Sleep Disorders - Insomnia

A sleep disorder can affect how often and how well you sleep. Lack of sufficient sleep can be caused by a myriad of reasons it can also affect your health.  Sleep can affect almost every facit of your life including: driving, relationships, injuries, your ability to do your job, your memory, and your mood.
Lack of sleep can even be linked to conditions like hypertension and diabetes.  If you have the following symptoms below you may have a sleep disorder.

• Excessive tiredness during the day.
• Trouble falling or staying asleep.
• Restless legs or inability to lay still while sleeping.
• Snoring or Sleep Apnea (stop breathing while sleeping).

So how much sleep does a person need?  I know that I have insomnia.  I've had it since I was a teenager.  I typically can get 4-6 hours in one stretch before I wake up.  Very rarely has my body had the ability to sleep for a full 8 hours in one stretch.

• Infants need 16 hours of sleep.
• Teenagers need 9 hours of sleep.
• Adults need 7-8 hours of sleep.

Insomnia is the inability to fall asleep or stay asleep.  It is the most common sleep disorder. Insomnia has been linked to what is referred to as "sleep hygiene."  Sleep hygiene refers to things that can affect your sleeping habits like drinking coffee in the afternoon, eating heavy foods before bed, smoking, having a varied bed time, or falling asleep with the TV or lights on.

Mental health issues like depression and anxiety can also cause insomnia. These conditions can cause you to stay awake worrying or causing habits while you sleep like grinding your teeth. Sadly, often a side effect of the medication to treat the condition also affects sleep. 

Lack of sleep can be linked to several conditions. Some can be caused by lack of sleep and others are exacerbated or worsened by lack of sleep.

• Arthritus
• Heart Burn
• Chronic Pain
• Asthma
• COPD
• Heart Failure
• Thyroid
• Neurological disorders like stroke, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's.

References:
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/ss/slideshow-sleep-disorders-overview?ecd=wnl_wmh_040115&ctr=wnl-wmh-040115_nsl-ld-stry&mb=1fvEi6fjCQIExn%40Mx3jvsOHnVev1imbC3AXI5mexUT0%3d

Sleep Talking

Somniloquy or Sleep talking is a type of parasomnia that causes people to talk in their sleep.  While this is a common occurance for most people is it an abnormal behavior during sleep.  Sometimes the talk can be harmless or funny but it may also be graphic and vulgar.  Often sleep talkers only talk for about 30 seconds per episode, however some have multiple episodes in one night.

So who talks in their sleep, I do!  I've said a multitude of strange things in my sleep.  Half of all children between the ages of 3 and 10 sleep talk.  about 5% adults talk in their sleep as well.

It's hard to know if you talk in your sleep unless someone else has told you.  I'm a light sleeper and on occasion I've woke myself up talking and sitting straight up in bed.  My grandmother used to shout in her sleep so loud it would wake the entire house.

Scientists are still unsure if somniloquy is linked to dreaming or not as it has been observed in all stages of sleep.  In most cases sleep talking is harmless however for some it may indicate serious sleep disorders or other health conditions. Somniloquy can even occur with other sleep disorders like sleepwalking or even sleep eating. 

REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) and sleep terrors are types of disorders linked to sleep talking.  Those with night terrors often exhibit frightening screams, kicking, and flailing and they will be hard to wake up.  Those with RBD may shout, grunt, or even act out their dreams and may become violent.

Some other things that may cause sleeptalking:

• Medications
• Stress
• Fever
• Mental Health Disorders
• Substance Abuse problems

Despite this being a disorder that may be serious for some most of the time it's harmless.  I found a great compilation of the 15 of the funniest things people have said in their sleep on the "Seriously For Real.com"(link below). Beware of strong language on the seriouslyforreal page.

Here are a few of the best:

• My husband rolled over while dead asleep, snuggled me and said "you are the burning ember in the jungles of my night."
• When my younger brother was around 12 and I was in my mid-twenties, I came home from a night out and he was sleeping on my couch.  He stood up, looked at me, and said very forcefully, "Stop wasting the science." Then whispered, "Keep it safe."
• Freshman year of college I started barking in my sleep.  My roommate woke up and started yelling for me to wake up because he thought there was a dog in the room. We were both REALLY confused for about a minute.
• My boyfriend frequently talks in his sleep. His last one was "Whiskey sounds like something you would feed to cats, who have whiskers."
• "I have to find my ostrich! I need a giant omelet."

More here: 15 of the Funniest Things Said While Asleep

Sources:
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/excessive-sleepiness-10/talking-in-your-sleep
http://seriouslyforreal.com/funny/15-funniest-things-people-said-sleep/#sthash.XvE2gTum.qjtu