Some people experience parasomnia, a disorder where one undertakes strange activities while they are asleep. Parasomnia is a sleep problem that affects both adults and children. It is normally seen in older children, where it is considered to just be part of the growing process and the development of the brain. In adults, parasomnia could indicate a personality disturbance. This disease is characterized by undesirable physical or verbal behaviors, or experiences while sleeping. Sleepwalking or somnambulism is an example of parasomnia in which sufferers can find themselves performing daily routines like doing housework in their sleep. People sleepwalking often do not recollect what activities took place while they were sleeping. It is almost as if one has amnesia, because they have no memory of what they did or why they did it. This research paper will explain the sleep disorder known as somnambulism, including possible causes and remedies. A comparison of three articles will also be presented in this paper.
There are a wide variety of sleep disorders in the world today. These sleep disorders include sleepwalking and night terrors. They are characterized by partial arousal during sleep or during transitions between wakefulness and sleep. These disorders involve activation of the autonomic nervous system, motor system, or cognitive processes during sleep or sleep-wake transitions. They are referred to as parasomnia. Parasomnia events, such as sleepwalking, can be extremely unsettling but they are temporary and don’t generally cause harm. This research paper will discuss the sleep disorder known as somnambulism, including possible causes and cures. I will be discussing how various media depict these disorders. In this paper, I will review Hockenbury’s definition of parasomnia and sleepwalking, the web site sleep.com and W. Szelenberger et al.’s perspective of how parasomnia and sleepwalking influence our life. I will also analyze and evaluate the credibility of online sources for use in preparing research papers. Finally, I will also show that W. Szelenberger et al.’s paper is a more credible source than other two articles.
Hockenbury describes sleepwalking is a type of parasomnia, i.e., one of a group of sleep disorders. Parasomnia represents the activation of physiological systems at inappropriate times during the sleep-wake cycle. Hockenbury suggests that sleepwalking is one of the most common forms of parasomnia. Sleepwalking affects mostly children and tends to go away after puberty. The author reports that about 15 percent of all children have had at least one sleepwalking incident whereas 4 percent of adults sleepwalk (Hockenbury, 2001, p. 157). Sleepwalkers can do complex tasks including but not limited to using tools and driving. Some patients with a sleepwalking disorder can behave violently if disturbed but most are passive.
The website sleep.com suggests that sleepwalking is caused by stress, depression, and genetic factors. The author feels that sleep deprivation, fever, and medications can also have an effect on sleepwalking. Sleepwalking is more common in children and can occur at any age. The author repeats the observation mentioned in Hockenbury’s textbook that about 15 percent of children had experienced sleepwalking (sleep.com, 2011). This website also presents some of the root causes and symptoms of this problem and advertises their treatments for this problem. In contrast to Hockenbury, the author states that disrupting the sleepwalker is not harmful. People affected with the disorder usually have their eyes wide open in a stare. People who sleepwalk do not remember their nocturnal walk the next day.
W. Szelenberger et al.’s study published in International Review of Psychiatry, “Sleepwalking and night terrors: psychopathological and psychophysiological correlates”, confirms that sleepwalking is caused by arousal from NREM (non-rapid eyes movements) sleep. This sleep disorder occurs frequently in children and decreases in the teenager years. The study provides data to support this finding. For example, sleepwalking occurs in 1-3% of children, but, in contrast, only 0.6% of adults suffer from frequent sleepwalk experiences (Szelenberger, 2005, p.264). The study also suggests that sleepwalking often occurs in the first sleep period when slow-wave sleep is more common. The triggering factors for sleepwalking are stress, environmental or endogenous factors, and stimulants.
In the textbook, Hockenbury shows a picture of an old man walking around a bed without a light. This image was very useful and worked well with the title of the article, Sleepwalking. The old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words appears to fit this situation. Without this picture giving readers a shorthand impression of the disease, the readers might not be interested in reading the article. The word “sleepwalking” makes readers curious to understand how this sleep disorder affects their life. The goal of this article is to educate or help students understand the sleep disease. The article did share some research results on the sleep disorder. For example, sleepwalking occurs more frequently in children than adults. These issues convince readers to search further for more answers.
