Psychology and Sleep Disorders

The name of the article that was read was called ,"Many Police have Sleep Disorders, a Risk to their Health: Study." It was written on December 20, 2011 by Jeannine Stein a writer for the Los Angeles Times. The study itself was done by the Journal of the American Medical Association. They looked at sleep disorders and how they affected the health and safety of 4,957 police officers in both the U.S. and Canada. They realized that about 40% of the police officers had at least one sleep disorder. 33.6% of the sleep disorders were sleep apnea. This study also showed that officers with sleep disorder: made more mistakes in their work, fell asleep on their job, and had a greater risk of having other health problems. This article prompted the need to see if programs that are meant to aim at sleep disorder prevention will help cut down the risk of health and safety problems.

This article in particular involves topics talked about in chapter four such as, sleep apnea or other sleep disorders. In chapter four of the psychology book, it states that sleep apnea is an, "sleep disorder characterized by pauses in breathing during sleep; most prevalent in older, overweight men." This was also stated in the article that 40.4% of the police officers had sleeping disorders and out of the 40 percent, 33.6% of the disorders were sleep apnea. The article also stated that the officers with sleep apnea were more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes. The article itself proved two things about the definition of sleep apnea. Men were more likely to have it and they were either overweight or obese. This needs to be fixed because it is not safe for the police officers to have sleeping disorders because it gives them a greater chance of having other health issues. Also, in the book it states sleep apnea can cause excessive daytime sleepiness, which could cause a problem because police officers could fall asleep on their job instead of protecting the community.

This study is important because it provides an underlying explanation for other psychological disorders such as depression and anxiety disorders. Psychologists will gain the knowledge needed to effectively evaluate and treat a patient who may be experiencing other psychological disorders. They will also be able to come up with an effective treatment plan for sleep disorder if they can associate a patient's sleep disorder with a pre-existing psychological condition. The general public will benefit greatly from this study as it allows for better treatment of the officers, allowing them to perform their duties more effectively. When the officers perform well, public safety is at its best. This study can influence future psychological studies in this area by providing a cue for further research. For instance, this study shows that obstructive sleep disorder can be caused by excessive weight. It has also shown that 79.3% of officers in the study were overweight,