By definition, snoring involves one person who is asleep making a great deal of noise in the middle of the night. Whilst their snoring habits will often not trouble the sufferer themselves, is far more common that it causes a great deal of misery and distress for those around them.
In particular, the partner of a regular snorer is likely to suffer many sleepless nights and sleep deprivation is the almost inevitable result. This not only leads to many of the problems associated with lack of sleep about which you will read over the next few pages, but it can also cause serious upheavals in the normal patterns of life for these folks too.
For example, a study in the USA established that over half of the partners of regular snorers no longer shared the same sleeping space. In effect, they have moved into the spare bedroom and they are going to be forced to stay there until their partners snoring habit is dealt with, because otherwise, they will never get a decent night’s sleep.
Furthermore, studies at the Royal infirmary of Edinburgh in Scotland concluded that snoring places a very real and serious strain on ordinary interpersonal relationships. The study established that in most cases, regular snoring sufferers placed far more emphasis upon this social strain aspect of snoring than on any medical complaint that may or may not be associated with the snoring habit.
The scientists and doctors involved found that many people whose partner was a regular snorer placed great emphasis upon the social embarrassment that they suffered each and every time they slept anywhere but in their own home as a family unit. In effect, for these people, holidays and weekends away were something which they would not even allow themselves to consider.
In pure medical terms, snoring itself is generally considered to be a minor affliction. However, in the Scottish study, it was concluded that the overall impairment of lifestyle caused by living with a serial snorer was significant, and that a great deal of matrimonial difficulties were caused and exaggerated as a result of the problem.
Indeed, they concluded their test by demonstrating that the social and personal lives of snorers and their families improved significantly once these people had their condition surgically treated.
Add this to the fact that, according to the website of the British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Association (n.b. Apnoea is the British spelling), snoring can also cause sexual problems, and that according to the survey results detailed on this page, many couples never come anywhere near each other because one partner has a serious snoring problem!
As suggested, whilst snoring itself is a very minor medical condition, it can be indicative of other, more serious problems too.
The bottom line is, for someone who is a habitual snorer, life can be pretty miserable, and unfortunately that misery extends to all of those around them as well.
Let us therefore continue by looking in more detail what can happen when people are deprived of sleep, as this can obviously be a direct result of living with a serial snorer. Indeed, let us consider exactly why sleep deprivation should be a very major concern for any habitual snorer and those who are closest to them.
Section summary
• Snoring is a habit that causes a great deal of distress and misery, both for the snorer themselves and for all of the people around them.
• Snoring has, for example, been proven to cause relationship breakdowns, marital tensions and heightened family stress levels