1. Mrs. Marsh Psychological Disorders Unit 12: Abnormal Psychology

2. Recurring problems in falling or staying asleep.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. Treatment Exercise. 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.

6. A sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks; the sufferer may lapse directly into REM sleep, often at inopportune times. narco = numbness lepsy = seizure

7. Associated Features Overwhelmed with sleepiness; collapses into REM sleep. Release of muscular tension. “Attacks” usually lasts less than 5 minutes Some lasting between 10-20 minutes

8. 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.

9. Etiology Research 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). Treatment Medication Hope of treating the disorder with a drug that mimics the missing orexin.

10. Insomnia Affects 10% of adults and 25% of older adults. Narcolepsy 1 in 2000 (0.05%)