Insomnia Causes Explained: 5 Ways to Treat Insomnia

Insomnia is a sleep disorder that impairs your ability to fall asleep or stay asleep. Also known as sleeplessness, frequent disruption to a person’s normal sleep cycle results in poor sleep quality, daytime sleepiness, and cognitive impairment. In addition, insomnia affects your overall mood and can trigger depression, irritability, and anxiety.

There are two types of insomnia based on the frequency of your sleep disturbances.

• Short-term insomnia: Also called acute insomnia, this is insomnia that lasts for less than three months.
• Chronic insomnia: With chronic insomnia, sleep disturbances occur at least three times per week for longer than three months.

Within short-term and chronic insomnia are two subtypes of insomnia, each indicating whether your insomnia involves difficulty falling asleep or difficulty staying asleep.

• Sleep onset insomnia: This type of insomnia occurs when you have trouble falling asleep at your intended time. You may toss and turn in bed for thirty minutes or longer, leading to a decrease in your total hours of sleep once you finally do nod off. Those who suffer from sleep onset insomnia may struggle to shut off their brain due to stress or anxiety, or they may have an irregular circadian rhythm due to circumstances like unconventional work schedules or jet lag.
• Sleep maintenance insomnia: This type of insomnia occurs when you're unable to stay asleep throughout the night and struggle to fall back asleep after you do wake up. These interruptions in your normal sleep cycle lead to poor sleep quality, fewer hours of sleep, and a higher chance of daytime drowsiness and impairment. Sleep maintenance insomnia is most prevalent in those who consume caffeine or alcohol before bed, older people who suffer from nocturia (the frequent urge to urinate throughout the night), and people with other sleep disorders like restless leg syndrome or sleep apnea.

Insomnia can manifest due to any of the reasons indicated below, but for an official insomnia diagnosis, seek medical advice from a healthcare professional.

1. 1. Changes in sleep habits: Disrupting your normal sleep habits can adversely affect your normal sleep patterns. Common examples of this include jet lag experienced after traveling to a different time zone, sleeping in a new location like a hotel, or a change in your normal work hours.
2. 2. Mental health and behavioral disorders: Anxiety, depression, stress, and anguish caused by a tragic life event can all cause insomnia. When this happens, it can potentially turn into a cycle where insomnia then increases the severity of the mental health problem.
3. 3. Medical conditions and health problems: There are a number of medical problems and disorders that can cause insomnia symptoms, including arthritis, chronic pain, overactive thyroid, menopause, nocturia, and Parkinson's disease. In addition, other sleep disorders like sleep apnea and restless leg syndrome can also trigger insomnia symptoms.
4. 4. Medications: Certain prescription medications—like antidepressants, high blood pressure medication, and asthma medication—can hinder your sleep patterns. Some over-the-counter drugs—like cold medicine, pain medicine, and diet pills—may also contain ingredients that interfere with your ability to get a good night's sleep.
5. 5. Poor sleep hygiene: Sometimes the underlying cause of insomnia is simply poor sleep habits. Frequently changing your sleep schedule, napping too long during the day, and using electronic screen devices (phones, laptops, TVs, etc.) too close to bedtime can prevent your body from winding down at the proper time each night.
   
6. 6. Caffeine and alcohol consumption: A late-afternoon coffee boost may help get you through the end of your workday, but any caffeine consumed within six hours of your bedtime has the potential to keep you lying wide awake in bed. While alcohol will certainly make you feel sleepy at first, drinking an alcoholic beverage close to your bedtime can obstruct your sleep cycle, preventing you from getting enough REM sleep and deep sleep.

To treat your sleep problems, discuss the following common insomnia treatments with your doctor.

1. 1. Improve your sleep hygiene. Sleep hygiene is an assortment of practices that are conducive to getting good sleep on a consistent basis. Sleep hygiene centers around the notion that your daily behavior—particularly before bedtime—has a large impact on your overall quality of sleep. Some methods to improve your sleep hygiene include keeping a consistent sleep schedule, setting your bedroom temperature to 65 degrees Fahrenheit, avoiding caffeine and alcohol late in the day, establishing a relaxing bedtime routine, keeping daytime naps shorter than 20 minutes, and turning off electronic screens and dimming your lights an hour before bedtime.
2. 2. Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I): In CBT-I, patients work with a therapist to identify and change the thought patterns that trigger insomnia. They typically work on developing good sleep hygiene habits as well.
3. 3. Prescription medications: There are several prescription medications—some for short-term use and others for long-term use—designed to treat insomnia. Be aware that insomnia medications may be habit-forming and can have negative side effects, so it's important to talk to your doctor about the pros and cons of any medication.
4. 4. Over-the-counter sleeping pills and supplements: Over-the-counter antihistamine products sold as sleep aids may have some side effects, so talk to your doctor before taking one. Melatonin supplements are an artificially manufactured form of the hormone melatonin that the human body produces during the sleep cycle. There is some evidence that melatonin supplements can slightly decrease how long it takes you to fall asleep, but there is no conclusive research supporting melatonin as an effective insomnia treatment. As with all medicines, check with your doctor before taking any supplements.
5. 5. Practice mindfulness meditation. Meditation may make it easier to fall asleep, stay asleep, and improve your overall sleep quality. Meditation may also help ease stress, anxiety, and depression—which are three common causes of insomnia.

In severe cases, your doctor may refer you to an accredited sleep center for further testing. There, a sleep medicine specialist might ask you to record a sleep diary and stay overnight so they can perform an in-depth sleep study.

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