Insomnia
Insomnia Causes & Risk Factors
The American Insomnia Association has done a great job of organizing
and breaking down all the possible causes of insomnia and sleep problems
as revealed over the last 30 years of research. Insomnia stems from 4
main causes:
- Psychological
- Lifestyle
- Environmental
- Insomnia as a secondary illness
1. Psychological
factors include: 1). a vulnerability to insomnia; 2).
persistent, on-going stress, (difficulties at work & home,
illness in the family); 3). and learned insomnia. - "If
you sleep poorly, you may worry about not being able to function
well during the day. You may try harder to sleep at night, but
unfortunately this determined effort can make you more alert,
set off a new round of worried thoughts, and cause more sleep
loss."(2)
As part of 2) or 3), worry is a leading factor behind many peoples
reasons' for not being able to fall asleep. Worry about one's
job or financial security, worry about a loved one's health or
problems, worry for the future of our children or spouse, worry
about only getting 3 hours of sleep when you have an important
day at work tomorrow - in today's society, people have plenty
to worry about.
But as we discuss in the Prevention
and Treatment sections, there are some clever ways to turn
off your worries thus allowing your bed time to be for sleep time.
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2. Lifestyle factors are behind many insomnia cases
and are often the most difficult as it involves the patients making changes
to long term habits and addictions. Many of the lifestyle culprits behind
many insomnia cases include:
-
Stimulants to include caffeine (too
early before bedtime), the nicotene in smoking cigarettes (which is
a stimulant), some prescription medications and over the counter drugs.
Many over the counter headache medicines contain caffeine, which is
a stimulant. According to the National Sleep Foundation, medicines
taken for: colds and allergies, high blood pressure, heart disease,
thyroid disease, asthma and SSRI antidepressants - can lead to insomnia.(5)
-
Excessive use of alocohol. While one
glass of wine might help you go to sleep, getting "buzzed"
or drunk can be counterproductive. Excessive drinking can cause interrupted
sleep and a poor quality of sleep, not to mention the "hungover"
feeling you might have the next day. The older you get, the harder
it is to "bounce back" after a night of drinking and it
could take 24 to 48 hours for your body to release the alcohol in
your system.
-
Eating too much to close to bedtime.
"...eating too much may cause you to feel physically uncomfortable
while lying down, making it difficult to get to sleep. Many people
also experience heartburn, a backflow of acid and food from the stomach
to the esophagus after eating. This uncomfortable feeling may keep
you awake." (4)
-
Working irregular hours, the graveyard
shift, rotating hours, or late hours can throw off your body's Circadian
rhythms. During the day, your body releases chemicals that make you
more "alert." During night, your body releases "melatonin,"
a natural substance that tells your body to go to sleep.
-
All day couch potatos or people with
a restricted lifestyle also suffer from bouts of insomia. This fact
and other research has led sleep professionals to conclude that exercise
is an important factor in your day time routine that can lead to sounder
sleep at night. Likewise, people who take naps during the day, usually
find it hard to get to sleep at night. As a consequence, they then
go to bed late since they are not as tired. Not enough sleep at night
can lead to fatique in the day time which can bring on the desire
to take a nap - a cycle that might be hard for some people to break.
3. Environmental Factors include too much noise, light
and interruptions. Ear plugs and blackout shades are recommended.
4. Insomnia as a symptom of another illness, as part
of their classifications of the causes of insomnia, the American Insomnia
Assocation has sorted out how insomnia can be a symptom of another medical
or psychiatric condition. "Other sleep disorders, psychiatric
and physical illnesses may disrupt sleep, and produce symptoms that can
easily be mistaken for insomnia. These other disorders require medical
attention and common treatments for insomnia alone will not help.(2)
These other illnesses where insomnia is a symptom of the condition, include:
- Psychiatric - Depression (very common), post-traumatic
stress disorder, long-term anxiety disorders, are the most common psychiatric
illnesses that lead to insomnia.
- Medical - Any medical condition or recent accident
or surgery that leads to pain, or discomfort can interrupt sleeping
time. Headaches, arthritis, acid reflux and benign prostatic hypertrophy
leading to frequent urination can also interrupt one's sleep.
- Sleep related breathing disorders such as sleep apnea
"...can wake a sleeper dozens or even hundreds of times during
the night. Pauses in breathing can be as short as 10 seconds and may
not be remembered in the morning. However, they are sufficient to produce
disturbed and restless sleep." (2)
- Restless Leg Syndrome is a disorder characterized
by numbness, tingling, restlessness in the legs which is only "relieved"
by movement, stretching and walking.
Once the causes of your insomnia are understood, you and your doctor
can better outline a treatment & prevention program that turns out
the lights on your sleepless nights.
Insomnia is sometimes misspelled as insomia.
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