Types

• The most common sleep disorders in adults are insomnia, sleep apnea and narcolepsy. Other less common sleep problems include night terrors and nightmares, but are less common in adults than in children. A person may also have more than one disorder at once.
  
  

Identification

• Insomnia is the most widely known disorder. It simply means an individual cannot fall asleep, even when they are tired. Often when they do sleep they wake constantly during the night. Sleep apnea results in problems breathing during sleep, which causes the person to wake constantly and never fall into a deep sleep when resting. Finally, narcolepsy causes a person to fall asleep suddenly without being able to control it.
  
  

Causes

• There are different reasons why an individual may develop a sleep disorder. One explanation is simply a neurological problem, which can be fixed with medication. Another could be that an underlying cause, such as stress, anxiety or a recent change in lifestyle is causing the individual problems.
  
  

Effects

• The effects of lack of sleep start out with fatigue and problems concentrating. As the problem continues, the individual may begin to experience memory loss, find it almost impossible to concentrate and fall asleep at inappropriate times.
  
  

Prevention/Solution

• Talking with a doctor is the best way to decide what the next step should be. If the problem is simply neurological, sleep medication may be prescribed for a certain period of time. If the problem is a result of stress or other mental problem, therapy might help to fix the problem and cause the sleeping disorder to go away on its own.