Understanding Insomnia

Insomnia is such a common type of sleep disorder that it is believed to affect more than one third of people within the United States. There are two ways of classifying the condition, one depending on the duration and the other based on the source of the problem.

Depending on the duration of existence it is classified into transient insomnia that is present for a few days, short term insomnia that exists for some weeks and chronic insomnia when the condition persists beyond three weeks. Based on the source, insomnia is classified into primary and secondary insomnia.

Transient insomnia is very common and can be experienced by people at some point of time or the other in their life. This could be initiated due to stress or worry caused by some important event or even from an illness. It can also be initiated due to a disturbance in the normal circadian cycle owing to changes in shift at work or due to jet lag. This kind of insomnia generally disappears without any treatment once the stress factor is eliminated. Short term insomnia is also caused due to stress factors as in transient insomnia. If this condition remains unchecked, it can lead to chronic insomnia.

There is often no attributed cause that can be described for the development of primary insomnia and it can sometimes have an onset even at infancy. Many times, it is attributed to very high rate of metabolism or due to a hyperactive nervous system.

Secondary insomnia occurs as a result of some other cause. This could arise due to some illnesses, consumption of some medication, alcohol or drug abuse. This kind of insomnia can be successfully treated when the primary cause is treated or eliminated. For example, if the person is suffering from insomnia due to an illness like arthritis, treating the joint pain will help in reducing the insomnia.

Insomnia cannot be classified one type of disorder. It is actually a symptom of many different types of sleep disorders. To diagnose a person with insomnia, there should be three requirements that need to be met. First and fore most, the person should have difficulty in getting sleep or in remaining asleep. Next, the person should have trouble with sleep even though the environment and opportunity to get sleep is very conducive. The third criterion is that the disruption in sleep should cause some kind of difficulty during the normal daytime. These difficulties might include problems like excess fatigue, difficulties with concentration, body ache or pain, poor energy level, mood swings or worrying too much about the inability to sleep.

People with insomnia might need to be treated with medications like sleeping pills that might either be prescribed to the person or might be available as an over-the-counter product.

The management of insomnia might also be done with various other methods like stress relief through meditation, breathing exercises, sleep hygiene, progressive muscle relaxation, visualization, reconditioning sleep restriction, biofeedback and cognitive behavioral therapy. Many of these methods are helpful in getting relief from the problem.

Many people suffering from this condition also look towards holistic and alternate therapy for treatment of the condition. These treatment modalities include the utilization of herbal supplements that do not have any FDA approval. Acupuncture is also a method that is sought to help people get relief from insomnia. Another method that is tried out includes hot baths that is referred to as passive body heating.

Getting educated about the condition usually forms the first step to helping the person get relief from insomnia.