Sleep Disorders (2) - Sleep Disorders 1 Insomnia chronic...

Sleep Disorders
1. Insomnia - chronic problem with obtaining a sufficient amount of sleep.
There are 3 basic patterns of insomnia:
a) initial problems falling asleep
b) difficulty remaining asleep
c) persistent early awakenings
Although many people believe they are insomniacs, most are not (pseudoinsomnia). There is a
high rate of false belief in insomnia for several reasons. The main reason is the erroneous belief
that we must get 8 hours of sleep. Many sleep experts (including several that I have worked with)
insist that 8 hours is the required minimum for the "normal" adult human to obtain in order to
function properly. However, the research simply does not support this. It is true that some
cognitive functioning is slightly hindered, but overall, not obtaining 8 hours of sleep is NOT
going to cause you major problems. Now, it may make you very tired, and the feelings of
drowsiness may then result in problems, but physiological deficits due to sleep deprivation are
not seen simply by not obtaining 8 hours of sleep a night. Sorry.