INSOMNIA AND OTHER DYSSOMNIAS
Aside from insomnia, there are still several sleep disorders as classified by the Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) into four groups. The first group, sleep disorders related to another mental disorder, are those sleep problems that have been caused by psychological disorders. The second group is for those sleep disorders due to a medical condition and covers those sleeping problems that have been caused by biological aspects of a medical illness. Several degenerative ailments, cerebrovascular illnesses, endocrine problems, viral and bacterial infections, pulmonary diseases, and pain from musculoskeletal illnesses can actually disturb sleep.
The third category is for the substance-induced sleep disorders and refers to the those caused by the use and abuse of substances, such as prescribed medications, and nonprescription substances including alcohol and caffeine. Primary sleep disorders belong to the fourth group. This category has two subcategories: those that abnormalities in the timing, quality and amount of sleep or called dyssomnias and those that are characterized by abnormal or unusual behavioral and physiological incidents that one undergoes while sleeping.
Insomnia is the most common and most recognized type of sleep disorder. It is often described as the difficulty in falling and staying asleep which can also disrupt the normal daily functioning of a person. An opposite version of insomnia, hypersomnia, is otherwise characterized by being excessively drowsy or sleepy and sleeping for long periods of time. People who suffer from hypersomnia still wake up sleepy after sleeping for more than ten hours.
They also take frequent naps and tend to fall asleep easily in a non-stimulating environment. The hypersomnia must persist for at least a month and must leave significant effect on the person's daily functioning before it can be diagnosed as such a disorder. Another sleep disorder is narcolepsy that causes a patient to suffer from daily irresistible attacks of drowsiness or sleepiness for at least three months, during non-stimulating situations or even while driving.
This condition also manifests in sudden loss of muscle tone or recurring intrusions of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep elements called cataplexy. Breathing-related sleep disorders are also classified as dyssomnias. This disorder refers to sleeping difficulties that are caused by sleep-related breathing condition like apnea. Sleep apnea is caused by recurring episodes of obstruction in the upper airway while a person is sleeping. A person suffering from apnea tends to snore heavily and loudly then stops breathing for several seconds.
This sleep disruption can also cause excessive drowsiness or insomnia. The last parcel of dyssomnias are the circadian rhythm sleep disorders, those sleeping problems caused by incongruency between the required sleep-wake pattern in a person's environment and that person's circadian sleep-wake pattern.