Causes of Sleep Deprivation
There are different causes of sleep deprivation. Somniphobia, (fear of sleeping) anxiety or stress, environment noises, night shifts, and traveling from place to place can cause sleep deprivation. But the most common and well-known cause of sleep deprivation are sleep disorders, and the best known sleep disorder is insomnia.
Sleep disorders cause lack of sleep and excessive sleepiness (normally occurs during the day) too. However excessive sleepiness caused by sleep disorders is not healthy. They do not have good quality like the sleep normal persons have.
There are different types of sleep disorders:
Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is a disorder that involves the respiratory system. This sleep disorder is characterized by troubled breathing and this usually comes with loud snoring. Individuals who have this kind of sleep disorder normally experience this period of breathlessness at night. They do not get sufficient oxygen that their body needs to function normally. Sleep apnea may also be associated to abnormality in heartbeat or high blood pressure. Sleep apnea also gets worse as you grow older.
There are three types of sleep apnea and they are:
Obstructive Sleep Apnea
This is the most common among the 3 types. It is usually caused by a hindrance or blockade in the throat which is the passageway of oxygen. Sleep positions or bed patterns may cause this kind of sleeping disorder. Other factors may also cause this disorder like excess fat or being obese, inheritance, and too much alcohol intake before going to sleep.
Central Sleep Apnea
The second type of sleep apnea, central sleep apnea is caused by some irregularities or abnormalities in the part of the brain that controls our breathing. Usually, people with sleep apnea wake up at night for brief periods and breathe. Normally, they do not remember these brief periods when they wake up.
Mixed Sleep Apnea
As the name suggests, the person experiences both obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea.
A person may already have sleep apnea if he or she experiences the following:
• Loud snoring
• Frequent urination at night
• Waking up at night with the sensation of being choked
• Waking up sweating
• Waking up at night panting for air
Narcolepsy
Narcolepsy is a situation where the person feels sleepy every time, even at an unanticipated time and place. It is frequently irregular and sudden. Narcoleptics also experience unmanageable sleep (also known as ‘micro sleeps’). They also lose control of their muscles. This event of losing control of your muscle is called cataplexy. In general, a person attacked by cataplexy collapses and undergoes sudden rush of emotion. Narcoleptics may also suffer from figment of imagination or hallucinations when they wake up.
One property of narcolepsy is that it interrupts the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Sleep (also called dream sleep) untimely. During this stage of sleep, our body becomes tranquil and our brain becomes energetic and our eyes move hastily under our eyelids in all directions (see The Sleep Stages section for further details). Normal people who don’t have narcolepsy experience REM sleep when they have been asleep or sleep has been in progress for quite some time. But on the other hand, people who are narcoleptic experience REM sleep even if they are awake.