PSYCH257 Chapter Notes - Chapter 12.3: Sleepwalking, Nicotine, Sleep Deprivation

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCH257
• Professor: Meagan Mckenzie

Document Summary

Benzodiazepine are short acting drugs most prescribed for sleep related disorders. Short-term acting drugs are prefered over long term acting drugs because most people still feel effects of long term acting drugs in the morning. The long-acting benzodiazepines are sometimes preferred when negative effects, such as daytime anxiety, are observed in people taking the short-acting drugs. However benzodiazepine drugs cause excessive sleepiness and are addictive meaning people can become dependant on them. These treatments are not long term fixes because of their addictiveness, and newer medications seem to be causing sleep- walking/eating disorders in people. To treat narcolepsy or hypersomnia people are prescribed stimulants. Cataplexy, normally associated with narcolepsy can be treated with antidepressants because they suppress rem sleep, not because they are depressed individuals. Treatment of breathing related disorders focuses on helping the person breathe better during sleep, which could mean losing weight.