The sleep.com website is very easily accessed through any internet provider. The domain address for this site is http://www.sleep.com; this indicates that it is a business or industrial website and is owned by the company itself. When the home page is opened, the background is soft white. The page shows a picture of a sleeping lady with an alarm clock and a picture of Michael J. Breus, PhD, the sleep doctor, is displayed on the left side of the page. The site links are on the top of the page. The individual links are in green with a white background. These links are broken-down into seven categories: home, sleep disorder, sleep information, feature articles, blog, and shopping. Each link clearly states what users are accessing when users click on each individual link. This site is well suited for an audience that is looking for tips, helps and information on sleepwalking. The site is well updated with news and press releases. Current news is down on the web page. The content is strong and plentiful. The user will have an easy time moving through the site quickly and smoothly. Some other bulleted links are on top of the Michael J. Breus picture. Below that is a contact line that encourages questions and comments. Along the bottom of the page is a navigation bar that gives the user access to any of the links along the left side of the page. The website provides useful information on sleep tips, sleep products, sleep articles, etc.
The journal article by Szelenberger et al. has a much better approach to evaluating sleepwalking. The journal article is like links of a website that can be further categorized in detail. In a journal article, for example, users can see the title which describes a subject or idea, the author, and the date that it was published. The journal article mainly focuses on one topic. It is good to use for school research, etc., because the journal article shows more data and provides more details to convince the reader of the veracity of the information presented. The journal article, itself, was a hefty 8 pages long. This indicates that it is not just a brief overview of the topic but rather a more in-depth analysis. The article abstract gave me further information for evaluating the article. According to the abstract, the authors examine the root cause of sleep disorders and it effects. The authors have included facts from all sides of the issue. The article also provides further information on the author. Waldemar Szelenberger is a medical doctor with the Department of Psychiatry at the Medical University of Warsaw(Szelenberger, 2005, p.263). This information further boosted the author's reputations. One major problem of the journal article is that it was difficult for students like me to understand because the choice of words used, i.e., there was a lot of technical jargon. This article targets people who are looking for answer about the sleep disorder or disease.
If one compares the three sources of information described above, one can see that each has strengths and weaknesses. The content of the article in the textbook is very clear. Not only is the topic well-presented but it is easy for students to understand. On the other hand, although the internet site has a wide variety of sources and information that it organizes into smaller communities, the sleep.com website contains advertising therefore it is not a good source for academic information. It distracts the readers. Internet resources are a growing reality in every side of academic life, as most students would prefer to turn to them first, due to their ease of use. The journal article provides more sources compared to other articles. The last source of information, the journal article, is a good source because it has the name of the author as well as the date that it was published. This means that the authors are staking their reputations on the information contained in the article. A journal article is a safe choice for research because most journals are academic in nature and require their article writers to check facts before publishing. However, not all journals are created equal; readers should try to find journals that are peer-reviewed for the best sources of information, as these will be more reliable than other journals. Journals associated with professional organizations are also a safe bet because they tend to be high-quality. W. Szelenberger et al.’s paper has both of these claims. For this reason, W. Szelenberger et al.’s paper is more credible source than other two articles. The subject matter of a journal article may not be as broad as using the web, which is more of an unorganized resource, but it tends to be more reliable.
Reference:
Hockenbury, D.H. & Hockenbury, S.E. (2001).Discovering Psychology (5th ed.) New York: Worth.
Sleep.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.sleep.com/content/parasomnias
Szelenberger, Waldemar1.Niemcewicz, Szymon1, & DĄbrowska, Anna Justyna1, (2005). Sleepwalking and night terrors: psychopathological and psychophysiological correlates. 17(4), p263-270, 8p. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.catalog.poudrelibraries.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=17523091&site=ehost-live
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