Insomnia: What it is & How to Beat it?

Everyone knows how frustrating it can be when you can not fall asleep, especially if you are tired or have a long day ahead of you. This often occurs in people in the form of insomnia. Both of these conditions are often a symptom of other mental illnesses. The topic of insomnia can be confusing and frustrating if you are struggling but there is science behind it. It is crucial that we learn to recognize insomnia and know how to cope with it before it becomes a serious issue in your life.

Insomnia is a sleep disorder that can make it hard to fall asleep, hard to stay asleep or cause you to wake up early and not get back to sleep. There are two kinds of insomnia. Acute insomnia lasts for days or weeks, and is caused by stress, a traumatic event or other mental illnesses. In contrast to this, chronic insomnia can last for many months. Insomnia can affect many people and leave them constantly feeling tired. It can cause people to feel physically drained, affect your health, how efficiently and well you work and it can overall lower one’s quality of life. Struggling with insomnia can also be mentally draining and cause any mental illnesses someone may have to worsen. Knowing the signs could help improve the way some people may be living.

Various factors in your life can cause insomnia. Stress, worrying about school, work or other things in someone’s life can keep the mind active at night and cause someone to suffer from insomnia. Other influences that cause insomnia include changes in time zones, work shifts or working late or starting early. Mental health disorders such as PTSD, anxiety and depression lead to less sleep, restless sleep or interrupted sleep. These can eventually morph into insomnia. Medications, more specifically prescription medications, can have side effects of insomnia or other sleep interruptions. There are also a few risk factors that can make someone more prone to getting insomnia. For example: being a cis women, over sixty years of age, suffering from mental or physical disorders, being under a large amount of stress or not having a regular schedule in your life. Recognizing these risks and the causes of insomnia can help people to understand if they are more prone to developing it.

There are many ways to treat insomnia and different treatments will work for different people. Some basic tips to help with insomnia are to stick to a rigid sleep schedule, avoid or control naps, try to stay away from addictive substances such as caffeine, alcohol or nicotine and stay active. More intensive treatments may be needed to help with chronic insomnia and the treatments previously listed may not be effective. Cognitive-behavioural therapy is used to treat insomnia and it teaches many different techniques to try to help with insomnia. And finally the last treatment available is medications. In some cases medications may be appropriate and prescribed, if the patient is comfortable, to resolve insomnia. Many treatments are available for those that suffer and it is important to find the right one that works for you.

Insomnia affects almost one third of the world’s population and if it goes untreated it can cause more complications in one’s life. There are many causes for the two different kinds of insomnia. Combinations of these will result in different treatments for each person. Knowing the signs and symptoms and what can cause insomnia can help you or someone you know who may need help. Do not suffer in silence when the help you deserve may be at your fingertips.

Written by:

~ Macy Brunsel

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Resources

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2016, October 15). Insomnia. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved December 25, 2021, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/insomnia/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20355173