Mrs. Marsh

Psychological Disorders

Unit 12: Abnormal Psychology

Recurring problems in falling or staying asleep.

Associated Features

It is not an occasional inability to sleep when anxious or excited.

Chronic or persistent difficulty with sleeping:Trouble falling asleep.Frequent awakening.Getting a full night’s sleep but not feeling rested.

Poor Treatment

Many mistakenly try to treat the problems using sleeping pills or alcohol.These tactics reduce REM sleep, leaving people

feeling groggy and tired the next day.

TreatmentExercise.Avoid caffeine and rich food in the afternoon or

before bedtime.Drink milk before bed to generate serotonin.Relax before bed, use dim light.Sleep on a regular schedule.Hide the clock.Manage your stress levels.

A sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks; the sufferer may lapse directly into REM sleep, often at inopportune times.

narco = numbnesslepsy = seizure

Associated FeaturesOverwhelmed with sleepiness; collapses into

REM sleep.Release of muscular tension.“Attacks” usually lasts less than 5 minutes

Some lasting between 10-20 minutes

Associated Features“Attacks” sometimes occur at inopportune

times:For example

After taking a terrific swing in baseball.When laughing loudly.When shouting angrily.During sex.

EtiologyResearch has been discovering that the

disorder is a brain disease.Genes may play a role.Absence of a hypothalamic neural center that

produces orexin (a neurotransmitter associated with alertness).

TreatmentMedication

Hope of treating the disorder with a drug that mimics the missing orexin.

Insomnia

Affects 10% of adults and 25% of older adults.

Narcolepsy

1 in 2000 (0.05%)