Preliminary research into sleep disorders

For this assignment, do some preliminary research into sleep disorders. Select one sleep disorder that you find interesting and address the following points in your paper:

Provide a summary of the disorder

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An overview of the symptoms

Prevalence

Causes

Common misconceptions

Discuss the disorder’s impact on cognitive processes.

Discuss the disorder’s impact on physiological processes.

Identify proposed medical and psychological treatments (traditional and emerging, if applicable)

Incorporate a minimum of two scholarly sources in your writing. Include evidence from recent studies (published within the past five years).

Use APA format to style your paper and cite and reference your two sources.

Your paper should be 2-4 pages long, in addition to a title page and a reference page.

Refer to the rubric for more information on how your assignment will be graded.

Due: Sunday, 11:59 p.m. (Pacific time)

Points: 100

Sleep and sleep disorders – Essay Sample

Sleep is quintessential in our lives. Every human has the main basic functions in common. One of such necessities is our need of sleep. People greatly vary in their sleeping patterns, timing and quality. However, we all agree that sleep is essential for all the people to literally stay alive. Even though it is as important as breathing, many people live ignoring the basic rules which with time result into various sleep disorders. Often the importance of sleep is overlooked. The surveys conducted by the National Sleep Foundation (1999-2004) “reveal that at least 40 million Americans suffer from over 70 different sleep disorders and 60 percent of adults report having sleep problems a few nights a week or more.” (American Psychological Association)

There are many reasons explaining why sleeping is important for people. One of the most vital is that it is the way for our body to rejuvenate. During the period of sleep when we lower our energy levels, our soft tissues and muscles are able to be revitalized and repaired. Concurrently our brain has the time to process and absorb the memories and experiences we learnt during the day. Sleep is important no matter how old we are. However, it’s essential to pay careful attention to children because “importance of sleep during early life when the brain is rapidly maturing and highly changeable” is vital. (Medical News Today, p. 4)

One day of without the sleep is not fatal, however, the increase of sleepless nights will cause negative changes such as mood swings, poor physical and mental wellbeing, provoked disease or even death of a person. To be able to clearly understand the importance of sleep, it is vital to consider the symptoms that happen with the lack of proper sleep.

It is a common norm that the amount of sleep person gets per day is eight hours. However, studies show that if some people are able to function with just six hours, others are in need of no less than ten. Lack of sleep will promptly become a cause of irritability, inability to follow or make decisions through cognitive functions. It will also result into hallucinations, possible weight gain, depressions and anxiety. “A recent survey found that more people are sleeping less than six hours a night, and sleep difficulties visit 75% of us at least a few nights per week”, says Harvard Women’s Health Watch. A chronic sleep disorder in a person will eventually cause immune system deficiency which is very dangerous for person’s health.

Psychologists and scientists, who examine the causes the sleep disorders, show that such problems can result into direct or indirect abnormalities of such systems as cardiovascular, metabolic, brain and nervous system and immune. The lack of sleep can cause insomnia, pathological sleepiness, emotional disorders such as bipolar disorder or depression, alcohol and drug abuse. All of the above symptoms clearly define the necessity of sleep for human beings.

According to sleep experts stress is probably a number one reason of short-term sleeping problems. Under stress we understand possible school or work related issues, family or illness problems among friends, etc. Often sleeping disorders tend to disappear once the stress situation is resolved. But it is important to note that, for instance, insomnia, that arises from short-term sleeping problems, if not carefully treated at the beginning can result into a lengthy discomfort. Among are reasons that can cause human lack of sleep are drinking of alcohol and the beverages that contain coffee. High risk of having sleep disorders have workers who work in shifts or travel a lot. “Biological rhythms” shift and sometimes sleep can be mainly elusive. “All living things contain molecular clocks that anticipate the daily pattern of dawn to dusk”, said Russell Foster in his book “Rhythms of Life”.