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What Are the Causes of Insomnia?

WiredBrain | Sep 15, 2009 |

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Insomnia is a condition affecting thousands of people around the world. In fact, it is a symptom that is caused by several sleep disorders and is characterized by extreme and continued difficulty in falling asleep. The result is being tired and this can lead to impairments while awake such as no energy, poor concentration and depression.

Insomnia is caused by many factors but some of the common ones include:

* Your sleeping environment - if there are loud noises, lights or extreme temperatures your sleep will be disturbed. Everyone has particular personal dislikes that can disturb your sleep and this can become more pronounced when you have suffering from a sleep disorder. Often a simple change in your environment can work wonders - for example, switching to a twin air mattress or one with plenty of room like a king air mattress, in replacement of a standard innerspring bed.

* Stimulates - coffee, drugs and even alcohol can affect your ability to fall asleep or stay asleep. Smoking is another stimulate that commonly affects sleep. While alcohol makes many people tired initially, it often causes them to wake up early, perhaps even after only a few hours.

* Routine disturbance - your body runs on a biological clock and any changes to your routine can put this clock out of kilter. Jet lag is a common problem in this category but other issues like late night studying or partying can also contribute to strange sleeping patterns. In cases like this, the body clock needs to be reset.

* Night times activities - the light from computers, TVs and cell phones can affect the hormones in your body that regulate sleep. This is why you will often be wide awake after working on your computer, even though it is very late at night. It is best to switch of the TV and computer at least an hour before you try to go to sleep.

* Health issues - chronic pain, diabetes, heart problems and urine tract issues are all common complaints that can lead to insomnia. Many psychiatric disorders are also characterised by insomnia such as schizophrenia, bipolar and dissociative identity disorder.

* Emotional problems - events in our lives can affect our ability to fall asleep. Anxiety, depression and other psychological disorders can have symptoms of insomnia. Often the person lies awake a night running thoughts or memories through their mind.

This is just a short list of the common causes of insomnia. There are many others but these are the ones that most people report.