What is insomnia?

One third of the UK population suffers from insomnia, a prolonged and usually abnormal inability to obtain adequate, uninterrupted sleep. Symptoms may include having trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or waking up too early in the morning, feeling unrefreshed. The consequences are unpleasant, leaving sufferers feeling exhausted, irritable and unable to concentrate on simple tasks.

What causes insomnia?

There’s no one specific trigger for insomnia but certain conditions seem to make individuals more likely to experience it:

* People aged over sixty
* Females
* Those with a history of depression

Stress is a major contributor. Traumatic events such as acute illness, injury or surgery, the loss of a loved one, exams, or trouble at work can all disrupt one’s sleep patterns. In such cases, normal sleep almost always returns when the individual recovers from the event or becomes acclimated to the new situation.

Jet lag can also cause insomnia. Travelling east across time zones is more difficult to adjust to than travelling west, to earlier times. Usually one day of adjustment is all that is required to overcome the insomnia.

Environmental or lifestyle factors may also come into play – too much light in the bedroom or too much caffeine or stimulants in the body.

Can insomnia be treated?

Treatment is related to the cause, if the cause can be determined. Patients are evaluated with the help of a medical and sleep history (sleep diary). Chronic suffers may be treated through cognitive behavioural therapy involving relaxation and reconditioning.

One of the best ways to prevent insomnia is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Avoid going to bed feeling stressed and worried. If you’re worried about falling asleep, it will be more difficult to fall asleep. Try not to eat too close to bedtime and avoid alcohol and caffeinated drinks. Visit our advice and tips page for details on how to make your bedroom environment more suitable for sleep and how to relax your body and mind to help you get a good night’s sleep.

Just remember, the less you worry about it, the more likely you’ll achieve the perfect slumber.

Sleep Disorder

Sleepwalking is a sleep disorder that causes people to get up and walk during their sleep.

Episodes of sleepwalking typically occur when a person is in the deep stages of sleep. The sleepwalker is unable to respond during the event and does not remember sleepwalking. In some cases, sleepwalking is associated with incoherent talking.

Sleepwalking occurs most commonly in childhood but can last into adulthood.

Symptoms

Episodes of sleepwalking can range from quiet walking about the room to agitated running or attempts to “escape.” Typically, the eyes are open with a glassy, staring appearance as the person quietly roams the house. On questioning, responses are slow or absent. If the person is returned to bed without awakening, the person usually does not remember the event.

Older children, who may awaken more easily at the end of an episode, often are embarrassed by the behavior (especially if it was inappropriate).

What Causes a Person to Sleepwalk?

Several different factors may be involved in the development of sleepwalking. These may include genetics (traits that run in families), environmental and medical conditions.

Sleepwalking is not associated with other sleep problems, sleeping alone in a room or with others, fear of the dark, or anger outbursts.

Nightmares

Nightmare disorder, which is also called dream anxiety disorder, is characterized by the occurrence of repeated dreams during which the sleeper feels threatened and frightened. The sense of fear causes the person to awake.

Nightmares are dreams that cause intense fear. These dreams are often complex and fairly long. During the dream, the sleeper usually encounters or experiences a threat to their life or safety. Nightmares are also reported that do not involve physical danger.

As the dream progresses, the threat to the person usually increases, as does their sense of fear. Waking usually occurs just as the threat or danger reaches its climax. It is often difficult for a person to return to sleep after waking from a nightmare. Nightmares usually occur during the second half of the night’s sleep.

Causes and symptoms

During the course of a nightmare the sleeper may moan, talk, or move slightly, although these signs do not always appear. The person wakes from the nightmare with a profound sense of fear. Waking is complete, and usually accompanied by increased heart rate, sweating, and other symptoms of anxiety or fear. Once fully awake, the person usually has a good recall of the dream and what was so frightening about it. Because of the physical symptoms of anxiety and because clarity is achieved immediately upon waking, returning to sleep after a nightmare is often difficult. The vividness of the recall and the prominence of the dream images in the person’s mind can also make it difficult to calm down and return to sleep.

Sometimes people may avoid going to sleep after a particularly intense nightmare because of the fear of having another bad dream. In addition, people may have problems falling asleep if they are experiencing anxiety caused by the fear of having nightmares. As a result, these people may have the signs and symptoms associated with mild sleep deprivation, such as decreased mental clarity, problems paying attention, excessive daytime sleepiness, irritability, or mild depression.