Sleep Disorders Across the Lifespan
Sleep disorders affect people differently depending on age, life stage, and circumstance. Explore tailored guides for children, teenagers, older adults, pregnant women, and more.
Sleep disorders do not affect everyone the same way. Children experience different patterns of disordered sleep than adults. Older adults face age-related changes in sleep architecture. Hormonal shifts in pregnancy and menopause create unique vulnerabilities. Shift workers battle chronic circadian misalignment.
Each guide in this section combines general sleep disorder knowledge with population-specific considerations. For underlying conditions and treatment options, explore our types of sleep disorders and treatment sections.
All Special Population Guides
Sleep apnea, night terrors, sleepwalking, and behavioral insomnia in children.
Delayed sleep phase, school start times, and why teens are chronically sleep-deprived.
How sleep architecture changes with age, and which disorders become more common.
Restless legs, insomnia, positional discomfort, and sleep-disordered breathing in pregnancy.
Hot flashes, hormonal shifts, and insomnia — how menopause affects sleep.
Circadian disruption, shift work disorder, and strategies for protecting sleep health.
Why caregivers are at heightened risk of sleep disorders and what they can do.
How sleep deprivation and sleep disorders affect student learning, memory, and grades.