Help For Insomnia

People need help for insomnia if they have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. Insomnia is often secondary to other conditions, but sometimes a condition or problem on its own.

In the US, approximately 64 million people regular experience insomnia each year. It is more common in women and affects 1 in 3 people.

Types of insomnia

• Transient insomnia lasts only a few days to a few weeks and may be caused by another condition like depression or anxiety
• Acute insomnia is an inability to sleep well consistently for three weeks to six months.
• Chronic insomnia lasts for years and can either be caused by another disorder or be the main disorder. Symptoms include sleepiness, muscle fatigue, hallucinations, mental fatigue, seeing things in slow motion or double vision.
• Fatal insomnia is a rare form of insomnia.

Patterns

The pattern of insomnia is usually related to its underlying causes.

Onset insomnia is difficulty falling asleep at bedtime. It can be linked to anxiety disorders.

Middle insomnia is sometimes called sleep maintenance insomnia, and is a common problem. Middle insomnia involves waking in the middle of the night and having difficulty getting back to sleep.

Terminal insomnia, also known as "late insomnia" involves waking very early in the morning. This is often associated with clinical depression. You may be suffering from terminal insomnia if you wake up well before your alarm goes off, unable to return to sleep. A pattern of waking early, say at 4am or 5am, and then becoming weary in the late afternoon is a problem for many people. They have no trouble getting to sleep when they go to bed, however. Poor concentration may also be a problem. It is more common in the elderly and affects more women than men.

Terminal insomnia is often associated with depression and stress, and these issues need to be addressed in order to find help for insomnia of this kind.

Not sure if you have terminal insomnia or if you are just a "morning person"? Take the insomnia quiz to find out.

Causes of insomnia

An insomnia cause may be short-term or chronic.

Causes of Short-Term (or Transient) Insomnia

Are you reacting to or stressed about change in your life? Life events are one of the most common causes of short-term and transient insomnia. The trigger could be a major or stressful event like:

• An illness
• Injury or surgery
• The loss of a loved one,through death or separation
• Job loss

Temporary insomnia could also occur after a fairly minor event, including:

• Extremes in weather
• An exam
• Travel
• Problems at work

Normal sleep usually returns either when the situation resolves, when you recover from the event, or you become used to the new situation. You may need help for insomnia if sleepiness interferes with your day-to-day functioning or if it continues for more than a few weeks. Individual responses to stress vary and some people may not experience insomnia at all, even during very stressful situations while others may suffer from insomnia in response to very mild stressors.

Causes of chronic insomnia

Insomnia often results from other problems, like a painful medical condition or substance that interferes with sleep. Common insomnia causes include:

Advancing Age
Insomnia becomes more common with age. As you get older, you may find that sleep becomes less restful because your body spends less time in deeper sleep stages and more time in lighter sleep. This may mean you wake up more easily. You may also become less socially and physically active as you age or nap during the day. Activity can provide great help for insomnia. Health conditions like arthritis and back pain, more prevalent in older age groups, may disrupt sleep. Older men may find an enlarged prostate gland causes frequent waking to use the toilet. Use of more medications may increase the chance of these disrupting sleep.

Alcohol
Alcohol is a sedative that may help you fall asleep, but can prevent you from going into the deeper stages of sleep, resulting in awakening in the middle of the night. Most people miss this as an insomnia cause, assuming that alcohol helps them sleep, but the quality of sleep is usually poor. See the alcohol insomnia page for more information.

Anxiety
Everyday anxieties as well as more-serious anxiety disorders may disrupt your sleep and dealing with these through resolution or cognitive behavioral therapy can give you great help for insomnia.

Caffeine
Coffee, tea and cola contain caffeine – a well-known stimulant. Drinking these drinks late in the afternoon can stop you falling asleep at night and make you need to urinate at night. Changing your beverage habits could give great help for insomnia.l

Children and teenagers
Sleep problems may be a problem for children and teenagers as well. Some children and teenagers have trouble getting to sleep or resist a regular bedtime because their internal clocks are more delayed. They like to go to bed later and sleep later in the morning.

Depression
You might either sleep too much or have trouble sleeping if you're depressed. This may be due to chemical imbalances in your brain or because worries that go with depression may keep you from relaxing so you can fall asleep. Insomnia is often associated with other mental health disorders as well. Read more on depression and insomnia.

Eating late
Eating a light snack before bedtime is OK, but eating too much may make you feel uncomfortable while lying down and make it difficult to get to sleep. This is an easy insomnia cause to miss. Some people also experience heartburn, a rising of acid and food from the stomach to the esophagus after food. This uncomfortable feeling may keep you awake. Avoiding eating late can be great help for insomnia.

