Sleep Disorders

In spite of the fact that we spend around 1/3 of our life asleep, until recently there has been relatively little attention paid to disorders of sleep. Some 40 million Americans suffer from chronic disorders of sleep and wakefulness. Unfortunately, these often remain unidentified and undiagnosed by patients and physicians alike.

Consider:

• Six out of every 10 adults say they have sleep problems a few nights a week or more.
  
  
• Daytime sleepiness is severe enough in four out of 10 adults to interfere with their daily activities at least a few days each month.
  
  
• For 20 percent of adults, that interference occurs a few days a week or more.
  
  
• The annual direct cost of sleep-related problems in this country is R16 billion, with an additional R50-R100 billion in indirect costs (accidents, litigation, property destruction, hospitalization, and death).
  
  
• In this country, over 100,000 motor vehicle accidents annually are sleep-related.
  
  
• Disasters such as Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, Challenger, Bhopal, and Exxon Valdez were officially attributed to errors in judgement induced by sleepiness or fatigue.

Disordered or abnormal sleep is often the cause of major medical problems such as heart disease, strokes and high blood pressure. Failure to achieve a normal restful night of sleep is often the cause of a great deal of misery for patients and their loved ones.

In addition to direct health risks, disordered or abnormal sleep may rob people of the joy of life, making each waking day a chore and a task. Sufferers may feel old before their time, and have a great deal of difficulty in just performing the usual tasks of daily living.

There are, in fact, more than 80 different sleep-related disorders recognized by the medical profession. These can cause symptoms ranging from excessive sleepiness during the day, to abnormal or even violent behaviours at night.

It is with this in mind that the University of Maryland has created a multidisciplinary, comprehensive sleep disorders centre for the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders.

Relaxation Techniques

Relaxation techniques often can help people with sleep problems
get a good night's sleep. Several relaxation techniques are listed below.

Progressive Relaxation

This technique is often most useful when you tape the instructions beforehand. You can tape these instructions, reading them slowly and leaving a short pause after each one.

• Lie on your back, close your eyes.
  
  
• Feel your feet. Sense their weight. Consciously relax them and sink into the bed. Start with your toes and progress to your ankles.
  
  
• Feel your knees. Sense their weight. Consciously relax them and feel them sink into the bed.
  
  
• Feel you upper legs and thighs. Feel their weight. Consciously relax them and feel them sink into the bed.
  
  
• Feel your abdomen and chest. Sense your breathing. Consciously will them to relax. Deepen your breathing slightly and feel your abdomen and chest sink into the bed.
  
  
• Feel your buttocks. Sense their weight. Consciously relax them and feel them sink into the bed.
  
  
• Feel your hands. Sense their weight. Consciously relax them and feel them sink into the bed.
  
  
• Feel your upper arms. Sense their weight. Consciously relax them and feel them sink into the bed.
  
  
• Feel your shoulders. Sense their weight. Consciously relax them and feel them sink into the bed.
  
  
• Feel your neck. Sense its weight. Consciously relax it and feel it sink into the bed.
  
  
• Feel your head and skull. Sense its weight. Consciously relax it and feel it sink into the bed.
  
  
• Feel your mouth and jaw. Consciously relax them. Pay particular attention to your jaw muscles and unclench them if you need to. Feel your mouth and jaw relax and sink into the bed.
  
  
• Feel your eyes. Sense if there is tension in your eyes. Sense if you are forcibly closing your eyelids. Consciously relax your eyelids and feel the tension slide off the eyes.
  
  
• Feel your face and cheeks. Consciously relax them and feel the tension slide off into the bed.
  
  
• Mentally scan your body. If you find any place that is still tense, then consciously relax that place and let it sink into the bed.

Toe Tensing

This one may seem like a bit of a contradiction to the previous one, but by alternately tensing and relaxing your toes, you actually draw tension from the rest of the body. Try it!

1. Lie on your back, close your eyes.
2. Sense your toes.
3. Now pull all 10 toes back toward your face. Count to 10 slowly.
4. Now relax your toes.
5. Count to 10 slowly.
6. Now repeat the above cycle 10 times.

Deep Breathing

By concentrating on our breathing, deep breathing allows the rest of our body to relax itself. Deep breathing is a great way to relax the body and get everything into synchrony. Relaxation breathing is an important part of yoga and martial arts for this reason.

1. Lie on your back.
   
   
2. Slowly relax your body. You can use the progressive relaxation technique we described above.
   
   
3. Begin to inhale slowly through your nose if possible. Fill the lower part of your chest first, then the middle and top part of your chest and lungs. Be sure to do this slowly, over 8–10 seconds.
   
   
4. Hold your breath for a second or two.
   
   
5. Then quietly and easily relax and let the air out.
   
   
6. Wait a few seconds and repeat this cycle.
   
   
7. If you find yourself getting dizzy, then you are overdoing it. Slow down.
   
   
8. You can also imagine yourself in a peaceful situation such as on a warm, gentle ocean. Imagine that you rise on the gentle swells of the water as you inhale and sink down into the waves as you exhale.
   
   
9. You can continue this breathing technique for as long as you like until you fall asleep.

Guided Imagery

In this technique, the goal is to visualize yourself in a peaceful setting.

1. Lie on your back with your eyes closed.
   
   
2. Imagine yourself in a favorite, peaceful place. The place may be on a sunny beach with the ocean breezes caressing you, swinging in a hammock in the mountains or in your own backyard. Any place that you find peaceful and relaxing is OK.
   
   
3. Imagine you are there. See and feel your surroundings, hear the peaceful sounds, smell the flowers or the barbecue, fell the warmth of the sun and any other sensations that you find. Relax and enjoy it.
   
   
4. You can return to this place any night you need to. As you use this place more and more you will find it easier to fall asleep as this imagery becomes a sleep conditioner.
   
   
5. Some patients find it useful to visualize something boring. This may be a particularly boring teacher or lecturer, co-worker or friend.

Quiet Ears

1. Lie on your back with your eyes closed.
2. Place your hands behind your head. Make sure they are relaxed.
3. Place your thumbs in your ears so that you close the ear canal.
4. You will hear a high-pitched rushing sound. This is normal.
5. Listen to this sound for 10-15 minutes.
6. Then put your arms at your sides, actively relax them and go to sleep.