Symptoms of sleep disorders are varied and depend on the type of disorder. But whatever the disturbance of sleep, in a short period of time it can lead to a change in the emotional state, mindfulness and working capacity of a person. Children of school age have problems with study, the ability to absorb new material is declining. It happens that the patient turns to the doctor with complaints of poor health, not suspecting that it is associated with a violation of sleep.
Psychosomatic insomnia. Insomnia is considered situational if it lasts no more than 3 weeks. People with insomnia do not sleep well, often wake up in the middle of the night and can not fall asleep. Characteristic earlier morning awakening, a sense of lack of sleep after sleep. As a result, irritability, emotional instability, chronic overfatigue occur. The situation is complicated by the fact that patients are experiencing because of sleep disturbances and anxiously waiting for the night. Time spent without sleep during night awakenings, it seems to them 2 times longer. As a rule, situational insomnia is caused by the emotional state of a person under the influence of certain psychological factors. Often, after the termination of the stress factor, sleep normalizes. However, in some cases, the difficulties of falling asleep and nightly awakenings become familiar, and the fear of insomnia only exacerbates the situation, which leads to the development of constant insomnia.
Insomnia caused by taking alcohol or medication. Long continued use of alcoholic drinks leads to disturbances in the organization of sleep. The phase of fast sleep is shortened and the patient often wakes up at night. After stopping alcohol intake, usually within 2 weeks of sleep disturbance pass.
Sleep disorders can be a side effect of drugs that excite the nervous system. Long-term use of sedatives and hypnotics can also lead to insomnia. Over time, the effect of the drug decreases, and increasing the dose leads to a short-term improvement in the situation. As a result, sleep disorders can worsen, despite the increase in dosage. In such cases, frequent short-term awakenings and the disappearance of a clear boundary between the phases of sleep.
Insomnia with mental illness is characterized by a constant sense of intense anxiety at night, a very sensitive and shallow sleep, frequent awakenings, daytime apathy and fatigue.
The syndrome of sleep apnea or sleep apnea is a short-term cessation of air flow into the upper respiratory tract, which occurs during sleep. Such a pause in breathing can be accompanied by snoring or motor anxiety. There are obstructive apneas that occur as a result of closure of the lumen of the upper respiratory tract by inhalation, and central apnea associated with disruption of the respiratory center.
Insomnia with restless legs syndrome develops due to the sensation arising in the depth of the calf muscles, which requires making the legs move. An uncontrollable desire to move legs occurs before going to bed and passes during movement or walking, but then it can happen again.
In some cases, sleep disturbances occur because of involuntary, repetitive, bending movements in the leg, foot, or thumb in the dream. Usually the bending lasts 2 seconds and repeats in half a minute.
Sleep disorders in narcolepsy are characterized by sudden paroxysms of falling asleep during the day. They are short and can arise during a trip in transport, after meals, during monotonous work, and sometimes in the process of active work. In addition, narcolepsy is accompanied by attacks of cataplexy – a sharp loss of muscle tone, because of which the patient may even fall. Most often the attack occurs during a pronounced emotional reaction (anger, laughter, fright, surprise).
Disturbance of sleep and wakefulness. Sleep disorders associated with changing the time zone (“reactive phase shift”) or the shift work schedule are adaptive and pass through 2-3 days.
The syndrome of the delayed period of a dream is characterized by impossibility to fall asleep at certain hours necessary for a normal mode of work and rest on working days. As a rule, patients with such a disturbance of sleep fall asleep at 2 am or closer to the morning. However, on weekends or during holidays, when there is no need in the regime, patients do not notice any problems with sleep.
The syndrome of premature sleep rarely gives rise to a doctor. Patients quickly fall asleep and sleep well, but they wake up too early and, in the evening, go to bed early. Such sleep disorders often occur in people of age and usually do not give them much discomfort.
The syndrome of a non-24-hour cycle of sleep and wakefulness consists in the impossibility for the patient to live according to the schedule of 24-hour days. The biological days of such patients often include 25-27 hours. These disorders of sleep occur in people with personality changes and in the blind.
Sleeping (somnambulism) is the unconsciousness of the owls
Causing complex automatic actions during sleep. Patients with similar sleep disorders can get up late at night, walk and do something. At the same time, they do not wake up, resist attempts to wake them up and can commit dangerous for their lives actions. Typically, this condition lasts no more than 15 minutes. After this, the patient returns to bed and continues to sleep, or wakes up.
Nighttime fears often occur during the first hours of sleep. The patient with a cry sits in bed in a state of fear and panic. This is accompanied by tachycardia and increased breathing, sweating, dilating pupils. After a few minutes, calmed down, the patient falls asleep. In the morning, he usually does not remember the nightmare.
Bedwetting is observed in the first third of a night’s sleep. It can be physiological in young children and pathological in children who have already learned how to go to the toilet on their own.