Millions of Americans are suffering from many forms of sleep disorder. And often, sleep problems at night become more than just tossing and turning on your bed and having dark circles or eye bags the following morning. The implications linked to sleep disorders can seriously affect your mental and physical capabilities; in some cases, sleep disorders can even cause death.

One glaring example where sleep problems can become lethal can be found in motor vehicle accidents. From 1997 to 2002, data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association recorded that there were around 1.3 million traffic accidents caused by people who were sleepy or had fallen to sleep while driving; which in turn, is caused by sleep deficiency. And this is just one sleep disorder. There are other sleep problems that can wreak havoc in the lives of so many people.

Insomnia

Perhaps, the most well-known sleep disorder is insomnia. Many people think that they suffer from it whenever they have difficulty getting to sleep during one particular night. But actually, insomnia happens only if your inability to sleep has been going on for a prolonged period of time, like a few days, weeks, months or even years.

This sleep disorder is brought about by a number of factors that can be either personal or environmental. If you are having a lot of stress or you are suffering from mental problems and alcohol addiction, the chances that you will experience insomnia can be high. Also, your inability to fall asleep can become worse if you are living in a very noisy or brightly-lit neighborhood,

Insomnia is not normal. If your inability to sleep starts to thwart your capacity to perform your work and other functions, it is best to consult with a sleep therapist before your insomnia results to more serious health conditions.

Periodic Limb Movement Syndrome

This sleep disorder is more connected to factors like lung diseases, diabetes and anemia than to sleeping itself. However, the symptoms that this disorder brings can take their toll on one's ability to sleep. People who suffer periodic limb movement syndrome often experience lack of sleep during the night because they get awaken by sudden involuntary muscle movements in the legs and other parts of the limbs. The overall effect is excessive drowsiness during the day.

Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy is a relatively uncommon sleep disorder compared to insomnia. But this sleep problem can have fatal effects on someone who suffers from it. Basically, narcolepsy is present in people who have extreme sleepiness during daytime. It is also characterized by a never-ending inclination to sleep and a general feeling of weariness; people who suffer from narcolepsy can fall asleep unexpectedly and unaware, like literally dropping dead.

Some form of narcolepsy can even make you lose control of your muscles and can cause you to collapse. Other narcoleptic symptoms include sleep paralysis, which can block the capacity for movement and speech even when one is completely awake and conscious. Lastly, drowsy hallucinations that can include dreamlike scenes or phantasmical apparitions and impede one's muscle control can also hound sufferers of narcolepsy; this symptom is often dismissed as a mental problem instead of a sleep disorder, which is why many sufferers of narcolepsy go on with their lives improperly medicated.

Indeed, narcolepsy can be dangerous. Imagine if you are driving your car to work and you had a fit of this sleep disorder? What if you had a hallucination that ultimately turns into a crime like stealing or murder? If you are suffering from this sleep disorder, you must know that there is no cure for it; but with proper management and remedies, you can still live normally like everyone else.

If you find it hard to get quality sleep, you can try sleep-enhancers like Sedamine. For more details about how you can stop tossing and turning at night, visit