Sleepless Nights: Understanding the Different Types of Insomnia

Sleepless Nights: Understanding the Different Types of Insomnia

Types of Insomnia

Today most people in developed countries suffer from insomnia. It is the mental type of disorder that has to do with the lack of a good eight-hour night sleep for more than a week. People who suffer from that type of insomnia feel unable to follow their social lives and feel sleepy through the day. As a result, they cannot go to work and they feel they can’t even talk to others of function normally.

At this point, it would be better to start checking the several types of insomnia that are identified by doctors. The more we know about the distinct types of insomnia the better treatment we could find for those patients. Modern medicine has categorized insomnia in several types according to its onset and its severity. Let us see some more details in the following paragraphs and learn why treating insomnia is crucial for a person’s well-being.

1. Acute Insomnia

This is a common type of insomnia that has to do with a short period of time when people may have issues with falling asleep like they used to. That type of insomnia will not last more than a few days or even a few weeks. It is one of the types of insomnia that comes up usually as a result of some stressful conditions or psychological trauma. You can also suffer from acute insomnia when you change some of the factors of your sleeping routine, like the room, the mattress, the lights and the noise when you finally decide to fall asleep. If you left this type of acute insomnia without taking the proper treatment it may become a permanent and persistent problem disrupting your night’s sleep for a long time.

2. Chronic Insomnia

On the contrary of the acute insomnia, scientists have also identified the chronic one. To be sure you suffer from chronic insomnia you may have sleeping disorder episodes at least three times a week for a period of three consecutive months. Usually, this type of insomnia is correlated to underlying illnesses, mental disorders, and behaviors that go beyond pathology. Chronic insomnia is responsible for low quality of life and can severely impact one’s ability to work and function through the day if left unattended.

3. Primary Insomnia

So far we have seen that insomnia is somehow related to other underlying mental or physical issues and disorders. However, primary insomnia is a type of insomnia that appears by itself without having to do with any pre-existing condition. Primary insomnia is hard to treat and most psychologists try to combine drugs and cognitive therapies to help those people suffering from sleeping disorders that have virtually no organic base.

4. Secondary Insomnia

The exact opposite of primary insomnia is the secondary one. It is the type of sleeping disorder that comes to patients as a result of another mental or physical disorder or an environmental factor that has changed and causes that type of sleeping issue. Most people who suffer from secondary insomnia have either heart failure problems, chronic pain, or mental disorders that have to do with stress and anxiety. People who take illegal drugs or have alcohol abuse problems may also suffer from secondary insomnia. To find the solution to secondary insomnia it is necessary to identify the cause of the insomnia and get rid of it once and for all.

5. Sleep-Onset Insomnia

Most people who suffer from insomnia usually fall asleep fast and then they wake up multiple times through the night. However, when you suffer from sleep-onset insomnia you have a problem to fall asleep in the first place. These people can stay in bed for multiple hours before they fall asleep and they toss and turn around their mattress without their brain entering the sleeping phase. When you suffer from sleep-onset insomnia, you usually fall asleep only a few hours before your normal wake-up time. As a result, you feel tired throughout the day and you cannot go to work or have a natural social life like all other people do.

6. Sleep-Maintenance Insomnia

These people suffering from sleep-maintenance insomnia usually have no problem to fall asleep fast. However, they tend to wake up only a few hours later before their normal waking up time and before they have completed a regular eight hour sleeping time. They have problems to fall asleep again when they wake up and this type of insomnia can also lead to reduced productivity and increased health risks through the day. People with an identified sleep-maintenance insomnia may have underlying medical conditions that make them wake up through the night and need a thorough examination to find the root cause of this type of sleeping disorder.

7. Mixed Insomnia

Mixed insomnia is one of the hardest types of insomnia identified. It is characterized by a difficulty to fall asleep in the first place, and then a secondary hardness to keep being asleep for a long time. In other words, these people can take a long time to fall asleep and when they finally do, they soon after wake up before entering the REM phase of sleep. This type of mixed insomnia is the one that needs pharmaceutical therapy and can make people get hospitalized since they cannot feel energetic and safe enough to keep up with their daily activities.

