Sleep disorders are conditions that affect to sleep well on a regular basis. There are 5 types of sleep disorders; insomnia, sleep apnea, parasomnias, restless leg syndrome and narcolepsy.

1. Insomnia is the inability to fall asleep or remain asleep regularly and may cause the person to be easily irritable, may cause weight gain and the person may have difficulty concentrating.
2. Sleep apnea is an occurrence where a person has pauses in breathing during sleep; resulting in the body’s oxygen intake to decrease. This may cause the person to wake up various times while sleeping.
3. Parasomnias is a group of sleep disorders that cause abnormal movements and behaviours while asleep and these may include sleepwalking, nightmares, and bedwetting.
4. Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) is where the person has a need to move their legs, which in consequence will lead to a tingling sensation in the legs.
5. Narcolepsy is also known as “sleep attacks” where a person feels extremely tired and falls asleep without warning and is related to several neurological disorders.

Insomnia can potentially cause difficulty concentrating and weight gain due to the constant lack of sleep. Due to this, it can cause impaired work or school performance so a person cannot fulfill his/her full potential.

Causes of insomnia include stress, where active thinking about a certain issue keeps the person awake at night or makes it hard to stay asleep. Anxiety is also a common cause of insomnia as more serious anxiety disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder may disrupt your sleep. Worrying about not going to sleep also can make it harder to fall asleep.

Depression can also cause insomnia. Medical conditions such as breathing issues or chronic pain, menopause, perimenopause (ie a few years before menopause) or andropause (the male equivalent of menopause, ie: deficiency of male hormone testosterone similar to the deficiency of the female hormone of estrogen causing menopause and perimenopause) can also cause insomnia. More common things like not having a calm and comfortable sleeping environment, bad sleeping habits such as drinking coffee before sleeping, a change in the environment due to traveling or work (jetlag) also causes insomnia.