Insomnia Causes   

Although 64 million Americans every year suffer with the symptoms of insomnia, many do not understand exactly what causes insomnia in their situation. So to help better understand the disease, we have listed some of the major insomnia causes.  

Insomnia is a sleep-related disorder that can be defined in medical terminology as difficulty in initiating or maintaining normal sleep, or both. Almost every individual experiences the problem of being unable to fall asleep or sleeping for long durations due to stress, heartburn or due to consumption of higher amounts of caffeine or alcohol. However, such an occurrence is sporadic in nature and disappears instantly. If the condition persists for a longer duration, it can be termed as insomnia. In fact, insomnia is a general but poorly understood affliction. Interestingly, insomnia or lack of sleep is a symptom as well as a disease. As a result, diagnosis and treatment of this disease becomes a bit difficult.  

What causes insomnia? Insomnia causes vary from person to person. To be precise, insomnia is a condition that people experience either due to behavioral changes or as a symptom associated with the normal process of aging. Below are listed some major causes of insomnia.  

1.      Stress: This is the most common cause of sleeplessness. As a result of stress that happens either at work, school, or in the family, people can become restless and unable to relax prior to going to bed. Even conditions such as retirement or prolonged illness can cause stress and insomnia.  

2.      Depression: Emotional or psychological disturbances result in a troubled state of mind, due to which chemical imbalances are created inside the brain leading to depression and insomnia.  

3.      Stimulants: A variety of stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine help in keeping the brain awake even in hours when it is supposed to rest, thereby depriving the body of sleep.  

4.      Use of medications: Prolonged use of sleep-inducing medications or other drugs such as anti-depressants, some pain killers, decongestants, weight-loss products, antihistamines, and various corticosteroid drugs can cause frequent awakenings during the night.  

5.      Diseases: Insomnia is a symptom that is associated with several medical illnesses such as fibromyalgia, arthritis and other neurological disorders such as schizophrenia.  Also, conditions such as chronic pain syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, congestive heart failure, angina during nights, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, acid reflux disease, asthma, obstructive sleep apnea, brain tumors, stroke and degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s result in sleepless nights.  

6.      Aging: Insomnia even occurs due to changes that appear as a result of increasing age. Some of these changes include altered sleeping patterns, reduced social and physical activity and illnesses such as arthritis, depression, benign prostatic hyperplasia and menopause.  

Also, there are certain other causes of insomnia that include anxiety, irregular eating habits, purposely avoiding sleep, or environmental factors such as noise, smoke, light or extreme temperatures that interfere with the process of falling asleep. Ironically, some people tend to use alcohol for inducing sleep.  However, this actually becomes a contributing factor to insomnia even if initially it can help some fall asleep.  Insomnia causes also include frequent traveling, jet lag, changes in working hours, withdrawal from certain medications, pregnancy, high blood pressure, and other sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome and idiopathic insomnia.  

Insomnia is a condition that can affect not only your psychological state, but also your physiological well-being. Some of the symptoms associated with insomnia such as depression, anxiety and fatigue can even lead to major complications such as cognitive disability, diminished mental concentration and troubled immune system. In fact, insomnia is a major cause of accidents occurring on the road as well as on the job. Hence, it is very important to know about insomnia causes and to try to address the situation as soon as possible.