Dyssomnia – Insomnia By Thomas Titford

What is Dyssomnia/Insomnia? Dyssomnia is a general term about sleeping disorders. There are over 30 different versions of sleeping disorders and one of the more well known ones is Insomnia. Insomnia is a disorder where the person has a constant lack of sleep. Most people with insomnia find it hard to sleep but once asleep, can sleep through the night or can sleep but have trouble staying asleep Every night they are unable to sleep and this can affect the performance of the person. For example, Someone that needs to get to sleep and needs to wake up at 7:00 am. It could take hours before they are able to sleep properly but once asleep will be able to sleep comfortably until woken up.

Onset of insomnia and What happens when you have it Some things during the beginning of insomnia include; Lack of sleep, fatigue, drowsiness during night and day, depression and other things of similar nature. Temporary insomnia can be caused by stress, illness, pain, diets or travelling. There are two types of insomnia. Onset insomnia and maintenance insomnia Onset insomnia is where you have trouble falling asleep and maintenance insomnia is where you have trouble staying asleep. Onset insomnia can cause a person to take hours at a time to fall asleep before finally resting. Maintenance insomnia can cause a person to fall asleep but wake up after a short amount of time causing only small periods of sleep at a time

People at risk of insomnia Women are much more at risk to insomnia due to hormones, menstrual cycle or menopause. Elderly people above the age of 60 are at risk due to the deterioration of the brain over time People with other mental disorders such as bipolar, anxiety, depression, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), Etc. People experience large amounts of stress Long distance travellers Night Shift workers

Treatments There are multiple types of treatments which include medication or behavioural strategies Some strategies include bed restrictions where you only sleep on your bed, relaxation techniques, avoidance of caffeine or alcohol and cognitive behavioural therapy Sometimes, insomnia shouldn’t be treated if it is only low grade or occasional insomnia as the negatives out weigh the positives. All of the prescriptions have side affects but everyone reacts to them differently so it can be inaccurate to say you will have a specific side affect unless you have had experience with the drug before There are other treatments but they aren’t likely to work such as yoga, herbal medicine or even acupuncture which all have claims to have worked but this may be due to the placebo effect where you believe it works and because you believed it worked your body fixes itself

Risk Factors Can be hereditary Jet lag (Mostly temporary insomnia) Depression Women more likely to get it Traumas Extreme down feelings

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