Top 11 Spooky Sleep Disorders: Page 2

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Insomnia

If the previous nine conditions are making you rethink your once-positive stance on sleep, think again. Insomnia, the inability to fall or stay asleep, can cause irritability and lack of concentration during the day, and long-term sleep deprivation can be downright dangerous. Lack of sleep has been associated with obesity, high blood pressure and heart attacks, among other nasty symptoms. And according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drowsy driving causes more than 100,000 car crashes and 1,550 deaths each year.

The good news is that most of the disorders on this list respond to treatment—and having one doesn't mean you're crazy.

"Often people feel that there is a psychological reason for having these events. They think that there's some Freudian answer to solving these problems," said the ASA's Kline. "Modern science does not support that. There is a physiological reason."

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Stephanie Pappas is a contributing writer for Live Science, covering topics ranging from geoscience to archaeology to the human brain and behavior. She was previously a senior writer for Live Science but is now a freelancer based in Denver, Colorado, and regularly contributes to Scientific American and The Monitor, the monthly magazine of the American Psychological Association. Stephanie received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.