What causes insomnia?

Summary:

During some time during most people's lives, they will deal with trouble sleeping, usually due to stress or pain. Some of these sleep problems turn into insomnia, which is the inability to fall asleep or to have uninterrupted sleep. Some researchers say that a persons attitude about sleep makes them vulnerable to insomnia.


In 2002, The National Sleep Foundation surveyed over a thousand adults and thirty-five percent said that they had problems sleeping within the last year. Of the thirty-five percent, fifteen percent took sleep medication a few times a month. Age does not seem to be a factor, but other research shows that insomnia increases with age.


Many people believe that depression and anxiety cause insomnia. A study that was done shows the risk of developing depression was 39.8 times higher for insomniacs. Another study done shows that too much sleep can cause depression. Combining these two studies, we can say that insomniacs who are depressed get to much sleep. However, it is known that insomniacs don't get enough sleep, so this statement can't be true.


Evidence is showing that insomniacs are actually getting as much sleep as they need, and maybe more. They spend more time in bed that non-insomniacs. They just underestimate the amount of sleep that they get. One cause of insomnia is voluntarily extending your sleep.


So why would someone spend more time in bed that they actually need? It depends on your attitude towards sleep. Charles M. Morin found that insomniacs have stronger beliefs about the affects of insomnia on mental and physical health. Their mood changes more often and they have a lack of energy. People with sleep-onset insomnia (trouble falling asleep) think about worries and problems prior to sleep and think about what happened throughout the day. One night of bad sleep may make someone stay in bed later or take a longer nap. This could make the insomnia chronic.


It is often said that a person needs eight hour of sleep at night. However, sleep is an individual thing and some people may need more or less than eight hours of sleep.


Even after a good night's sleep, a person is still likely to be drowsy early in the morning. However, if you have trouble staying awake throughout the day, then it most likely means you aren't getting good enough sleep. Taking ten minute naps will most likely refresh you, but longer naps will make you have problems sleeping at night. However, if you're tired and can't fall asleep during the day, it's probably fatigue instead of sleepiness. If a person experiences this kind of tiredness with insomnia, this suggests thath a person is getting more sleep than necessary.


There is therapy that can change attitudes about sleep. Insomniacs should practice "sleep hygiene". Sleep restriction could also help. These treatments are more effective and last longer than medication.

My Reaction:
I really liked this article. I never realized that if you have insomnia you could actually be getting more sleep than you really need. I also never realized that too much sleep could cause depression. I think it's really interesting how not every person needs eight hours of sleep a night and that it varies from person to person. I think it's really cool that they have found ways to help insomnia other than medication.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-causes-insomnia