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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
There are a number of complications of insomnia, some of which can be really serious:
Accidents and injuries
Insomnia causes people to experience daytime sleepiness and excessive tiredness. In some people, this excessive tiredness can be lethal if they are driving and fall asleep and hit another car or some other object. Other people who operate machinery are also at great risk if they experience a lot of insomnia and daytime sleepiness that causes a loss of concentration when operating the machinery. At a more basic level, being excessively tired and cooking or participating in any activity can easily cause an accident or injury if concentration lapses too much.
Anxiety
While a lot of people who have insomnia already have some type of anxiety disorder, excessive insomnia and the irritability and lack of sleep can induce anxiety symptoms too, when cortisol level remain too high, the body is never able to relax and this can result in a great deal of anxiety due to the insomnia. This anxiety then fuels the insomnia and it just becomes a vicious circle which is hard to break from from.
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Depression
While a lot of people who have insomnia already have some type of depressive illness, excessive insomnia and the irritability and lack of sleep can induce symptoms of depression too. This is due to the higher than normal cortisol levels, lowered tryptophan and serotonin levels (both of which are associated with normal mood) which are all associated with the risk of development of depression.
Lowered immunity
Sleep is the time for the body to repair itself and recharge energy. It is thought to be the time (especially during REM, deep sleep) when the immune system goes to work to repair any part of the body that is damaged or injuried or just not functioning properly. If the immune system does not have this opportunity, it means that the body cannot repair and recharge itself. Another factor in this is higher cortisol levels, which if they occur over a long period, can cause lowered immunity. This means that not only do you feel excessively tired and irritable from the lack of sleep, the immune system also fails to function properly and it means you are more vulnerable to illness.
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