Sleep attacks are the sudden strong urge to sleep at otherwise abnormal times, such as the middle of the day. These urges can range from sudden onset of tiredness to sudden onset of irresistible urge to sleep. They are not the same as getting sleepy after a big meal or because of sleep deprivation – rather, they strike suddenly, seemingly randomly, and can be quire powerful.
Parasomnias are not a single sleep disorder. Rather, they are a collection of sleep disorders that disrupt your circadian rhythm and impact sleep quality. Some parasomnias are no more than a nuisance to your bed partner or others in your household.
When you don’t get enough sleep, you become sleep deprived. The different between how much sleep you have been getting and how much sleep you personally need is often called a “sleep debt.” The implication here is that over time, a “debt” forms where you need to “catch up” on sleep in order to not suffer from sleep deprivation any more. Unfortunately, overcoming sleep deprivation is not as simple as simply
Binge sleeping – the thing many of us do when we are suffering from sleep deprivation and want to quickly feel normal again. A common scenario that illustrates this: all week you stay up late on your computer, and then get up at normal time to go to work – maybe getting only 6 hours of sleep. Then on the weekend you sleep in an extra few hours each day, maybe even taking naps. This is the essence of binge sleeping – but it doesn’t work.
Your circadian rhythm is your innate biological clock that helps your body function in patterns and rhythms. It regulates your natural sleep schedule, and is closely tied to both melatonin, the sleep hormone, and changes in light.
Shift work sleeping disorder is a circadian rhythm disorder that causes sleep deprivation as a result of doing shift work. Not everyone who works outside of the typical M-F, 9-5 shift develops this disorder, but sleep problems among people who work irregular, long, or night shifts are prone enough to developing sleep problems that there is a disorder named for it.
Sleep attacks are the sudden, often irresistible urge to sleep at otherwise odd times, such as the middle of a meeting. They come quickly in that one moment you are doing a particular activity normally, and in a very short period of time you suddenly feel like you just woke up and need to go back to sleep. Sleep attacks can be a serious safety problem in certain professions and during certain activities like driving.
Being tired all the time usually (though not always) means you are suffering from sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation simply means you are not getting enough sleep, which for adults is at least 7 hours per day, resulting in a “sleep debt.” A sleep debt means that you will need to compensate by getting more and more consistent sleep in the future in order to relieve your sleep deprivation.
If you’ve had insomnia or are dealing with it right now, then you know how frustrating it is and how challenging it can make living a normal, happy life. In short, it can make life extremely miserable. It can make you feel and act like a different version of yourself. It can make you less productive in all areas of life. It shortens your life span and lowers quality of life. So yes, taking steps to avoid it is well worth the effort.
Restless leg syndrome (RLS) is a sleeping disorder that causes uncomfortable feelings in your legs at night, and sometimes other extremities as well. RLS causes enough discomfort to interfere with sleep, leading to sleep deprivation. Hence why it is considered a sleep disorder. It can be a potentially serious condition if the severity is bad enough, and if this post sounds all too familiar you should reach out to your doctor or a sleep specialist.