Whats Keeping You up at Night: Insomnia

Stephen McDaniel

English 10400-24

November 12, 2012

What's keeping you up at night: Insomnia?

Have you ever wondered why you can't fall asleep on those late nights you spend staring at the ceiling, watching TV, or surfing the internet. Well you are not alone around 60 million people each year suffer from sleeplessness and insomnia ("Can't Sleep? Neither Can 60 Million Other Americans."). Insomnia being a topic that is not always an important topic is now a major topic in society. To understand insomnia; people have to find out what normal sleep patterns are, then find out what causes sleeplessness is it a medical or general cause. Also the different types of insomnia, who is at the greater risk of suffering from it, how it affects the insomniac, and lastly if there are any treatments.

To better understand insomnia find out what regular sleep patterns are like. Not only understand the length of sleep they get but the patterns between going to sleep and waking up. On average, most people need between seven and nine hours of good quality sleep each night in order to feel alert the next day. But some function perfectly well with only four or five hours a night. The key to healthy sleeping seems to be a consistent pattern, rather than the number of hours one sleeps ("What Is Insomnia?"). So normal just has to be consistent with how many hours your body needs to sleep.

What causes insomnia and is it a general or medical cause? There are many general causes for insomnia; including being too hot or too cold when trying to sleep, drug and alcohol use, stress and anxiety, jet lag, noise and light in the area you sleep in, and having too much caffeine before bed. Medical or psychiatric problems like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), depression, dementia, chronic pain, acid reflux, and Parkinson's disease can all contribute to your sleepless nights.

There are three different types of insomnia; transient, short term, and chronic which are based upon how long you have had symptoms. Transient insomnia; is insomnia that is temporary, usually connected to a stressful time or event. When the stress ends usually the insomnia stops. Usually lasts one week at the most. It is commonly due to jet lag or temporary stress. Short term insomnia; is insomnia that is due to travel to high altitudes, grieving loss of loved one, hospitalization, pain lasts more than a week but not more than three weeks. Often results from stress or illness and resolves when the situation returns to normal. Chronic insomnia, also known as long term insomnia, lasts more than three weeks. This May be caused by acute medical illness, another sleep disorder or condition ("Symptoms of Insomnia-Treatment and Remedies.").

Who is at risk? A good percentage of people will have transient or chronic insomnia every once in a while. But studies show that women are more common to have insomnia but men are not immune to it. Women are more likely to experience insomnia due to hormonal fluctuations during menstruation, pregnancy and menopause. Also they are more likely to suffer from anxiety and depressive disorders ("Insomnia."). Insomnia occurs more in the older ages as well as teens because of their unusual sleep habits.

Insomnia itself is not life threatening, but it can increase the risk of accidents, psychiatric problems, and certain medical conditions,