The Times of India – Ekatha Ann John
“The dark circles under his eyes reveal the nights seven-year-old Bharath Guru lay awake afraid that Babadook (a character in a horror movie) would come and gobble him up if he slept. He was among four children who sat in the waiting room of a clinic to seek help for what has eluded them for months-sound sleep. While Bharat suffered from sleeplessness owing to his terror, two of the children snored loudly. A 12-year-old boy hadn’t slept for a month. Although sleeping disorders in adults are quite common owing to stress, obesity and alcoholism, doctors say they are increasingly seeing children being brought with problems related to sleep. Most of these children – aged between three and 12 years – have poor concentration levels and are drowsy through the day. Dr N Ramakrishnan, director of Nithra Institute of Sleep Sciences, says two in every 10 patients he sees is a child. “In most cases, the reason for disturbed sleep is the external environment. In the case of the 12-year-old boy, his restlessness was traced to his friend `unfriending’ him on Facebook. This caused him a lot of stress and anxiety, which disturbed his sleep,” he said.”(more)