6.5 hours of sleep is a minimum considered standard requirement because two thirds of adults report between 7 to 8.5 hours of sleep per night. But, some people may need more or fewer hours of sleep.
1/3 of adults are either "short sleepers," needing 4 to 5 hours of sleep or "long sleepers" needing 9 to 10 hours of sleep.
A person with insomnia may have one or all the three problems, the initial , middle, and late insomnia or, a combination of any two.
Also insomnia is evaluated by the "sleep efficiency." Sleep efficiency is calculated by the number of sleep hours over the total hours in bed.
In total the sleep hours should be 85 % of the total time in bed.
But if a person was in bed for eight hours, of which he was awake 2 hours, his sleep hours filled only 75 % of the total time in bed. In this case sleep efficiency was poor.
Insomnia is cured inadequately and generally limited to a prescription of sleeping pills.
Sleeping pills stay active for a short time as the patient develops a tolerance for the pills and requires more and more medication.
Other issues, such as, a physical or a mental disorder, family, health, and work-related stress, divorce, separation, and grief, may cause insomnia, and need to be dealt with first.
Long-term insomnia treatment includes giving up pernicious sleeping habits and developing good sleeping habits.
These habits that contribute to insomnia:
1. Going to bed when you are wide awake and your body and mind do not want to do anything with sleeping. 2. Staying in bed awake too long, even though you can't fall sleep. Occupying your mind with problem solving, thinking, worrying, etc. makes mind more awake. 3. Lying in bed awake and trying harder and harder to go to sleep only increases anxiety and frustration which makes the sleeping problem worse. 4. Oversleeping in the morning hours on weekdays or weekends may not be a problem for others but it has a harmful effect on a person with insomnia. 5. Reading a book or watching TV in bed induces sleep in some people, but if you do not fall asleep in 30 minutes, it can make your sleep problem worse.
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