sleep disorders Flashcards
Two main processes the regulate the timing and structure of sleep
1) Homeostatic process- the drive to sleep that is influenced by the duration of wakefulness –> with each hour you are awake the drive for sleep increases (linear function)
2) The circadian process transmits stimulatory signals to arousal networks to promote wakefulness in opposition to the homeostatic drive to sleep
- melatonin is produced, circadian system switches off and sleep period happens during this night time hours
normal sleep characterised by
- 4-5 sleep cycles
- start with more slow wave sleep and at the end more REM sleep
- Older people; reduction of slow wave sleep and increase fragmentation in sleep
Insomnia Disorder (Primary) DSM 5 Criteria
A) complaint of: Initiation/Maintenance/Early morning awakening
B) Clinically significant distress/impairment in social/cognitive/occupational functioning
C) occurs at least 3 times/week
D) Sleep difficulty present for at least 3 months
E) Sleep difficulty occurs despite adequate opportunity for sleep
F) Disturbance is not due to another sleep disorder
G) Disturbance is not due to a mental disorder, substance, and/or general medical condition
causes of insomnia
- signal in the body is not at the right time
- Sleep should be ALIGNED with the biological signal for sleep
- different circadian timing to the norm
Psychophysiological insomnia
o high arousal -have problem falling asleep and becomes a learnt response
o worry about the sleep they don’t have
o present for at least 1 month and is
characterised by a heightened level of arousal with learned sleep-preventing associations. There is an overconcern with the inability to sleep.
Sleep State Misperception (paradoxical insomnia)
o report terrible sleep but sleep well in a lab (their recordings show they are doing fine) objectively they aren’t having poor sleep
o Paradoxical insomnia (sleep state misperception: a complaint of severe insomnia that occurs without evidence of objective sleep disturbance and without daytime impairment to the extent that would be suggested by the amount of sleep disturbance reported.
o The patient often reports little or no sleep on most nights. It is thought to occur in up to 5% of insomniac patients.
Idiopathic Insomnia
- no real cause
- appears in childhood (long lasting)
- long-standing form of insomnia –>date from childhood and has an insidious onset.
- no factors associated with the onset of the insomnia, which is persistent and without periods of remission
Inadequate Sleep Hygiene
- doing the wrong things and forming bad habits that do not promote the right sleep
-behaviours you are doing that ruin your sleep (going on phone)
- drink caffeine late in the night
- common daily activities that are inconsistent with good-quality sleep and full daytime alertness.
o include irregular sleep onset and wake times
o stimulating and alerting activities before bedtime and substances (e.g., alcohol, caffeine, cigarette smoke) ingested around sleep time
Adjustment sleep disorder
insomnia that is associated with a specific stressor.
The stressor can be psychological, physiologic, environmental, or physical. This disorder exists for a short period, usually days to weeks, and usually resolves when the stressor is no longer present.
Behavioural insomnia of childhood
- child has learnt all the wrong things when they go to sleep
- good practise by parents to teach the right sleep cues
- Limit-setting sleep disorder: stalling or a refusing to go to sleep that is eliminated once a caretaker enforces limits on sleep times and other sleep-related behaviours.
Sleep onset association disorder: reliance on inappropriate sleep associations, such as rocking, watching television, holding a bottle or other object, or requiring environmental conditions such as a lighted room or an alternative place to sleep
Insomnia: The Spielman et al (1987) Model
Pre-disposing factors: individual differences (psychological or biological characteristics that increase your ability to having insomnia
o Being a woman
o Being anxious having hyperarousal
Precipitating factors; certain life events that trigger this insomnia (medical, psychological or environmental) trauma, death, bereavement, work, noise
Perpetuating; maintenance or exacerbation factors, drink coffee, take big naps that take us into this problem
2015 vision onwards
- insomnia can coexist with many conditions, and regardless of which came first we need to address the sleep problems in their own right
treatment for insomnia
o sleep restriction
o Stimulus control (phones tv and alarm clocks out of bedroom
o Relaxation techniques
o Cognitive therapy: challenge persons beliefs about sleep
o Sleep hygiene (regular sleep timing, control of light, CBTI
Sleep restriction
- reduce the sleep period (increase the association with being in bed and being sleep increase their drive for sleep)
o shorten the amount of time spent in bed in order to consolidate sleep.
o Plan to stay in bed for only the length of your calculated average sleep time
Narcolepsy
A. Recurrent periods of an irrepressible need to sleep or lapsing into sleep.
B. At least 3 times/week for 3 months.
C. The presence of one of the following:
a. Episodes of cataplexy (lose all muscle tone - like you would certain stages of sleep)
b. Hypocretin/orexin deficiency ( a neuropeptide)
C. REM sleep latency less than 15minutes, OR MSLT