Sleep Problems Causes Of Insomnia example essay topic

Insomnia is formally defined as the inability to get the standard amount of sleep. This disease affects 1 in 3 adults every year in the United States (Insomnia). Insomnia is a growing problem that we are learning more about everyday, insomnia makes life very hard for those who are inflicted by it. Prevention of insomnia is rather simple if you learn simple techniques. If you are afflicted by insomnia than cure is rather simple if you are in the care of a good health care provider Insomnia is most commonly found in women and older adults. Also people who are divorced or widowed have a greater chance than those who are married to be victims of insomnia (Sleep Disorders).

These groups tend to have higher stress and that is why they are more likely to be affected. There is transient insomnia which is rather common and only lasts for a few days, the insomnia will be cured once the stressful problem is resolved. Chronic insomnia lasts for more than three weeks and should be treated by a trained health care provider (Sleep Disorders). Chronic insomnia is proven to lead to other diseases such as mood disorders and depression. Transient insomnia is usually caused by a temporary situation of high stress and will normally go away when the problem is resolved. Chronic depression can be caused by a number of things.

Acute stress like an illness can cause chronic insomnia. Depression and high anxiety can also lead to insomnia. It may also be caused by sleep problems such as sleep apnea. Caffeine or other stimulants can lead to insomnia.

The use of depressants and sedatives will relax you but may also cause you to have shallow, fragmented sleep. Pain due to illness may also be causes. Poor sleep habits are also proven to be causes of insomnia. Extreme changes in sleep patterns may cause insomnia. There are also rare conditions such as restless leg syndrome and nocturnal myo clonus that can lead to chronic insomnia (Sleep Disorders). There are several symptoms of insomnia and they are very obvious.

Having trouble falling asleep is a good sign you may have insomnia. Waking up often at night or being restless is a tell tale sign of insomnia. Also if you wake up early and are unable to go back to sleep you may be affected my insomnia. If you wake up from a night of sleep and do not feel rested at all you are most likely afflicted by insomnia (Burton Goldberg). Diagnosis of insomnia is rather simple.

Insomnia can be diagnosed by looking at six different things. The first is your sleep patterns. Next is the use of any medicines you are currently or were taking somewhat recently. Your eating habits are also looked at closely. Your mental and physical condition is also questioned because these can both cause insomnia. The patient's medical, family and psychiatric history are also examined.

Finally your job and travel patterns can be considered as a cause to insomnia (Burton Goldberg). There are several ways suggested to help cure insomnia. If insomnia is being caused by a medical condition than your doctor may prescribe you medication to take care of the problem. And if alcohol or drug abuse is the problem, the only way to cure that is to stop the abuse.

Now if stress is your main problem your health care provider may suggest relaxation techniques. A change in diet may also be suggested to help alleviate the problem. The most common suggestion is to just get on a normal sleep pattern and this will help your insomnia problem. If you are having trouble sleeping your doctor may prescribe you sleeping pills to help you fall asleep. In some more serious cases therapy is needed to help solve psychological or to reduce stress (Insomnia). Normally insomnia only lasts for a couple nights but if it persists for 2-3 weeks than you should seek the help of a health care provider.

There are countless suggestions on how to prevent insomnia. The most common phrase is to practice good "sleep hygiene". This basically means that you should have a healthy routine on how and when you sleep. This is the easiest thing you can do to prevent insomnia. Establishing a regular bedtime and a time to wake up to can help prevent insomnia. Taking naps during the day is not helpful and should be avoided.

Exercising during the day is an easy way to prevent insomnia. Keeping lights low in the house and your bedroom very dark will help you get better sleep. Using the bed for only sleep and not leisure is recommended. Going to bed when you are drowsy and not getting up until you are wide awake can also help. Obviously avoiding caffeine and other stimulants is a key way to prevent insomnia. Learning simple relaxation techniques can cause going to bed to be a much easier activity.

Reading something light before you go to bed can help you take your mind off your day's troubles. Having background noise helps make falling asleep easier for some people. Try and not focus on falling asleep and try and let your mind drift, this will help you fall asleep quicker. Avoiding unneeded stress in your life will help you prevent insomnia also.

Keep a journal and write down before you go to bed everything you need to do, this will help you to not worry about everything you have been worrying about (Sleep Disorders). All these techniques are ways of reducing stress. Some techniques may not work for some and may work great for others; it all depends on the person. Once you find a technique that works you should stick with it.

Whatever is comfortable for you is what you should use. Insomnia has become a very popular disease in the United States. There are numerous treatments that can help ease the affects this disease has on people. Knowing how to prevent it and what the symptoms are is crucial to avoiding the disease.

All the prevention techniques are free and very easy to learn, everyone should know these techniques so they can help prevent this disease that makes life so difficult.