Sleep Disorders Among Teenagers

Sleep disorders among teenagers affects between seven to ten percent of teenagers which are called Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder, also known as DNS. By the time they reach young adulthood, many of these teenagers overgrow this disorder . Lower than one percent of adults are considered to have DSP. Often sleep disorder has been mistaken for insomnia by many people.

A great deal of people with delayed sleep phase disorder are named to as night owls. This is because if allowed to be on their own, they would stay up till really late, some of the times until 4 or 5 a.m. They like to get up really late in the morning or early afternoon.

Some of the times, a lot of teenagers like to stay up late and sleep in in the morning because they prefer to socialize at that time of the day. Or perhaps, it can also be due to the natural delay in the circadian sleep / wake rhythm at their age of development.

One of this sleep disorders symptoms is when teenagers often have a very hard time getting up in the morning for school. Even if they go to sleep at a regular time, such as 11 p.m., they toss and turn for hours like someone with insomnia. The difference is, unlike an insomniac, people with delayed sleep phase disorder have no difficulty staying asleep. They do have a very difficult time getting up early in the morning. Sleep disorders among teenagers usual make the teenagers very tired during the day and may even fall asleep in the classroom. The definite cause of this sleep disorder is not known. It is known for certain that it is a circadian rhythm problem.

Sleep disorder treatments are available for people that need to get onto a more traditional sleep / wake schedule. The types of treatment include, bright light, chronotherapy, melatonin and over- the-counter prescribed sleeping pills.

The bright light treatment for delayed sleep phase disorder is one form of sleep disorder treatments which uses bright light to trick the brain’s circadian clock . Exposed to bright light shifts the circadian rhythm, if it is distributed within a couple of hours of the body’s lowest temperature at night.

Chronotherapy has been used as sleep disorder treatments for someone with delayed sleep phase disorder requires a block of time one week long. Each day bedtime is delayed by three hours successively. For instance, for someone that falls asleep at 2 a.m. but wants to fall asleep at 11. p.m., their bedtime would move to 5 a.m. on the first day. The next day it would move to 8 a.m. and continue this cycle for a week. Sleep disorders among teenagers can be quite serious where in some cases, teenagers suffering with delayed sleep phase disorder would need a week off from school in order to complete this therapy. Once the desired bed time is reached it is very important to keep a consistent wake up time.

There are several sleep disorder treatments requiring respective drugs that are utilized to treat delayed sleep phase disorder. . Prescription medicine such as Ramelteon, and other sleeping pills, have been successful in dealing teenagers and adults with delayed sleep phase disorder.In addition, Melatonin has been successful in altering the sleep cycle of people with this sleep disorder.

If your teenager has difficulty dozing off and all of the time prefer to stay up late, be well aware of the possibleness that a sleep disorder may be present. Parents and teachers had better be informed of sleep disorders among teenagers so that they are more observing with the sleep disorders symptoms and sleep disorder treatments can be sought-after.

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