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- What is insomnia?
- Symptoms of insomnia
- Causes of insomnia
- Prevention of insomnia
- Risk factors for insomnia
- Complications of insomnia
- When to see a doctor about insomnia
- Diagnosis of insomnia
- Conventional treatment of insomnia
- Alternative/complementary treatment of insomnia
- Living with insomnia
- Caring for someone with insomnia
Insomnia is a sleep disorder. Insomnia causes difficulty falling asleep, waking often from sleep or waking up too early from sleep without being able to get back to sleep.
The average amount of sleep adults require is about 7-8 hours, but this is just an average, as everyone is different and some people need more sleep, while others can survive quite well on less.
General hours of sleep required through the ages (these are averages and there will be variations):
| Lifestage | Hours of sleep |
| Newborn babies | 16-18 hours |
| Young children (3-4 years) | 12 hours |
| Older children (5-12 years) | 10 hours |
| Teenagers | 8 hours |
| Adults | 7 hours |
| Older adults (over 65 years) | 5-6 hours |
Sleep is highly complex, where the brain dreams and produces a number of different brain waves, as well as a number of other changes that are physiological and chemical in nature including the immune system working to repair and recharge the body.
There are five stages of sleep: Stage 1 & 2 are light sleep/true sleep, stage 3 & 4 are deep sleep and stage 5 is when REM sleep occurs. People who miss out on sleep tend to miss out on the transition stages (stages 1 & 2) as the body tends to try to catch up on deep sleep first and then REM sleep.
Insomnia is described as being unable to wake up from sleep feeling refreshed and restored, rather waking up feeling tired and exhausted. Insomnia occurs when the quality of sleep is poor and this leaves the person feeling tired and lethargic upon waking. Insomnia is not about the hours of sleep, but rather the quality of sleep.
There are two basic types of insomnia:
- Primary insomnia - this type of insomnia is due to some type of severe psychological distress or major life changes and is the less common form. This type of insomnia is not due to any other external or internal factor and is a disorder on its own
- Secondary insomnia - this type of insomnia is due to an underlying health disorder (such as anxiety, depression, Alzheimer's disease, restless legs syndrome), taking certain medicines, an underlying sleep disorder (such as sleep apnoea) and/or using certain stimulating substances (such as caffeine, smoking cigarettes)
People who experience constant insomnia are not able to function very well and falling asleep while driving is one example of how insomnia can be very dangerous.
There are two main types of insomnia symptoms (and people can experience one or the other or both types):
- Sleep maintenance insomnia - this type of insomnia is characterised by frequent awakenings (throughout the night) or waking too early
- Sleep onset insomnia - this type of insomnia is characterised by an difficulty in falling asleep
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Facts about insomnia
- Insomnia literally means "no sleep", it is derived from Latin
- Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder in Australia (and this is the same in the USA, UK and many other countries)
- Statistics from the Australasian Sleep Association suggest that around 10% of people take medication to help them sleep (but these statistics don't include all people with insomnia symptoms, only a subset of those who take medication)
- A 2003 survey by the National Sleep Foundation in the United States found that 60% of adults surveyed reported driving while feeling drowsy
- Not everyone needs the same amount of sleep
- Insomnia is all about a lack of quality sleep that leaves a person feeling tired in the morning after waking up
- Eating too late at night can often cause insomnia
- Excessive worry and thinking too much at night can also cause insomnia
- Caffeine late at night over-stimulates the brain and can cause insomnia
- People who have insomnia generally have some form of depression too
- Insomnia causes excessive tiredness throughout the day
- People with any type of anxiety disorder often experience insomnia at a high frequency
- There are a number of medications that can cause insomnia to occur
- There are a number of health conditions that can cause insomnia to occur
- People experiencing any life changing or traumatic/emotional events can experience insomnia
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