SLEEP AND ITS DISORDERS

Something happened to me in Secondary school. The day had just began, I got seated for class, then I felt this incredible urge to put my head down, and I did

Guess what?

I was awakened by the farewell greeting of the teacher that took the last period

I’ve never really been the brightest there is and on the same hand, I’ve never been the dullest. So it’s not typical of me to doze all day

It happened again

This time, I was on my way to evening class and I felt this strong urge again. I ran off to look for a place to lay down

Believe me, I didn’t get to my friend’s bed that I had in mind. I laid on the closest one I saw

I woke up after a few hours and everybody had been looking for me

I left for classes and never got there and no one could explain where I was

These are the only two instances I observed

It hasn’t happened again since that time

But the unusual nature of these two episodes remained with me until I came in contact to information that explained what happened

It’s called narcolepsy

The body skips the arousal stage of sleep & heads straight to “main sleep” without prior warming

I could have been in a Board meeting when that happened

I could hav been behind the wheels of a car

I could have been on top of a NEPA pole

This is just one form of sleep disorder

The most common one is “Insomnia”

It’s so pervasive and sadly is considered as normal by most people

People even take “advantage” of it by keeping themselves occupied during the hours they are unable to fall asleep or remain asleep

Some have accepted it as “routine”

They sleep at a certain time and by 1pm sharp, they wake up and are unable to sleep again for another two or three hours

Some people activate the Twitter night mode and enjoy all it brings

It can also come in form of waking up early, much earlier than you want to

Whichever it is, it’s still a problem

Scientists are unable to tell why we sleep

But sleep is so important that lack of it, or not enough of it, puts you on the frontline of sickness

In Psychiatry, problems with sleep is always recorded as the earliest sign of psychopathology

Some believe that non-communicable, inflammatory diseases are on the rise because humans have altered the natural marker of day and night(with artificial lighting), disrupting sleep and getting less and less of it. Leaving our bodies less hours to recoup from hassles of the day

Thereby burdening it and making it susceptible to just about anything

What am I trying to say ; sleep is important

It’s not a waste of time

It’s not what lazy people do(always)

Lack of it has repercussions. Admittably, mostly not immediately

Hardwork must not translate to little or no sleep

Most importantly, problems with sleep has solutions. Do not be hesitant to seek it

When people hear “mental disorder,” the mind of an average person goes to the scantily, dressed, untidy person talking to themselves in the street seated closed to heap of dirt

Well, sleep problems have an equal share on the round table of mental problems and it affects everyone at one time or another

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Tags: Ezinne Arua, Sleep, Sleep disorder