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All About Insomnia |
The amount of sleep needed to feel alert during the day varies from person
to person. After a night of inadequate rest, it is not unusual to feel
sleepy the next day. Difficulty getting sufficient rest even though you
had the opportunity to sleep is known as insomnia. Be assured, it is not
unusual to have trouble sleeping at some point in your life. In the past
year, one-third of American adults had trouble falling asleep or staying
asleep.
Insomnia has many causes and is often viewed as a symptom of another
problem, much like a stomach ache. It normally lasts only a night or two,
but can persist for weeks or even months.
Common symptoms or indicators of insomnia:
- difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
- repeated nightly awakenings
- daytime fatigue
- restlessness
Three standard types of insomnia defined by doctors:
Transient insomnia is considered a few nights of poor sleep often
brought on by stress, excitement or environmental changes. A person may
have trouble sleeping the night before a big meeting or after a fight with
a loved one. Temporary changes in sleep patterns are also caused by
traveling across time zones and using certain medications.
Short-term insomnia constitutes two or three weeks of poor sleep
that can be caused by ongoing stress at work or home, as well as medical
and psychiatric illnesses. Alleviating the source of the episode usually
returns sleep to its "normal" state.
Chronic insomnia is considered poor sleep that lasts two weeks or
longer. It can be related to underlying medical, behavioral or psychiatric
problems. Chronically poor sleep generally leads to decreased feelings of
well-being. Recurring episodes are not uncommon.
Difficulty sleeping at night is only part of the problem. The daytime
symptoms of insomnia include anxiety and significantly impaired
concentration and memory. To minimize episodes of insomnia, sleep
specialists recommend practicing good sleep hygiene.
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