The Stigma of Sleep Apnea

While most people don't even think about stigma being associated with sleep apnea, there is. Kind of like a scratch – everybody knows somebody who has one, but nobody really talks about it and how seriously life-threatening it really is! It's a scratch, after all!! (That is for most people, not someone with a health condition where even a scratch could be deadly.)

I know even when the doctor suggested that I go in for a sleep study, I thought to myself, Oh yeah, right, they're going to find that I have sleep apnea because that's a good way to explain all the stuff going on with me. And if I don't have it, it's just a good way to get more money from me!

What I did not know about sleep apnea

So even before I had all the facts about what sleep apnea can and does do, I was placing my own stigma (unconscious bias) on having sleep apnea without realizing it. 

I had convinced myself that sleep studies were just a hoax, as well as sleep apnea causing any kind of medical problems like I was having!

My list of symptoms

• High blood pressure
• Type 2 diabetes
• Nighttime urination
• Trouble staying asleep
• Memory problems (brain fog)
• Concentration
• Muscle fatigue
• Breathing issues

The way I looked at it, these all had to be from a real medical condition, not the laughable sleep apnea!

My own stigma about sleep apnea

• It's not a real medical condition.
• Sleep apnea doesn't need to be taken seriously. It’s just snoring.
• I'm possibly not getting good sleep, but I could catch up.
• It's an excuse for doctors to have someone do a sleep study.
• Will other people laugh at me when I say I have sleep apnea as a medical problem?

Lack of information perpetuates stigma

That, and you don't really see any commercials about sleep apnea except for the machines to clean them. And very seldom do you see a TV show where anybody talks about sleep apnea and how it affects them. As a matter of fact, I've never seen a TV show where somebody is talking about sleep apnea and the true effects it can have on the quality of someone's life.

And as for the information that is out there, well, it doesn't really tell the whole truth. To me, it starts a stigma on its own. You know, things like:

• Having a big neck circumference
• Being overweight
• Using alcohol, sedatives, tranquilizers, or narcotics
• Being male
• And last but not least, being older

What I now know about sleep apnea

What is the truth? Well, for me, I have learned how uncontrolled sleep apnea was actually controlling my life along with my health. Although I can't prove it, I'm pretty sure I had sleep apnea way before having high blood pressure or type 2 diabetes.

And I have other health conditions: myasthenia gravis, Chiari malformation (brain herniation into the spinal column), degenerative disc with arthritis in the cervical and lumbar spine, reverse lordosis cervical spine, and hypothyroidism.

To me, it only makes sense that if you're not breathing correctly at all times, it's going to cause dysfunction in your body processes. After using my CPAP machine every night for the last few months, I now see the difference it has made in overall health. And yes, even with all those conditions, they have improved!!