Living with A Snorer

Snoring has long been the source of shtick for comics,  and the cause of sleepless nights for unlucky bedmates.   However,  snoring is no laughing matter, and much more than an unwelcome alarm clock.  Snoring is caused by health concerns and can lead to serious medical troubles.  Additionally,  snorers and their partners can face mental health and emotional issues.

Further, those who live with a snorer can find life almost unbearable.  Sleeping together becomes a leap of faith, and snoring has been cited as basis for divorce.  However, it’s important to remember  that it’s not just the silent partner who suffers.   Anyone within ear’s reach can be affected, as well as family members living in the same house or even neighbors in an adjoining housing unit.  Noise levels from snoring can reach the same decibel level as a jet engine and the noise does pass through,  even through walls.

Anyone affected by snoring will naturally suffer from lack of sleep.  It can be hopeless for the partner of a snorer to get to sleep,  let alone stay asleep.  The effects of too little sleep over an extended period of time can have a mental and an emotional  impact,  which is often overlooked.

Consider the intense impact that snoring can have.   Snoring has been recognized to cause marital breakdown and divorce.   Persons have been evicted from their homes because of the noise nuisance caused by their snoring.   Snoring has, in fact,  ended friendships between housemates.   The daytime sleepiness that ensues a disturbed night of inadequate sleep has caused people to lose their jobs.   Snoring and the lack of sleep it causes can and will lead to lack of concentration and poor memory.

The lack of sleep and the stressful living conditions caused by having a loud snorer in the home can lead to a wide range of  mental and emotional health problems including:

* anxiety and depression

* frustration

* resentment

* exhaustion

* feelings of violence and anger

* desperation

* anguish and helplessness

* low levels of self esteem and confidence

The hidden mental and emotional problems faced by those living with a snorer should not be underestimated.   In addition, when someone is exhausted from lack of sleep, it can be dangerous just to drive a vehicle to work.  Those who operate heavy machinery or work in an otherwise potentially hazardous environment may have to miss time at work or even find another occupation. Snoring puts the lives of the snorer and others in danger,  simply because of the resulting daytime sleepiness.

A great deal of attention has been paid to the physical causes and troubles of snoring, but the very vital emotional effects can often go ignored.  Snorers often face the embarrassment of falling asleep in public areas.   Usually, snorers will often do what they can to avoid the embarrassment of sleeping in public.  As a result, they may be so sleep-deprived that they’ll fall asleep at the most inopportune instances – often waking themselves after a very short period by the volume of their own snoring.

If you live with a snorer, encourage him or her to consult a doctor.  It is possible to find the root cause of the snoring and even eliminate the problem entirely.   Both of you will feel better in the morning.

Tagged with: sleep apnea • snorer

Filed under: Snoring