What is Insomnia?

Insomnia affects more than just a person's ability to get a good night's sleep. The condition, one of the most frequent problems that patients report, can lead to a substantially less productive and enjoyable life, often due to continuous tiredness, eventual poor health and recurring negative emotional states. Fortunately, even severe cases of insomnia are treatable with behavioral changes, medication, therapy or a combination of the three options.

Description

The number of hours of sleep needed each day varies from person to person. As a result, insomnia isn't diagnosed based on how much sleep a person gets, but rather her perception that the amount of sleep she gets is inadequate or of insufficient quality. Reasons that may support the perception include still feeling tired after waking up, having trouble falling asleep, not sleeping as long as desired, and waking up often and having difficulty going back to sleep. According to the Mayo Clinic, approximately 33 percent of adults suffer from insomnia at a given time.

Types

The three main categories of insomnia are transient, intermittent and chronic. Transient insomnia is short-term and lasts anywhere from one night to several weeks. Intermittent insomnia is both short-term and sporadic, with sleep problems occurring only occasionally.

Chronic insomnia is long-term, with insomnia persisting for a month or more and on three or more nights each week. The third type falls into two additional categories: primary insomnia, which isn't due to a health condition, and secondary insomnia, which is the result of a health condition or some other factor, such as a medical problem (for example, asthma) or an environmental issue (for instance, a noisy sleeping location).

Diagnosis

Doctors determine if insomnia is present by completing a routine physical examination and medical history to help identify potential sources of a sleeping problem. Sometimes doctors also ask patients to record their sleep patterns in a sleep diary. They may suggest certain tests, too, such as a blood test to screen for medical problems, or observation at an overnight sleep center to monitor physical activity during sleep, such as brain waves and eye movement.

Treatment

Both intermittent and transient insomnia usually require no treatment because they frequently disappear on their own within several days, typically after a behavioral change, such as sleeping with earplugs to block out sounds from a noisy environment.

However, effective treatment for chronic insomnia is a multistep process that involves diagnosing any underlying mental or physical disorders and treating them; identifying behavioral or environmental factors that contribute to poor sleep and eliminating or reducing them; taking prescribed sleeping pills for a limited amount of time to promote better sleep, if necessary; and trying a form of therapy to change behavior for long-term avoidance of insomnia.

Behavioral therapies include relaxation therapy to teach an insomniac how to reduce stress before sleeping; stimulus control, or reconditioning the insomniac to associate the bed with sleep by using it only for that purpose and sex; and cognitive therapy to train an insomniac how to sleep better by thinking about positive things instead of worrying about sleeplessness.

Prevention

Preventing insomnia is often a matter of adopting healthy lifestyle practices, such as exercising regularly; avoiding alcohol, caffeine and nicotine at night or altogether; eating no less than three hours before bedtime; and going to bed and waking up at the same time each day to establish a routine that conditions the body for sleeping. Insomniacs should also get out of bed if they don't fall asleep after a reasonable amount of time, and return only when they become sleepy again.