Sleep Disorders

Sleep disorders are a medical disorder of sleep patterns. Some sleep disorders may interfere with normal physical, mental and emotional functioning. Sleep disorders are often caused by external factors, such as anxiety, depression, trauma, or a life transition. They are divided into four sub-types: primary sleep disorders, dyssomnias, parasomnias and other sleep disorders. Sleep disorders involve difficulties related to sleeping, including difficulty falling or staying asleep, falling asleep at inappropriate times, excessive sleep time or abnormal behaviors associated with sleep. Because there are over one hundred known sleep disorders, having one is not uncommon.

• Most Common Sleep Disorder Symptoms
• Psychotherapy for Sleep Disorders
• Sleep Disorders as a Medical Issue
• Sleep Disorders in the DSM

Most Common Sleep Disorder Symptoms

The most common sleep disorder symptoms include:

• Physical illness

• Depression, anxiety or stress

• Physical discomfort

• Daytime napping

• Counterproductive sleeping habits such as early bedtime or excessive time spent awake in bed

Psychotherapy for Sleep Disorders

Some sleep disorders are entirely a medical condition, while many often have psychological roots. Many sleep disorders develop at a difficult transition in one’s life, or as the result of anxiety or depression. Psychotherapy can be instrumental in helping one work through a sleep disorder, regardless of the cause. 

There are many different types of psychotherapy that are generally used to help treat sleep disorders. These different styles include:

• Adlerian Therapy

• Existential Therapy

• Gestalt Therapy

• Person-centered Therapy

• Psychoanalytic

• Reality Therapy

• Transactional Analysis

Many of these different styles of therapy focus on different aspects of changing behaviors, setting and achieving goals, becoming more aware of self and empowering the client to take control of one's own situation. They each teach different sets of skills to help persons change unwanted sleep patterns if they can and work through whatever the cause of the sleep disorder is.

Sleep Disorders as a Medical Issue

Sleep disorders may cause medical issues such as physical discomfort and illness that may need to be treated medically. Depending upon the actual illness(es) associated with sleep disorders, medical treatment may play a large role in treating sleep disorders and their symptoms. Medical assistance for sleep disorders often includes medication.

Sleep Disorders in the DSM

The DSM categorizes three different types of sleep disorders. Each different type of sleep disorder has sub-types. Sleep disorders are characterized in the DSM as a medical disorder of the sleep patterns. The categories of sleep disorders in the DSM include:

1. Primary sleep disorders

• Primary hypersomnia – excessive amounts of sleepiness

• Primary insomnia – sleeping difficulties

• Narcolepsy – excessive daytime sleepiness

• Breathing-related sleep disorder – Sleep disorder related to breathing (i.e. sleep apnea)

• Circadian rhythm sleep disorder – a family of disorders affecting the timing of sleep

• Dyssomnia Not otherwise specified (NOS) – difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep

2. Parasomnias

• Nightmare disorder – when frequent nightmares occur

• Sleep terror disorder – extreme terror or inability to regain full consciousness

• Sleepwalking disorder – when sleepwalking occurs

• Parasomnia Not otherwise specified (NOS) - when abnormal and unnatural emotions, behaviors, movements, perceptions, and dreams occur while falling asleep, sleeping, between sleep stages or during arousal from sleep 

3. Other sleep disorders

• Sleep disorder – general disorder of sleeping patterns

• Sleep disorder due to a general medical condition

• Hypersomnia type

• Insomnia type

• Mixed type

• Parasomnia type

• Insomnia related to a mental disorder

• Hypersomnia related to a mental disorder

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