Before discussing the various types of insomnia that keep you awake at night, it's important to know the many facts about insomnia, like what is insomnia?
The deﬁnition of insomnia is the act of experiencing difﬁculty in initiating or maintaining sleep, or both. Almost everyone has had a restless night at one time in their lives and think little about sleeplessness being a medical problem.
It's important to recognize that insomnia can often be a symptom of underlying causes. Infrequent poor sleep may have minor side effects, a continued lack of quality sleep can cause serious health dysfunctions.
The word insomnia is derived from Latin. "In" means "not" and "somnus" translates into "sleep" ... "not sleep". It is usually not common for individuals to discuss "insomnia" with others. Insomnia is often mistakenly used as a catch-all phrase for any undiagnosed sleep disorder.
People often complain that they have trouble sleeping by usually saying, "I can't sleep", "it takes forever to fall asleep", "I always wake at 3:00 a.m. and can't go back to sleep", or "I keep waking too early".
There is a good chance you suffer from insomnia if you've experienced any of the above incidences and feel dragged out or exhausted in the morning.
The different types of insomnia fit into three major classification. If you want to overcome your insomnia, you need to know more about:
· Transient insomnia (mild insomnia)
· Acute insomnia (short-term or moderate insomnia)
· Chronic insomnia (severe insomnia)
Transient insomnia is an inability to get a good night's sleep but lasts for less than a week. A change in routine, sleep environment, depression, stress or another sleep disorder can bring short-term sleep deprivation but your body soon adjusts itself. Jet lag is a good example of someone suffering from transient insomnia. The biological clock sometimes needs a few days to reset before returning to normal.
Moving into a new home is another way that a sleep pattern can
become interrupted. This on of the types of insomnia that is not
considered harmful, just irritating and soon repairs itself. Little, if any, impairment of daily functions is evident.
Transient insomnia and acute insomnia share similar traits of cause according to the facts about insomnia studied by experts. One or more of the following situations can be present in these forms of insomnia:
⁃ Age (60+years)
⁃ Anxiety or worry
⁃ Change in bedroom temperature
⁃ Indoor or outdoor noise
⁃ Shift changes at work
⁃ Bad sleep habits
Is it any wonder that over 50% of the population have a sleep problem?
Chronic insomnia extends beyond the course of a month and can point to another disorder. Without a good sleep for this long of a period, the muscles ache, mental fatigue sets in and grogginess overtakes the body. Life may appear to be happening in slow motion and double vision is common.
A person suffering from chronic insomnia is never able to rely on their body's biological clock to adjust to circumstances. Daily functioning is severely impaired with obvious signs of irritability, anxiety, restlessness, and fatigue.
Many people suffering from chronic insomnia go through their daily motions; however, are inefficient and a safety risk to themselves and others.
It's time to talk with your health care professional if insomnia occurs two or three times a week especially if any of the following symptoms are present:
· Chronic anxiety, depression and/or stress, brain injury
· Health conditions such as arthritis, asthma, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), digestive trouble, obesity, hyperthyroidism, Parkinson's disease, allergies
· Obstructive sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome (RLS), narcolepsy
· Behavioral factors of caffeine, alcohol, sleep disruptions, food allergies, smoking
· Shift work
... as well as other symptoms
When you think about all the health and environment issues that affect sleep, you're probably thinking: "How can anybody not have one of these types of insomnia?"
As hard as it might first appear, achieving sleeping bliss can happen, without drugs, once you understand what type of insomnia you have and what you can do to recapture your energy and health through quality sleep.
Continue reading Types of Insomnia Part Two
to get one step closer to enjoying the many benefits from your best ever sleep experience.
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