Environmental and schedule changes
Travel or working late or early shifts can disrupt your body's sleep cycle, making it difficult to sleep. Your circadian rhythms work like internal clocks, guiding your waking and sleepy times, your metabolism and body temperature. These can be important insomnia causes.

'Learned' insomnia
If you sleep better when you are away from your usual sleep environment, even while you're watching TV or when reading, you may have taught yourself not to sleep well at home by worrying excessively about not being able to sleep well and trying too hard to fall asleep.

Medical conditions
Chronic pain, frequent urination or breathing problems can be another insomnia cause. Conditions associated with insomnia include arthritis, cancer, congestive heart failure, diabetes, lung disease, gastric reflux, over-active thyroid, Parkinson's disease, stroke and Alzheimer's disease. Ensuring that your health conditions are well managed may provide help for insomnia. For example, help for insomnia may come in the form of a pain killer if you have arthritis.

Medications
Prescription drugs can interfere with sleep, including some anti-depressants, heart and blood pressure medicines, allergy medications, stimulants (like Ritalin) and corticosteroids. Many over-the-counter drugs, including some pain killer combinations, decongestants and slimming products, contain caffeine and other stimulants. Antihistamines may make you groggy to start with, but they can make urinary problems worse, causing you to wake up more during the night.

Menopause
Menopause and insomnia often go together. Find out why and what you can do about it to get help for insomnia and menopause symptoms.

Nicotine
Nicotine in cigarette products is a stimulant that can cause insomnia.

Sleep habits
Practices that underpin good sleep are known as "sleep hygiene." Poor sleep hygiene includes having an inconsistent sleep schedule, doing stimulating activities before bed, having an uncomfortable sleep environment and using your bed for activities other than sleep or sex.

Stress
Worries about school, work, family or health can keep your mind active at night, making it hard to sleep. Stressful situations, like the loss or illness of a loved one, divorce, or a job loss, may lead to chronic insomnia.
The above list contains your insomnia cause or causes and will help you move forward in dealing with it.

Impacts of insomnia

You may experience these signs and symptoms:

• Feeling grumpy and tired during the day
• Trouble concentrating at work
• Falling asleep during the day
• Irritability, depression or anxiety
• Tension headaches
• Gastrointestinal symptoms
• Increased errors or accidents

Treatments

Treatments offering help for insomnia approach the problem from many directions. Insomnia is usually caused by something, but the possible causes are many and varied. It might not be immediately obvious what the causes are in your situation, but the following list should give you some hints:

• change - moving house or city, starting college or university
• environment - noise, discomfort, time zone change. Feet and sleep quality are related.
• medical conditions indigestion, heart, breathing, high blood pressure, arthritis, anorexia.
• prescription drugs - including some beta-blockers, contraceptives, diuretics, diet pills, stimulants.
• pain - one of the most typical causes
• recreational drugs - including nicotine, caffeine, cocaine, amphetamines, cannabis
• sleeping pills and sedatives - can actually cause sleep disturbance
• states of mind - anxiety, depression, worry, anger, grief, anticipating a difficult event. Researchers recommend meditation for sleep and insomnia.

Some causes of insomnia can't be easily dealt with but most can. Here are some things you can do to help yourself:

Your Environment
You need a comfortable bed and a quiet, dark and warm room. Sometimes this is not possible. You might have noisy neighbors, a snoring partner, a cold room, and makeshift furniture. But there are some things you can do to help.

• If your mattress sags, put a board under it, or try putting your bed in a different position. Make sure your bedding is clean and that you are warm enough, but not too hot.
• If light troubles you, use thicker curtains, or sleep with a scarf or sleep mask over your eyes. If you prefer a little light, leave the curtains open a bit or use a night light.
• Use earplugs if noise is beyond your control - or change how you think about it. It is possible to sleep through high levels of noise - it's actually how you feel about it that keeps you awake. Use relaxation exercises to calm yourself and take your mind off it. Can you talk to noisy neighbors? Alternatively, keep a radio/tape player by your bed and use it to mask other noise. And if noise from neighbors continues to be a serious problem - speak to your local Environmental Health Officer or building supervisor. These could be some simple ways to get help for insomnia.

Your Lifestyle
If you are having trouble sleeping, you may have to change some of your habits. Check out these natural remedies for insomnia that are effective and easy to follow. You might also consider herbal remedies for insomnia. Some people believe that they can use chloroform for sleep - find out the facts before considering this idea.

A website about the cell nutrient glutathione might provide a helpful suggestion.

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