It would appear that the answer to the above question – whether women suffer more from sleep disorders than men – is yes, they do. This is naturally due to the differences in our emotional and physical makeup. To get an idea of the range of causes and disorders consider the following:

Women are two times as likely to suffer from sleep disorders, such as falling and staying asleep, than men. Many reasons are to be examined. The clinical definition of a sleep disorder is “a unsettling pattern of sleep that may include difficulty falling or staying asleep, falling asleep at unsuitable times, excessive total sleep time, or abnormal behaviors associated with sleep”. There are four categories of sleep disorders: insomnia, hypersomnia, sleeping disruptive disorders, and having trouble sticking to a normal sleep pattern.

Many factors may impact the ordinary sleep cycle for women. Changes in hormone levels, stress, illness, lifestyle and sleep environment, pregnancy and hormone fluctuations associated with menstrual cycles, premenstrual sleep disturbances, psychosocial stress, depression, and anxiety have all been named as causes. Pain, grief, and worry can disturb sleep, as can certain medical conditions, medications, and breathing disorders, in menopausal and postmenopausal women.

Menopause hits middle aged women and can cause anxiety and heart palpitations. A decrease in hormone levels can cause insomnia, frequent awakenings, and fragmented sleep. Some menopausal women experience hot flashes at night which are medically termed night sweats. Over 30% of women suffer from night sweats which can start several years before menopause even sets in.

1 2 3 4 »