Insomnia – causes and treatments

Insomnia may be defined as a condition wherein a person experiences difficulty in initiating and maintaining sleep.It is a very common problem which nearly every one admits to have experienced at some point or the other. Despite being a problem affecting a large number of people world wide, very few are actually found seeking medical advice for it.

Insomnia may be categorized under three heads. The first being transient insomnia, which has symptoms that last no longer than a week. The second is short-term insomnia, which comes with symptoms lasting for a span of one to three weeks. If the symptoms persist for more than three weeks, then the problem is recognized as chronic insomnia.

Insomnia is found occurring in all age groups and women are believed to be more at risk of developing it than men. Also it has been observed that people falling under the low income group experience sleeplessness and insomnia more often. The risk tends to increase with age. Transient insomnia if not treated may grow to take the shape of chronic insomnia.

There are several causes of insomnia. One may experience short-term insomnia due to factors such as jet lag, work shift changes, excessive noise, medical or surgical illness, withdrawal from an addiction or stressful situations in life. Chronic insomnia often manifests from psychological or physiological factors. The psychological factors like anxiety, stress, schizophrenia, mania or depression pose high threats of causing insomnia. The physiological causes like chronic pain or fatigue syndrome, chest pain due to heart disease, obstructive pulmonary disease or sleep apnea or nocturnal asthma may be equally responsible.

The basic symptoms  insomnia are difficulty in falling asleep and frequently waking up during the night, coupled with daytime symptoms like poor focus and concentration, memory difficulty, motor coordination impairment, irritability and fatigue.

The treatment for insomnia involves finding the root of the underlying cause and its elimination. The best mode of treatment has been found to be a combination of medical and non-medical treatments. Non-medical treatments such as maintaining sleep hygiene, curbing over sleeping, not smoking, exercising, maintaining a sleep schedule and not going to bed hungry are found to be fruitful. Medical treatment of insomnia generally involves the intake of benzodiazepine sedatives like temazepam and flurazepam or non-benzodiazepine sedatives such as eszopiclone and zaleplon.