Insomnia can be caused by many diseases, syndromes, or psychiatric conditions.
These are some of the most common symptoms and signs of insomnia:
- Lack of sleep can cause you to wake up feeling unrefreshed.
- Daytime fatigue and sleepiness
- Changes in mood
- Poor attention and concentration
- Anxiety
- Headaches
- Energy deficiency
- Increased mistakes and errors
Sometimes, insomnia can be unrelated to an underlying condition.
The problem can be treated using a variety of non-medical behavioral methods.
In combination with other non-medical strategies, medication is often used to treat insomnia.
These doctors are sleep specialists and can help with long-term (chronic) insomnia.
What is insomnia?
Insomnia can be defined as difficulty in initiating or maintaining sleep or both. This may lead to impairment in daytime functioning. Insomnia can be caused by poor quality, quantity, and timing of sleep.
It is common to experience insomnia, and ninety percent have experienced severe insomnia at least once. About 10% of the population might suffer from chronic (long-term) insomnia.
This problem can affect anyone, regardless of age. However, it is more common in older adults and increases in frequency with age, and the problem affects women more often than it affects men.
What are the different types of insomnia?
According to the severity of insomnia, there are three types.
- Transient insomnia is a quick form that lasts for less than a week.
- Insomnia short-term lasts for more than a week, but it resolves in less time than three weeks.
- Chronic or long-term insomnia can last for more than three weeks.
- You can also classify insomnia based on the root causes of insomnia.
- Hygiene during sleep
- Pre-existing conditions or other diseases
- Sleep disorders
- Stress factors
It is essential to distinguish between insomnia and similar terms; short-term sleep and sleep deprivation.
Some patients may need short-duration sleep. However, they may not feel daytime impairment or require more sleep.
Sleep deprivation is when there is not enough time or opportunity to sleep. In insomnia, however, this means that there is sufficient time and chance to sleep. However, in sleep deprivation, the lack of sleep is caused by a lack of time or opportunity to sleep due to voluntary or intentional avoidance.
What are the symptoms and signs of insomnia?
The most prevalent symptom of insomnia is impairment of daytime functioning.
These are some other common symptoms of insomnia:
- Daytime fatigue
- Daytime sleepiness
- Changes in mood
- Poor concentration and attention
- Energy deficiency
- Anxiety
- Poor social function
- Headaches
- More errors and more mistakes
Who is the one who gets insomnia?
nsomnia can be defined as difficulty in initiating or maintaining sleep or both. This may lead to impairment in daytime functioning. Insomnia can be caused by poor quality, quantity, and timing of sleep.
Because of the many causes of insomnia, there are no known risk factors. If left untreated or challenging to treat, the medical and mental conditions mentioned earlier could be risk factors for insomnia. Some environmental and emotional situations mentioned earlier may be risk factors for insomnia.
Insomnia Signs and Symptoms
Insomnia refers to the perception of poor or insufficient sleep. You may experience difficulty falling asleep, trouble waking up, frequent waking during the night, insufficient sleep, or a combination thereof. Contrary to popular belief, insomnia does not depend on how much sleep a person gets or how long it takes to fall asleep. People have different needs for sleep and can take different amounts of time to fall asleep. For one person, a restful night of sleep might mean insomnia.
The duration of symptoms can be used to classify insomnia. Temporary insomnia (or transient insomnia) is usually caused by changes in the environment, such as travel or stressful events. It usually lasts less than one week or until the stressful event ends. The short-term symptoms of insomnia can last for up to three weeks. Long-term, chronic insomnia can last for longer than three weeks. You can also classify insomnia as either primary or secondary. Primary insomnia is when there are no other medical conditions. Secondary insomnia is caused by a medical condition like heart disease, arthritis, heartburn, or cancer that causes wakefulness.
What causes insomnia?
There are many causes of insomnia. As such, one can classify it based on the root cause. According to the International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICCSD), insomnia can be classified into several categories.
Acute or short-term adjustment insomnia (acute sleeplessness): This is usually caused by stress or environmental changes.
Psychophysiologic insomnia (primary sleeplessness): Long-term stress and chronic insomnia
Insomnia refers to the perception of poor or insufficient sleep. You may experience difficulty falling asleep, trouble waking up, frequent waking during the night, insufficient sleep, or a combination thereof. Contrary to popular belief, insomnia does not depend on how much sleep a person gets or how long it takes to fall asleep. Paradoxical insomnia is a condition that causes sleep to be interrupted at night. This can occur when there is a pattern of consciousness or near-constant awareness of the environment.
Insomnia caused by a medical condition: insomnia that is related to advanced chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD), arthritis and cancer, renal disease or fibromyalgia, neurologic issues, Parkinson's disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, Parkinson's disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome
Insomnia caused by mental disorders: schizophrenia, depression, and the maniac phase (bipolar illness) is some examples.
Insomnia caused by drug or substance abuse: such as alcohol abuse, stimulant abuse, and caffeine abuse
Insomnia is not caused by substances or known physiological conditions, unspecified: Temporary diagnostic term used to diagnose suspected but unproven mental, physiological, or environmental problems.
Inadequate sleep hygiene includes proper sleep scheduling, regular use of alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine, daytime napping, watching TV, snacking on the bed, reading, and/or studying to pass tests or other work-related subjects.
Idiopathic insomnia is long-term, undiagnosed insomnia that begins in childhood or infancy.
Based on observations of adult caregivers, Behavioral insomnia in childhood: Insomnia in children
Primary sleep disorders that cause insomnia include restless leg syndrome, insomnia due to obstructive orhypopnea syndrome (shallow breathing), nocturia (need for urination at night), and circadian rhythm disorders.
