insomnia
Today, I am going to talk about insomnia. As we all know, most adults have experienced insomnia or sleeplessness at one time or another in their lives. An estimated 30% -50% of the general population are affected by insomnia, and 10% have chronic insomnia.
Insomnia is a symptom, not a stand-alone diagnosis or a disease. By definition, insomnia is
“difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep, or both” and it may be due to inadequate quality or quantity of sleep. Insomnia could be classified by the duration of the symptoms into transient, short-term, or chronic. Transient insomnia generally last less than seven days; short-term insomnia usually lasts for about one to three weeks and chronic insomnia lasts for more than three weeks.
Before moving onto the point of treatment, I would like to talk about the cause of insomnia. Actually, insomnia may be caused by a host different reasons, which may be divided into situational factors, medical or psychiatric conditions, or primary sleep problems.
Many causes of transient and short-term insomnia are similar and they include: jet lag, changes in shift work, excessive or unpleasant noise. On top of that, things like uncomfortable room temperature, you know, the room is too hot or too cold, or, stressful situations in life, um, exam preparation, loss of a loved one, unemployment, divorce, separation and so on, can also trigger insomnia.
Whereas in contrast, the majority of causes of chronic or long-term insomnia are usually linked to an underlying psychiatric or physiologic (medical) condition. The most common psychological problems that may lead to insomnia include: anxiety, stress, schizophrenia, mania and depression. In fact, insomnia may be an indicator of depression. Many people will have insomnia during the acute phases of a mental illness.
As far as physiological causes are concerned, the following are the most common medical conditions that trigger insomnia, such as chronic pain syndromes and fatigue syndrome,
Insomnia is a symptom, not a stand-alone diagnosis or a disease. By definition, insomnia is
“difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep, or both” and it may be due to inadequate quality or quantity of sleep. Insomnia could be classified by the duration of the symptoms into transient, short-term, or chronic. Transient insomnia generally last less than seven days; short-term insomnia usually lasts for about one to three weeks and chronic insomnia lasts for more than three weeks.
Before moving onto the point of treatment, I would like to talk about the cause of insomnia. Actually, insomnia may be caused by a host different reasons, which may be divided into situational factors, medical or psychiatric conditions, or primary sleep problems.
Many causes of transient and short-term insomnia are similar and they include: jet lag, changes in shift work, excessive or unpleasant noise. On top of that, things like uncomfortable room temperature, you know, the room is too hot or too cold, or, stressful situations in life, um, exam preparation, loss of a loved one, unemployment, divorce, separation and so on, can also trigger insomnia.
Whereas in contrast, the majority of causes of chronic or long-term insomnia are usually linked to an underlying psychiatric or physiologic (medical) condition. The most common psychological problems that may lead to insomnia include: anxiety, stress, schizophrenia, mania and depression. In fact, insomnia may be an indicator of depression. Many people will have insomnia during the acute phases of a mental illness.
As far as physiological causes are concerned, the following are the most common medical conditions that trigger insomnia, such as chronic pain syndromes and fatigue syndrome,