seasonal affective disorder (SAD)
“The diagnosis of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) should be considered in all patients presenting with nonspecific complaints such as lethargy and fatigue, especially during the fall and winter months. The diagnosis is based on a patient’s history; special investigations are invariably uninformative.” “Treatment with bright environmental light is generally a first-line therapeutic approach, but other […]
delayed sleep phase
We all know what delayed sleep phase syndrome is—even if we don’t know it by name. Remember how you felt last Monday morning—when the alarm went off for work? If getting out of bed was a struggle—harder than it is on other workdays—then you most likely were experiencing delayed sleep—brought on by staying up late, […]
can’t wake up
I have had a lot of trouble sleeping recently. I am constantly tired throughout the day but when I go to bed at night I can’t fall asleep. Instead I stay awake, memorising words to songs, timetables, etc. I have to get up fairly early to go to school, but often I can barely get […]
dream of bathrooms
I have a recurring dream about bathrooms. It is always a bathroom, but never the same one. It has been everything from climbing up an old wooden ladder, opening a big wooden door and there is a bathroom. One was a multi-stalled bathroom and I was dying my hair in the sink. Last night it […]
grind at night!
I have had this dream about three times now. The dream starts suddenly where my mouth feels sore and when I run my tongue over my teeth they feel loose. Some of my teeth disintegrate into bits similar to the bits left in your mouth after a dentist has been drilling. Other teeth can be […]
can’t wake up
Hi Jesse— It sounds like you are suffering from what is called “delayed sleep phase” syndrome. Your body wants to go to bed later than your bed-time, and because it takes hours for you to fall asleep, you are tired when you have to get up for school in the morning. If your problem just […]
dream of bathrooms
Hi Anonymous— I hope I don’t disappoint you if I give a very literal interpretation of this dream: I think you have to go! The reason I say this is because you mention that—in 3/4 of your dreams—you actually are urinating. This suggests that you really do have pressure on your bladder—which makes you […]
grind at night!
Hi Lydia— Your dream may be warning you that you are grinding your teeth during sleep. Teeth grinding—also known as nocturnal bruxism—is a common disorder during sleep that is estimated to affect as much as 10-20% of the general population. Only 10% of this group, however, ever have sufficient grinding to require treatment. Your dream, […]
i fall asleep driving
I fall asleep while I am driving quite a bit. Today, I started closing my eyes, so I immediately put a mint in my mouth, and not more than 10 seconds later, I nodded off again. I am afraid that some day I will have an accident or drive off a cliff. Today, I did […]
difficulty falling asleep
I’m a 27-year-old male and in the past year or so I have had trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. When I first lay down to fall asleep everything is fine, and then as soon as I doze off it’s like an electric shock goes through my body and I wake up. Usually this happens […]
apnea & depression
Women €¦ Did you know that the signs and symptoms of sleep apnea are €¦well €¦more feminine in women than in men? It’s true! You don’t have to be a loud snorer—shaking the bed every minute and ripping the covers off—to have sleep apnea. You may snore so lightly that your bed-partner doesn’t even think […]
diagnosed with depression?
Women: Have you been diagnosed with depression…because you are tired and have low energy during the day? If so, you may want to consider the possibility that you have a sleeping disorder, and that this may be the cause of your tiredness—not the depression. People with sleep disorders often are misdiagnosed as depressed, because they […]