Insomnia causes

Insomnia or sleepless nights is something that is experienced by a lot of people. It is a very common disorder. It is so common that so many people are even familiar with the phrase. It is not surprising to know that so many people have suffered from the disorder at one time or the other in their life. Studies have shown that about half of the entire population suffers from some measure of insomnia while about 10% suffer from chronic insomnia. Insomnia refers to habitual sleeplessness. It is the inability to stay asleep and or being unable to fall asleep. It has to do with the absence of rapid eye movement sleep. Some people will know that they are being affected by insomnia going by the way they feel after the night but the medical world will detect the disorder going by the length of time the problem has been affecting the patient.

A whole lot of things could cause insomnia. The causes could be grouped into psychiatric causes, situational causes and medical causes. Some common causes of transient insomnia are annoying and irritating noises around the environment; the temperature of sleeping rooms; changes in work schedule or programs; jet lag; health problems; heights and discontinued drug usage. Other causes of insomnia are excessive alcohol and problems with mental health.

Chronic insomnia usually appears in people who have a health condition or problems affecting their mental health. Some mental health causes of insomnia are depression – a state of being sad due to one circumstances or the other; stress; schizophrenia; nervousness and bipolar disorder. This is not to say that once a person is affected with insomnia then he is also affected with depression or psychiatric problems.

Several physical conditions form part of the causes of insomnia. They are chronic pain; Heart condition disorder in the circadian rhythm; Acid reflux; Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease; Asthma; Constant exhaustion; Brain shock; Sleep apnea and Angina.

Other causes of Insomnia can be linked to physiological disorders such as side effects of medications like prednisone, narcotics, and reaction to medication like flushing from niacin. Endocrine disorders can also cause insomnia. Any form of pain caused by any disorder can be said to be responsible for insomnia.

Insomnia affects all age groups whether children, adolescents, adults or the elderly. Among adults, the disorder seems to be more prominent in women that in men. This means that women are more likely to suffer from insomnia than the men. Also, the chances that a person may be affected by insomnia increases as one grow older. The disorder is found more among people with lower incomes, people suffering from mental health problems and people who have alcohol problems. The most common factor that could trigger off insomnia is stress which could result from enormous work or other duties that are more than the body can handle. It is important and advisable to quickly get treatment for transient insomnia so as to avoid it resulting into chronic insomnia which may not be easy to get rid off.