Did you know that Insomnia......

Based on the responses of the 36,984 randomly selected respondents, the study reported the following:

1. 13% (about 1 in 7) of people in Canada over the age of 15 have insomnia. (Editor's Note: Compare to an estimated 9% of the US population)
2. 18% of these reported sleeping less than 5 hours a night.
3. 29% of them said that they had taken some kind of sleep medication during the previous 12 months, versus 7% of non-insomniacs.
4. Insomnia risk rises with age – about 10% at age 15-24, to about 20% at age 75+.
5. Women are more likely to report insomnia than are men, but only just – 15% versus 12%.
6. Medical conditions seemed to affect about 20% of the sleepless.
7. Almost 1/3 reported insomnia along with anxiety or mood disorders – versus about 12% who didn’t report these issues.
8. 23% of people who reported their lives as “stressful” suffered from insomnia – about double the people who reported “little or no” stress.
9. 17% of insomniacs rated their ability to cope with difficult problems as fair or poor.
10. Heave/obese people have a higher prevalence of insomnia than people of normal weight. The lowest reported episodes of insomnia were people of a normal weight.
11. Those with high school education or lower report a higher incidence of insomnia than more educated groups. Lower education generally translates into a lower standard of living (they looked at this as well).
12. 16% of heavy drinkers (2+ drinks/day) reported insomnia. It’s pretty much taken as fact now that alcohol may help you get to sleep, but the quality of that sleep is really poor.
13. 18% of people who use cannabis (marijuana) were sleepless.

LINK: http://www.myzeo.com/sleep/knowledge-center/articles/13-surprising-facts-about-insomnia

Insomina

Narcolepsy Cartoon

Narcolepsy Stats

	Affects as many as 200,000 Americans
	Fewer than 50,000 are diagnosed
	8 to 12% have a close relative with the disease
	Affects men slightly more than women
	20 to 25% of people with narcolepsy have all four symptoms (excessive daytime sleepiness, sudden loss of muscle function, sleep paralysis, hallucinations)

Insomnia Stats

	20-40% of all adults have insomnia in the course of any year
	1 out of 3 people have insomnia at some point in their lives
	Over 70 million Americans suffer from disorders of sleep and wakefulness
	Of those, 60% have a chronic disorder

Disorders

Insomnia- in the middle of the night a person remains awake for a few hours before falling back asleep . Because much time is spent on trying to fall back asleep this can cause a persons’ daily life to have an unfolding twist. He or she will be less attentive to their surroundings and may carry on having mood swings. This can be a major distraction for adults at their jobs, teenagers at school, and even children.
Obstructive sleep Apnoea syndrome (OSAS)- has repeated awakenings throughout the night, snoring, and cessation of breathing during sleep . Many times, nightmares can increase a person to awake in the middle of the night several times and to due to this issue, a person cannot sleep in peace. Even by snoring in the middle of the night can have its consequences. If a person has a partner, that partner will be affected as well since by the noise the other is causing, therefore forbidding them from having a peaceful sleep. Narcolepsy is another common disorder. Symptoms for narcolepsy include: excessive sleepiness in the daytime, desire to fall asleep and the feeling of being refreshed following daytime sleep (Overview of Sleep & Sleep Disorders). It is very common in doctors, lawyers, and other professions that include a busy schedule or having more than sixty hours a week working. Doing an activity during the day requires energy.

Why is it important to sleep?

Why is sleep important?

*Helps improve general health
*Productivity
*A better diet
*Mood- A person is less likely to have mood swings or shifts. Many times missed sleep can make a person not think clearly of their actions towards their mood. It causes many people to change. Starting from having a slight of energy to completely becoming grumpy or angry.
*Energy level- When sleep is deprived, a person's level of energy decreases. They may become restless and have a low energy level towards any type of performance.
*Job performance- without sleep there is not much energy, and without energy a person cannot function in a job performance.


A person over all needs to rest the mind and body through the recommended hours of sleep (usually 7-9 hours). By doing so, a person will be able to have consistent clear thoughts, higher energy levels, a higher performance, etc.

Patterns for sleep

What patterns of sleep exist? Everyone has different ways that their body rests and there are factors to why it happens. There are three common sleeping patterns: monophasic, biphasic, and polyphasic.

*Monophasic- it is what a normal person will sleep, which is usually the typical eight or more hours at night.

*Biphasic- Sleeping about eight hours and and resting once during the day.

*Polyphasic- Sleeping different "shifts" during a period of twenty-four hours.