- Difficulty falling asleep is often experienced by those with insomnia. Tossing and turning in bed often results from the inability to relax one's mind. For instance, anxiety can produce worrisome thoughts that are hard to rid the mind of when it's time to go to sleep. Also, individuals with a Type-A personality may be unable to fall asleep at night if they did not do all that was expected of them that day. Significant changes in one's family, social or occupational life as well as one's health can also cause insomnia.
- In addition to falling asleep, insomniacs may experience difficulty staying asleep. They may wake up several times during the night and have to go through the difficulty of falling asleep again. Sufferers of depression tend to have interrupted sleep at night. This may be due to extended naps during the day or as a result of nightmares, another sleeping disorder. The nightmares can cause people to experience sweating, trembling and fear upon awakening and prevent them from returning to sleep.
- Sleeping serves an important function. It allows the body to rest and restore the resources used during the day. However, restless sleep interferes with the body's ability to repair itself. This type of sleep is referred to as non-restorative sleep and is less commonly reported by insomniacs. Since it does not replenish the body, individuals do not wake up feeling rested or refreshed.
- The daytime fatigue associated with insomnia impacts one's ability to function during the day. Lack of energy and increased irritability are common. Someone who naps during the day as a result of fatigue is perpetuating the insomnia because they may not be sleepy at night. Changes in work schedules such as shift work or jet lag that alters one's sleeping patterns can cause intermittent insomnia. It can take repeated instances for the body to become accustomed to the new sleep schedule.
- Lifestyle changes such as eliminating naps during the day and establishing a sleeping pattern can help prevent insomnia. Waking up and falling asleep at approximately the same time every day can also help the body to regulate itself. Over-the-counter sleeping pills might provide some relief. However, if insomnia lasts more than a month, a prescribed sleeping pill such as Ambien may be needed or there may be an underlying medical condition causing the insomnia that is not being treated.
