Identifying Types of Sleep Disorders based on Symptoms

Sleep disorders many times go undiagnosed in people who suffer from it. Such people have a tendency to feel very drowsy through the day. They might receive comments from other people who see them that they look very exhausted. These people have trouble getting sleep at night or remaining asleep through the night.

Such people often have difficulty in concentration or have the tendency to forget many things. Owing to all this, such people are often seen to be very irritable, emotional and have sudden changes in the mood. These problems arise due to lack of sleep and could be indicative of some kind of sleeping disorder.

If you question such a person with a sleep disorder that is undiagnosed and check if they have trouble falling asleep, you will possibly get an affirmative answer. Along with this, you might also see a response which might communicate that the person has problems with remaining awake during the day or an answer saying that it is just difficult for the person to get out of bed in the morning. You might also encounter replies like the person has trouble remaining asleep due to doing bizarre activities in their sleep or even answers like the person has trouble falling asleep owing to their spouse. Based on the type of response, the kind of sleep disorder one is experiencing can be ascertained.

If a person has trouble falling asleep, it could be a problem which he/ she might encounter either when they retire at night or in the middle of their sleep or sometime at the crack of dawn.

It is quite common for many people to have trouble falling asleep when they retire for the night. This condition is referred to as sleep latency which might be a symptom of some kind of sleep disorder such as delayed sleep disorder, paradoxical insomnia, restless leg syndrome, shift work or sleep onset insomnia. Some people have trouble remaining asleep and this condition is referred to as sleep fragmentation. Such people have easy induction of sleep but keep getting up in between. This might be a symptom of sleep disorders like shift work or sleep maintenance insomnia. If the person has the tendency to get up during the wee hours of dawn and have trouble going falling asleep once again, it could be a symptom of sleep maintenance insomnia or advanced sleep phase disorder.

If a person has the tendency to feel drowsy through the day and have difficulty remaining alert during the day, then the person might be suffering from sleep disorders like advanced sleep phase disorder, narcolepsy, periodic limb movement disorder, obstructive or central sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome or shift work.

People who have enormous amount of trouble to wake up in the morning and take a lot of time to become alert might be suffering from sleep disorder such as excessive sleep inertia. This in turn could be caused as a result of other sleep disorders such as delayed sleep phase disorder or sleep apnea.

People who say that they perform bizarre activities when they are asleep can be suffering from some sleep disorder like bruxism, confusion arousal, nightmares, REM sleep disorder, sleep related eating disorder, sleep terrors or sleepwalking. Sleeping disorders belonging to this group are often referred to as parasomnia.

If a person complains that they are unable to sleep because of their spouses, they are more likely to be suffering from sleep disorders like bruxism, periodic limb movement disorder, restless leg syndrome, sleep apnea or snoring.

Resources:
Identifying Sleep Disorder Through Effective Sleep TestQuestionnaire Helps Identify Children's Sleep Disorders
Identifying Sleep Disorders in Children