After a long tiring day at work, everybody just wants to lay on their beds and get a peaceful sleep. However, people who suffer from untreated obstructive sleep apnea never get proper, full-time sleep. The adult obstructive sleep apnea is characterized by repeated airway collapse resulting in a shortage of oxygen in the body and sleep issues. Excess problems in sleep might result in excessive daytime sleepiness, unrefreshing sleep, fatigue, depression, and even heart diseases.

Reports by  Sleep specialist Brooklyn have shown that when the issue becomes more frequent, the consequences do not stay restricted to the physical effects. They start affecting the mental health of the patient and if those are not treated timely, the sleep disorder may become life-threatening.

Depression

Studies have shown that people with sleep apnea are more likely to suffer from depression than people in general. Disturbance in the sleep cycle for a long time makes the person cranky and more anxious. The normal day activities feel like a huge task for him and the stress of not being able to do the simplest of jobs makes him worry for hours. Worry is the death of proper sleep and the stress of not being able to sleep and work properly is enough to send the person into depression. It is like a vicious cycle.  The main reason why sleep apnea can cause mental illness is that the reduced oxygen supply to the brain at the night can alter the proper functioning of the brain, causing unnecessary fear and problems.

Anxiety

People who suffer from sleep apnea know they can have breathing problems at any moment. The fear of have sudden problems at night. They even fear that they would not be able to fall asleep. This can cause severe anxiety in the patients. The anxiety, in turn, makes the sleep pattern worse and even more difficult for the patients to fall asleep. Reports by Sleep specialist Brooklyn said that they had noticed that most of the mental health patients had trouble sleeping and in fact, their sleep pattern had played an important role in their condition.

Relationship Problems

The major cause of sleep apnea is snoring. It is the first sign that tells about the person developing sleeping problems. Loud snoring disturbs the bed partner the most. As a result, both the partners are unable to fall asleep properly. When the problem continues for long, both the partners have grown out of their sleeping schedules. This leads to lots of fights and misunderstanding and can tamper with a perfectly healthy relationship.

Loss of concentration

Another major impact that sleep apnea has on the patient is the cognitive impairment. A problem in sleeping, dreaming and constant worry about the chronic medical condition can leave the patient exhausted. This constant state of exhaustion during the day can make it difficult for the person suffering to concentrate. People suffering from sleep deprivation feel drowsy throughout the day and cannot focus on the easiest of activity.

Mood changes

Sleep problems can alter the mood of the patients, making them angry and short- tempered. They are easily irritated and prefer to be left alone for most of the time.

Most of the problems associated with sleep apnea are interconnected and the stress during the day can make the condition of sleep apnea even more bitter for them.

 

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