Sleep-wake disturbance
“I don’t know if you’ve ever felt like that. That you wanted to sleep for a thousand years. Or just not exist. Or just not be aware that you do exist. Or something like that. I think wanting that is very morbid, but I want it when I get like this. That’s why I’m trying not to think. I just want it all to stop spinning.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
What do you mean by sleep-wake disturbance?
The sleep-wake disturbance is considered as a sleep disorder which occurs when the body’s internal clock is not working properly and it is out of the sync with the environment. Our body has its time system which regulates the bodily functions and behaviours through this cycle. You can have an idea about this system by understanding the fact that even if your alarm does not ring you usually yourself wake up in the morning or maybe just a little late and then you fall asleep in the night at the time when it is right. Having an unsynchronized biological clock makes it hard for people to manage their personal and office life as they wake up and fall asleep at odd times.
Common Causes
There can be many causes behind the sleep wake disturbance and can be psychological or physiological. Following are the most common causes of sleep-wake disturbance:
- Allergies
- Respiratory problems
- Stress
- Anxiety
- Chronic pain
- Frequent urination
- Nocturia
Common Symptoms
When you are not taking quality sleep it is going to breed a number of health care concerns. Following are the most common symptoms of sleep-wake disturbance:
- Feeling extreme sleepy in daytime
- Problem in sleeping at night
- Laziness in daytime
- Dizziness in daytime
- Discomfort
- Stressful life
- Mental and physical fatigue
- Irregular sleep and wake cycle
- Breathing in an unusual manner
Risk Factors
There are some issues that you might have to face in life in case you have developed this disorder. Following are some of the most observed risk factors of sleep-wake disturbance:
- You may have other mental health and physical problem
- Stressful life
- Problems at school and workplaces
- Disturbance in lifestyle
Complications
Following are the most common complication you may face if you have a sleep-wake disturbance:
- Lifestyle is disturbing
- Personal relationships disturb due to this behaviour
- Financial problems
- Depression due to this behaviour
- Stress
- Anxiety
- Mental and physical health problems
Diagnoses
Following are the methodologies and techniques used by the doctors or psychiatrists:
- Physical examination
- Psychiatric evaluation
- Asking about the symptoms you have experience
- Medical interview
- Behavioural therapy
How doctors diagnose that you have a sleep-wake disturbance or not?
Sleep wake disturbance although is easy to diagnose but the major problem is that on the initial stages people do not actually consider it a disorder and they therefore seek medical help when the problem has reached a stage that is causing significant distress. Following are the methodologies and techniques used by the doctors or psychiatrists are:
- Physical examination
- Psychiatric evaluation
- Asking about the symptoms you have experience
- Medical interview
- Behavioural therapy
How doctors treat sleep-wake disturbance?
Doctors can treat this type of psychological problems by the following methods and techniques which we discussed here:
- Medical treatment
Doctors will prescribe you an appropriate medication to overcome the symptoms and the disease.
- Behavioural treatment
Doctors can also do your behavioural treatment and treat you by the help of cogitative behavioural therapy