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| Insomnia Basics | Sleep is as vital to us as food, air and water. Occasionally in your life you may have difficulty sleeping - many people do.
Anybody can suffer from insomnia, although sleeping problems are more common among women (especially menopausal), the ill, the elderly, smokers, and alcoholics.
However, Sleep problems are surprisingly common among young people. While this is not an illness and is in no way life-threatening, insomnia can be very distressing, frustrating, exhausting, and depressing and at worst it can make you feel like you're going crazy.
Types of Insomnia
There are two broad categories:
• Chronic insomnia - lasting for several weeks, months or even years
• Transient insomnia - lasting for a few nights or weeks only, usually connected to a stressful event e.g. an exam, bereavement.
Insomnia usually takes one or more of the following forms:
• Difficulty falling asleep - more common among young people
• Sleeping lightly and restlessly, waking often, lying awake in the middle of the night - more common in people over 40. In younger individuals it may be associated with depression.
• Waking early and being unable to get back to sleep - this is more common in older people and anyone worrying about something in particular.
Common Symptoms
If you ...
• are tired during the day
• have frequent headaches, are irritable or lack concentration
• are tired and not refreshed on waking
• sleep better away from home
• take longer than 30-40 minutes to fall asleep
• wake repeatedly during the night
• wake far too early and are unable to get back to sleep
• only get to sleep with the aid of sleeping pills or alcohol
... then you are probably suffering from insomnia.
Main Causes
Insomnia is a condition that is caused by something else! Rarely it will be immediately obvious what the causes are in your own case, but the following list might give clues:
• states of mind - anxiety, depression, worry, anger, grief, anticipating a difficult event
• change - moving house/city, starting university
• environment - noise, discomfort, time zone change
• pain - one of the commonest causes
• medical conditions - heart, breathing, stomach, digestive, high blood pressure, arthritis, anorexia.
• recreational drugs - including nicotine, caffeine, heroin, cocaine, amphetamines, LSD, cannabis
• sleeping pills and tranquillisers - can actually cause sleep disturbance
• other prescription drugs - including some contraceptives, diuretics, slimming pills, beta-blockers, stimulants.
Some causes of insomnia can't be easily dealt with but most can.
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