Insomnia affects nearly everyone at one time or another. A night or two of poor sleep that can be attributed to a particular anxiety or stressful event is quite common, and nothing to worry about. About half of all adults will suffer from temporary insomnia that can last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.
As well, a small percentage of people will tend to have to grapple with chronic insomnia that can even become a lifelong battle. Fortunately, information shows that most insomnia can be treated by removing the cause or causes of the restless sleep and making lifestyle choices that encourage good sleep habits.
There are many definitions of insomnia; some people say they are suffering from insomnia if they have trouble falling asleep for a night or two, while some people’s definition of insomnia is waking up too early. There are four basic types of insomnia, and each type is someone’s definition of insomnia.
Difficulty Falling Asleep
Difficulty falling asleep is one definition of insomnia. Some people fall asleep quickly, and some take more time. However, know that it is not how long it takes you to fall asleep that is truly important; but rather it is how much trouble you have doing so.
If you usually fall asleep within minutes, and one night in particular for instance you find yourself ruminating about something a half hour after going to bed, then you may be experiencing insomnia. Someone else might normally take a half hour or more to fall asleep, so that would not be insomnia to him or her.
Insomnia is a sleeping disorder which prevents sleep for extended periods of time or it can even prevent a person from being able to fall asleep altogether. Insomnia can be caused by a number of reasons, such as diet, stress, drugs or alcohol and even certain feelings such as fear or dread. Sometimes, people suffer from insomnia because they simply have an overactive mind and sometimes people can’t sleep because of other physical reasons, such as excruciating pain. Whatever the reason, to cure this sleeping disorder, it’s important to understand exactly what is causing it.
Is It Something You’re Doing?
The first thing you should do if you find yourself lying in bed, unable to find sleep is to determine if maybe there’s something you are doing throughout the day that may be causing insomnia. For instance, if you drink coffee up until nine o’clock at night, you may need to look no further as to what’s causing your disorder. Caffeine, especially at night, is a huge culprit behind this sleep preventing disorder. There are also certain foods that can keep you awake. If you’re not sure about your diet, that what you could be consuming throughout the day may be causing your disorder, do your research or talk to a dietitian. Having that last cup of coffee could be costing you hours and hours of necessary rest and relaxation.
Chronic insomnia is quite a horrible experience that keeps the patient tossing up all night without getting a wink of sleep and is faced with nightly torture and the terror felt is simply unbelievable that can bring anyone to his or her knees. The days are bleary and groggy and there is plenty of emotional suffering as well, and some people may even think that the patient is quite nutty or a secret cocaine addict.
Fatigue causes anxiety, fear as well as chronic depression and it also ages the patient and makes him or her vulnerable to contracting serious mental problems such as schizophrenia and paranoia and these may be caused by lack of sleep or insomnia as it is also known.
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