What is insomnia?

 

Most of us do not have any problem in sleeping. We think that it is the most pleasurable, as well as the easiest, natural activity to perform. All we need to do is to prepare our bed, pull the sheets, put comfortable pillows, switch the lights off, and shut our eyes.

If we cannot get to sleep immediately, we can do a lot of things. We can toss and turn around the bed a few times, count sheep, or skim over a light reading. Almost always, we can visit our dreamland as soon as our body winds down. But unfortunately, there are some of us who cannot find sleeping easy. And in worse cases, they are suffering from a sleeping problem called insomnia.

What is insomnia? It is a sickness that prevents a person to earn a good night rest. There are some people who need to sleep eight hours each night to feel invigorated in the morning. Others can live by with less. How much sleep we need depends on our lifestyle, genetics, and daily routine. Insomnia becomes a nasty problem when people cannot get the amount of sleep they need for day to day activities.

All of us need to sleep in order to restore our physical and mental energy. Without sleep, our body is likely to get tired easily and our mind loses concentration, focus, and alertness. For people with insomnia however, they are unable to lull their bodies to doze off. As a result, they are susceptible to a lot of physical, psychological, and mental hazards.

 

Many people are still asking, what is insomnia exactly and how prevalent is this sickness? Insomnia can be caused by a lot of factors like environment, medication, food, lifestyle, and even genetics. Sometimes, it can also be a manifestation of other mental and behavioral illnesses like schizophrenia.

About two of three Americans are affected by this disorder, according to an article National Sleep Foundation published recently. Because this sickness can also be triggered by hormonal imbalance, women suffer from it more than men do, particularly when they have menopause or gave birth to a child. Women who are experience life issues like divorce, widowhood, and ageing have more risks than men of the same condition. Also, those who belong to a lower socioeconomic status are more likely to develop symptoms of this sleeping disorder.

The cure for insomnia may vary from one patient to another, but medication, behavioral therapy and alternative medicines are the options. Depending on the needs, severity, and the health of the patient, doctors will prescribe sleeping pills, or opt for psychological counseling, or have prescription of vitamins and food supplements to let the patient cope with the problem. Or, they may discover that insomnia is only a symptom of a more serious illness.

 

If you find yourself in a situation where your friends ask you, what is insomnia, you can now have adequate information to share with them? Who knows, you might be helping some of them who have suffered silently from this disease.