from a few seconds to minutes. They can
occur 30 times or more in a hour. Sleeping Apnea is usually a chronic condition that disrupts
your sleep. When your breathing comes to a pause youll often wake up or move out of a deep
sleep into a light sleep. Sleep Apnea is undiagnosed, most people with sleep Apnea arent aware

they have it because it only occurs while youre sleeping. The main symptoms of sleep apnea are
snoring and daytime sleepiness.
Sleep Paralysis is a feeling of being conscious but unable to move. It occurs when an
individual passes between stages of wakefulness and sleep. It is a sign that your body is not
moving smoothly through the stages of sleep. Sleep paralysis occurs while you are falling asleep
or when you wake up. Some people consider sleep paralysis as just a symptom but others
classify it as a sleeping disorder.
In conclusion these are just a few of many sleeping disorders. An individual that has a
sleeping disorder most likely experiences daytime sleepiness, irregular breathing or rapid
movement. All of these sleeping disorders have similar symptoms but they all have different
impacts on an individuals life. They affect how the individual functions which can be a big
problem.

Sara Farkas
Mr. Ring
Annotations
9/25/15
Annotated Bibliography

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/sleep-disorders-symptoms-types

This annotation summarizes the most common 6 sleep disorders and gives their characteristics
and functions when this sleep disorder occurs. It explains the sleep disorders main
characteristics. It also gives possible treatments. It explains the most severe symptoms and why
they occur of each one. I am going to list these characteristics in my final draft. Also I am going
to use the treatments in my paper.
http://www.sleepdex.org/stages.htm

This annotation summarizes the 5 stages of sleeping. I am going to use this annotation by
explaining what stage each sleep disorder occurs and why it happens in that specific stage. Also
it helps people understand the sleep cycle and how it works. It goes into Therefore this will be a
helpful annotation in my paper to explain the different sleep disorders.
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/narcolepsy

This Annotation Gives a few symptoms of the sleep disorder narcolepsy. This is important
because it is one of the most common sleep disorders out there. I am going to classify the
symptoms of all the sleeping disorders so i find this website very helpful. It also lists the possible
treatments for the sleeping disorder. I am going to list the treatment as well as the symptoms.
https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-disorders-problem

This annotation gives a very specific explanation on insomnia and I plan on using that in my
research paper. Not only does it give the symptoms it explains what the actual sleeping disorder
is and why it happens also it explains which stage it occurs in. I will explain all the details in my
research paper.
http://www.healthcommunities.com/sleep-disorders/overview-of-sleep-disorders.shtml

This annotation gives examples on how sleep disorders are resolved and why people need sleep
to function. Also explains what happens if a person lacks of the amount of sleep they need. It
helps you understand that people actually need a certain amount of sleep to function and
maintain a healthy body.
Total word count: 1,477