Types of Insomnia

Causes of Insomnia

Even though insomnia is not the same in different people here is a shortlist of all the typical causes:

  • Stress and anxiety
  • Changes in lifestyle
  • Alterations in the sleeping habits and sleeping hours
  • Relocation to other sleeping facilities
  • Drug and substance abuse
  • Chronic pain
  • Medications that have insomnia as their common side effect
  • Use of screens that emit blue light before bedtime
  • Sleeping apnea (difficulty to maintain an open air tube while being asleep)
  • Depression
  • Medical conditions like cancer, arthritis and other auto-immune disorders
  • Excessive use of caffeine
  • Changes in the sleeping schedule and long trips to countries in different time zones

All these are the main causes of insomnia and you should examine them thoroughly in order to receive the right treatment for your condition.

 

Symptoms of Insomnia

Even though insomnia is not a fully studied mental disorder here are some of the most common symptoms that most people declare to have:

  • Fatigue and tiredness through the day
  • Difficulty in falling asleep
  • Bad dreams and waking up multiple times through the night
  • Negative thoughts
  • Cognitive disorders like lack of memory and impaired judgement
  • Concentration incapability
  • Irritability and low energy feeling through the day
  • Inability to run machinery and work normally in a team

These are the most common symptoms of insomnia however most people have personalized symptoms that affect their behavior and mood. That is why insomnia is such a dangerous mental disorder and needs to find its solution fast.

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Diagnosis of Insomnia

There are no specific blood tests doctors can prescribe to diagnose insomnia. The most powerful diagnostic tool is the review of clinical data and the interpretation of each patient’s medical history. That should include the normal sleeping times and patterns, how often they wake up through the night, if they face any nightmares and whether or not they feel energetic and activated next morning.

Sleeping apnea tests could also diagnose insomnia. Patients are about to sleep in a controlled room and have their brain function and heart rate monitored. It is a test that can show if they suffer from sleeping apnea and how many hours they manage to fall asleep.

Finally, Electro Brain Stimulation could also be a powerful tool to diagnose insomnia in some difficult cases of adults or children. When insomnia is diagnosed as a side effect of other more serious pathologies then doctors can also prescribe an MRI to check the brain and its function.

 

Treatment Options for Insomnia

The treatment options for insomnia are either pharmaceutical or psychological. In terms of psychological treatment the Cognitive Behavioral Treatment is the one that can reprogram your brain to have a normal night’s sleep and take away stress and anxiety.

In terms of pharmaceutical treatment, it has been shown that Zopiclone 10mg is one of the most powerful and easy to take treatments for short-term insomnia. People who suffers from insomnia can start with Zopiclone 7.5mg and take it once every night, one hour before crushing to their bed, It’s easy to take it with a glass of water and it does not have any severe side effects. Zopiclone can help your brain relax by producing more GABA neurotransmitters and make your central nervous system relax a lot faster and easier.

 

Home Remedies for Insomnia

Here is a comprehensive list of the best home remedies for insomnia:

  • Keep a regular schedule for night sleep
  • Drink herbal teas: Chamomile, valerian root, and passion flower are famous for their relaxing effects on your brain
  • Magnesium tablets: You can relax your muscles easier with magnesium. That can put you to sleep a lot faster
  • Melatonin: Supplements of melatonin are abundant in the online market. You can also get melatonin from certain foods and fruits so you better be ready to have them in order to fall asleep in the best possible condition
  • Tart Cherry Juice: It has a huge level of melatonin inside and can help people suffering from insomnia to get a good night sleep
  • Screen Time: Avoid watching screens that emit blue light an hour before getting to bed
  • Warm bath: It is evident that a warm bath can also relax your muscles and take stress away. This leads to a better sleep initiation

 

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