What causes insomnia

A third of the population has experienced trouble sleeping at some point in their lives, and for an unfortunate few it becomes a serious problem. Insomnia can be cause by varying things, and stress is the most common cause of short-term insomnia, which in most cases disappears once the stress is gone. Finding yourself lying in bed unable to sleep, is a common symptom of stress-related insomnia. Your thoughts won’t quieten down and your brain is racing with the days events. The frustration of lying in bed, unable to sleep but not being able to stop looking at the clock, counting the hours until you have to get up only makes the whole situation worse. When your mind finally gives up racing and you drift into a light sleep, it won’t be enough to help you wake feeling refreshed and ready to face the day, more than likely you will wake feeling grumpy and tired.

Most people turn to over-the-counter insomnia cures to get them through periods like this. It is common for this cycle to continue until the external stresses have gone, such as a big project finishing, or maybe even just getting to the weekend. For a few, this is not so. True insomniacs, sufferering from the seemingly never-ending no sleep, poor sleep, waking feeling tired find it becomes part of their lives. Social and family lives are often the first to suffer in cases like these. People suffering from insomnia are often thought to be short-tempered and anti-social, which isn’t their fault. Losing precious sleep leads to the feeling that interacting on a social or work basis is almost impossible. Things stop to make sense and decisions seem amazingly hard to make. People suffering from lack of sleep often have visible signs, dark circles under eyes, dull skin and a general listlessness about them.

Along with stress, factors such as sleeping environment contribute a major part to insomnia. Interrupted sleep can be caused by beds that aren’t comfortable, curtains that don’t shut out enough light, or a room that is situated in a noisy area. Consuming alcohol before bed, or eating a heavy meal before bed can also lead to bad quality sleep. Waking feeling like you have hardly slept, or slept poorly could be due to your sleeping environment.  If adjusting your sleeping environment doesn’t seem to help, it may be a physiological problem that is interrupting your sleep, such as sleep apnea.