Sleep Basics, Sleep Disorders, & General Adaptation Syndrome

To focus on today are stage REM sleep, which is rapid eye movement sleep, and stage NREM sleep, which is non-rapid eye movement sleep. So starting with stage REM sleep, this is the stage where we have vivid dreams. It's also known as paradoxical sleep because during this stage, our brain is highly active, but our body is paralyzed. It's also important to note that REM sleep is crucial for memory consolidation and learning. Moving on to stage NREM sleep, this is divided into three stages: stage N1, stage N2, and stage N3. Each stage is characterized by different brain wave patterns and physiological changes. Stage N1 is the transition from wakefulness to sleep, and it's a very light sleep. In stage N2, our brain wave patterns slow down, and we become less aware of our surroundings. This is the stage where we spend most of our sleep time. Finally, in stage N3, also known as deep sleep, our brain produces slower delta waves, and it's very difficult to wake someone up from this stage. Deep sleep is important for physical restoration and growth hormone release. Okay, so that's a quick overview of the sleep basics. Now let's talk about some common sleep disorders. The first one is insomnia. Insomnia is characterized by difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or having poor quality sleep. It's a very common sleep disorder, and it can be caused by a variety of factors, including stress, anxiety, depression, medication, and medical conditions. Treatment options for insomnia include lifestyle changes, cognitive behavioral therapy, and medications. The next sleep disorder we're going to talk about is sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a disorder where a person's breathing is interrupted during sleep. There are three types of sleep apnea: obstructive sleep apnea, central sleep apnea, and complex sleep apnea syndrome. Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common type, and it occurs when the airway becomes blocked or collapses during sleep. This can lead to snoring, gasping, or choking episodes, and pauses in breathing. Central sleep apnea occurs when the brain fails to send the proper signals to the muscles that control breathing. Complex sleep apnea syndrome is a combination of both obstructive and central sleep apnea. Treatment options for sleep apnea may include lifestyle changes, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines, oral appliances, and surgery. The last sleep disorder we're going to talk about is narcolepsy. Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder that affects the brain's ability to regulate sleep-wake cycles. It's characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness, sudden loss of muscle tone (cataplexy), sleep paralysis, and hallucinations. Treatment for narcolepsy may include medications, lifestyle modifications, and behavioral therapies. Finally, let's briefly discuss General Adaptation Syndrome. General Adaptation Syndrome is a physiological response to stress that was described by Hans Selye. It occurs in three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion. In the alarm stage, the body releases stress hormones and prepares for "fight or flight" response. In the resistance stage, the body tries to restore balance and cope with the stressor. Finally, in the exhaustion stage, the body's resources become depleted, and there is an increased risk of physical and mental health problems. Alright, that wraps up our discussion on sleep basics, sleep disorders, and General Adaptation Syndrome. I hope you found this information helpful. If you did, please give this video a thumbs up and subscribe to our channel for more nursing-related content. And don't forget to check out our flashcards on leveluprn.com. Thanks for watching! To compare, the stages that are going to be discussed are stage three and REM sleep. Stages one through three involve a transition from light to deeper sleep. However, in stage three, one reaches a state of very deep sleep and the patient's vital signs are at their lowest. In contrast, during REM sleep, which occurs approximately 90 minutes after falling asleep, the eyes will visibly move rapidly. It is important to note that vital signs during REM sleep will increase. Additionally, REM sleep is the phase where vivid dreaming occurs. Therefore, it is more difficult to wake up in stage three and in REM sleep, but vital signs increase in REM sleep while they decrease in stage three. Moreover, REM sleep is associated with very vivid dreaming. Okay, so moving onto sleep disorders. Now, let me tell you, as someone who struggles with a sleep disorder and has since I was six years old, it really, really impacts your patients' lives, and it impacts their ability to recover from illnesses, and it impacts their ability to deal with pain and symptoms. So, three big sleep disorders on here, and I would know them all. Insomnia, sleep apnea, and narcolepsy. So, I am a lifelong insomniac. I have difficulty falling asleep, but some insomniacs can fall asleep okay, have difficulty staying asleep, or both. Narcolepsy, on the other hand, is going to be your patient with excessive daytime sleepiness, and they may be inadvertently falling asleep while they are awake. Now, sleep apnea, this is going to be a patient who stops breathing for a period of time during their sleep, and they may have kind of an irregular breathing pattern during sleep. So that is a very common one, and you'll see people using different devices to help them treat their sleep apnea, such as CPAP - continuous positive airway pressure - to help keep that airway open. Now, here's my least favorite thing because I am very, very bad at following this advice: sleep hygiene. So this is a very important patient teaching for you to tell your patients how to get better sleep. In this instance, I'm going to say, "Do as I say, not as I do," because I have terrible sleep hygiene. The first thing is you want to follow a regular sleep schedule. It is very important to maintain that regularity. Routine is important. You also want to sleep in a cool, dark, and quiet environment. So a cool temperature, very little light, and very little noise are best for sleep. Another important point is to avoid naps in the afternoon. When you're looking at those test questions, ask yourself, "Is this an early morning nap, or is this an afternoon nap?" An afternoon nap is going to delay My sleepiness in the future. I'm going to avoid alcohol and caffeine later in the day. For me, personally, I do have to avoid caffeine starting at about noon, or else I will be up all night. And then, exercise regularly, but there's a very important point on here. We don't exercise within three hours of bedtime. So exercise will help me sleep better, but not if it is within three hours of my bedtime. Okay, very important there. There's a few more, be sure to look them over. Okay, now, we're going to talk about General Adaptation Syndrome, GAS. So this is the physiological changes that happen during periods of stress, like, I don't know, maybe nursing school. So the alarm reaction is going to happen first. Alarm first, right? Sound the alarm. This is going to be your fight or flight response, right? This is going to be my heart rate. My blood pressure is going to go up. My cortisol levels are going to go up. This is where I'm going to feel really panicked, and frenzied, and stressed, right? After that, I'm going to have the resistance phase. My body is going to get used to it. I'm going to be able to function again, right? My vital signs are going to normalize. My hormone levels might normalize some. But I may have some poor concentration, irritability, and frustration. I know we have all been there in nursing school. So I completely get it, and I feel like you completely get it too. And then lastly, we have the exhaustion phase. Eventually, my body can't keep up anymore, right? Eventually, it's going to say, "I can't do this anymore," and we are going to tire out. And this is where we're going to have fatigue, and depression, anxiety, maybe even disease because we might have impaired immunity from that prolonged stress. So very important that you educate your patients on this, and how to mitigate their stress levels. How to bring down their stress levels so that they don't end up affecting themselves in that way. Okay, So that is it for basic sleep disorders and General Adaptation Syndrome. If that was a helpful review for you, please like this video, and I would love it if you leave a comment below, letting me know how you remember things or tell me about your experience when you have had nursing school stress. Did you reach the exhaustion phase? Or did you find a way to deal with your stress? Okay, be sure to subscribe to the channel too because in my next video, we are going to be covering some really important stuff, like types of comfort care, the difference between hospice and palliative care. We're also going to talk about the stages and types of grief. So be sure to subscribe so that you're the first to know. Thanks so much and happy studying. Okay, all right. I can dig it. I'm very cool and hip with the kids, as you can tell. I invite you to subscribe to our channel and share a link with your classmates and Friends in nursing school, if you found value in this video, be sure to hit the like button and leave a comment. Let us know what you found particularly helpful.