We live in a world where one has to constantly be on the go. Its ever-changing and ever-evolving nature has made survival a bit difficult. Millions of individuals are subject to stress and tight work schedules, that bind them to a hectic routine. Some other determinants related to personal life such as relationship conflicts, living conditions, income, mental health issues, lack of resources, etc. all contribute to the stress that robs their precious sleep.
If you are one among those individuals that experience difficulties while sleeping, know that you’re not alone. There are millions of others, just like you, who suffer due to sleep disorders. Experiencing such difficulties for some time can hint towards some recent changes that you might have made in your lifestyle or some medications or illness, which is keeping you from taking enough rest.
This might cause you sleeping troubles for some time, however, if the sleeping difficulty worsens and persists for more than a few weeks, then it could be an indication of a sleep disorder. Let us dig deep and find out why more and more men are suffering from sleeping disorders nowadays and become aware of the types of sleep disorders.
Types of sleep disorders
Sleep disorders are problems linked to the sleep-wake cycle or the circadian rhythm, that disrupt an individual’s ability to have adequate sleep, which can make them feel tired and sleepy the entire day. These disorders affect the quality, in addition to the amount, and timing of your sleep, which impairs your memory function, and as a result, you feel distressed throughout the day.
Common types of sleep disorders include:
Obstructive sleep apnea
This condition causes an individual to stop breathing momentarily due to the narrowing of airways. The sudden loss of breath might disrupt an individual’s sleep cycle.
Insomnia
Individuals with this condition cannot fall asleep or stay asleep or find it too difficult to go back to sleep after waking up in the middle.
Narcolepsy
In this condition, individuals feel like sleeping during the daytime despite getting sleep at night.
Restless legs syndrome
This condition makes the individual move their legs irresistibly due to the sensations or tingling in their feet or legs.
Sleep-wake disorders
Sleep-wake disorders can result due to physiological conditions or mental health issues such as constant stress, anxiety disorder, clinical depression, or cognitive disorders. Such disorders also impact your sexual health. Men might experience sexual disorders like loss of sex drive and erectile dysfunction (ED) or impotence. But the issues of impotence can be managed with the help of ED medications such as Malegra. Thus, sleep disorders can disrupt one’s overall health.
Reasons why men experience sleeping disorders
Physical or physiological conditions
Illnesses and chronic health conditions like heart disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), type 2 diabetes, cancer, asthma, and several others can make it difficult for an individual to fall asleep. These conditions often cause pain or inflammation, thereby affecting sleep. The stress caused due to these illnesses can also cause you to feel drowsy and insomniac throughout the day.
Mental health conditions
Day-to-day stress can affect your mood and make you feel low. If the stress continues to remain for a long, then it becomes an anxiety disorder, which can strip away your mental peace and ability to relax. Conditions like anxiety disorders, depression, dementia, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s, Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bipolar disorders, and others affect your brain functioning. These conditions might interfere with your brain activity and suppress the hormones that put an individual to sleep.
Injury
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) which is caused by a violent blow to the head can affect your sleep pattern. The brain tissues may get damaged, which may give rise to difficulties with sleeping. Sleep disorders are quite common among individuals that have been through an accident that has got them an injury in their brain.
Work-shift timings
If you keep changing your work schedule by switching back and forth between the day shift and night shift, then you are more likely to experience sleep disorders. Your body clock makes you fall asleep at a particular time every day, but when you replace your sleep time with work time, then your body clock gets majorly impacted. Hence, your likelihood of suffering from sleep disorders is high if you keep changing your work schedule.
Medications
Certain medications taken for treating some illness or health condition can make it difficult for you to fall asleep. The active ingredients in the medications may interfere with your brain function and inhibit the release of certain hormones that are responsible for putting you to sleep. The side effects of certain medications can make you feel insomniac and leave you sleepless.
Excessive Screen time
Men nowadays cannot live without their cell phones or electronic gadgets. These electronic devices’ screen emits blue lights that tend to stimulate the part of your brain which controls the sleep-wake cycle or circadian rhythm. While sleeping, one must keep the lights as dim as possible. Darkness helps your brain to release melatonin which is a hormone that makes you fall asleep. But some individuals carry their electronic devices to bed. The blue light emission interrupts your brain’s normal function of releasing melatonin and inhibits its release, which makes you remain awake until late. This could be one of the strong reasons why men face sleeping disorders.
Last Word
Sleep is a restorative activity that is essential for your overall well-being. But sleep disorders create complete imbalances, physically and mentally. These disorders are majorly influenced by several factors like illnesses, chronic conditions, excessive stress, mental health issues, frequent changes in work shifts, and too much usage of electronic devices, and medications. One can treat sleep disorders by managing these factors.
