Insomnia: What You Need To Know

What is Insomnia?

Insomnia is a sleep disorder. People with insomnia have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. This causes them to have a difficult time functioning at a normal level throughout the day. Insomnia is fairly common in that most adults have experienced it at some point in their lives. For some it is just an annoyance but for others it seriously affects their quality of life and is a symptom of another condition or a serious sleep disorder.

What are the 3 Types of Insomnia?

1. Transient Insomnia

This type of insomnia lasts for less than one week and is caused by stress, depression and/or changes in your sleeping environment that cause discomfort.

2. Acute Insomnia

This is also known as short-term insomnia and is when someone can not consistently sleep well for less than one month.

3. Chronic Insomnia

Chronic Insomnia lasts for longer than one month and can have a wide variety of effects on the person suffering with it. This type can either be the primary disorder or a symptom of another problem.

Did You Know?

More women than men suffer from insomnia and it occurs in all age groups. Insomnia can be a symptom of a serious health condition, mental illness or conditions like chronic alcoholism.

What Should You Do?

If you think you may have insomnia or another sleep disorder the first step is to make an appointment with your doctor or a sleep specialist at a sleep clinic. Sleep clinics use a variety of tests to diagnose the cause of the disorder. This may include polysomnograms (overnight sleep studies) or multiple sleep latency tests.

In order to effectively treat insomnia it is vital to get an accurate diagnosis. Insomnia treatments vary depending on what is causing the disorder. Treatment can include things like losing weight, getting more exercise, avoiding alcohol and other lifestyle changes. Insomnia can also be treated with medication and oral appliances like CPAP machines.

Getting the proper help makes all the difference.