Insomnia Health Article

Definition

Insomnia is the inability to obtain an adequate amount or quality of sleep. The difficulty can be in falling asleep, remaining asleep, or both. People with insomnia do not feel refreshed when they wake up. Insomnia is a common symptom affecting millions of people that may be caused by many conditions, diseases, or circumstances.

Description

Sleep is essential for mental and physical restoration. It is a cycle with two separate states: rapid eye movement (REM), the stage in which most dreaming occurs; and non-REM (NREM). Four stages of sleep take place during NREM: stage I, when the person passes from relaxed wakefulness; stage II, an early stage of light sleep; stages III and IV, which are increasing degrees of deep sleep. Most stage IV sleep (also called delta sleep), occurs in the first several hours of sleep. A period of REM sleep normally follows a period of NREM sleep.

Insomnia is more common in women and older adults. People who are divorced, widowed, or separated are more likely to have the problem than those who are married, and it is more frequently reported by those of lower socioeconomic status. Short-term, or transient, insomnia is a common occurrence and usually lasts only a few days. Long-term, or chronic, insomnia lasts more than three weeks and increases the risk for injuries in the home, at the workplace, and while driving because of daytime sleepiness and decreased concentration. Chronic insomnia can also lead to mood disorders like depression.

Causes and symptoms

Transient insomnia is often caused by a temporary situation in a person's life, such as an argument with a loved one, a brief medical illness, or jet lag. When the situation is resolved or the precipitating factor disappears, the condition goes away, usually without medical treatment.

Chronic insomnia usually has different causes, and there may be more than one. These include:

• a medical condition or its treatment, including sleep apnea
• use of substances such as caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine
• psychiatric conditions such as mood or anxiety disorders
• stress, such as sadness caused by the loss of a loved one or a job
• disturbed sleep cycles caused by a change in work shift
• sleep-disordered breathing, such as snoring
• periodic jerky leg movements (nocturnal myoclonus), which happen just as the individual is falling asleep
• repeated nightmares or panic attacks during sleep

Another cause is excessive worrying about whether or not a person will be able to go to sleep, which creates so much anxiety that the individual's bedtime rituals and behavior actually trigger insomnia. The more one worries about falling asleep, the harder it becomes. This is called psychophysiological insomnia.