What is Insomnia – A Clear Definition of This Sleep Disorder

What is really an insomnia

Whenever you hear the word insomnia, you must be wondering what is it, really? There are different insomnia definition given by medical researchers and doctors for this kind of sleep disorder. Insomnia is often referred to as habitual sleeplessness. Others refer to it as an inability to sleep. For some, insomnia means not getting enough sleep or getting a poor quality sleep. To sum it up, insomnia may be any of these definitions because this sleep disorder affects the ability of a person to sleep or it prevents a person to sleep continuously with frequent sleep interruption.

Insomnia overview

Individuals with a sleep disorder called insomnia may experience different forms of sleeping difficulty. Some may find it difficult to fall asleep while others do get fall asleep easier, but they cannot maintain a long, quality sleep because their sleep gets interrupted one way or another. Others will often describe their insomnia as waking up and cannot get back to sleep once again.

Insomnia can occur acutely or chronically. An acute insomnia results in short-term sleeplessness brought about by certain circumstances that prevent them from getting a quality sleep. This is usually due to a sudden traumatic event, problems at work or personal relationships and short-term stress. Chronic insomnia is the result of long-term causes that make the sleep problem on-going. The insomnia that occurs is usually due to an underlying medical condition or an already existing sleep disorders like narcolepsy, restless leg syndrome and sleep apnea.

The pattern of sleep disorder in insomnia

Individuals who suffer from insomnia offers a different insomnia definition for their condition owing to the different patterns of sleep problems they experience. Most of the time, the pattern of insomnia consists of the difficulty of falling asleep. Some may take long hours of lying in bed, still awake and could not sleep. Some also experience less difficulty in falling asleep, but are usually bothered by frequent nocturnal awakenings that makes it difficult of getting back to sleep again. The nocturnal awakening commonly occurs in the early morning, at hours one don't intend to wake up yet. Medical studies associate this form of insomnia to depression.

What makes insomnia a health issue

Insomnia definition usually takes the condition as a sleep disorder, but there are other serious risks associated with the condition, making it a health issue. According to a study made by the U.S. National Health Interview Survey that was conducted in 2002, individuals with insomnia are five times at risk of developing depression and anxiety. Insomnia can also increase a person's risk for congestive heart failure by two folds. Moreover, it can also take a toll on a person's quality of living as insomnia can take a person's vitality and energy that prevents them from becoming productive during the day. There is also the potential risk of a person with insomnia to develop psychiatric disorder, obesity, musculoskeletal problems, diabetes, glucose intolerance and chronic pain syndrome.

Other risks with insomnia

There is more than just to the insomnia definition that you usually read about. Insomnia can be a significant condition that increases various forms of risks. Not only are health issues a major concern about the occurrence of insomnia. It has become associated to work related injuries too. Workers with insomnia often report that the lack of sleep because of their condition results in common work-related injuries due to their poor alertness and lack of concentration when doing their jobs. With the lack of mental alertness, it is often a common complaint of people with insomnia that they tend to lose focus in their work and become careless most of the time.

Insomnia is a manageable condition. Click here to know how to overcome insomnia.