5 min read
Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder describing the situation in which one suffers from sleeplessness. Patients with insomnia can’t fall asleep or sleep as well as they would like to. Poor sleeping and lack of rest may lead to poor energy levels and even serious complications. Want to stay away from sleeplessness and have a good night? Read our ultimate guide to learn more about insomnia!
Insomnia is a sleep disorder in which the patients cannot obtain adequate quality sleep as they cannot fall asleep readily, cannot stay asleep for enough periods, or cannot get deep sleep. The body fails to recover from daily workload, causing a lower energy level, defected work performance and poor quality of life. As a result, insomnia may undermine one’s mental, physical and social health at the same time. Insomnia can be transient, acute and chronic.
Insomnia is caused when one is excessively aroused physically or mentally, leading to the inability to fall asleep, stay asleep or enter deep sleep for an adequate period. The following causes may lead to such hyperarousal:
Other than the above causes, numerous risk factors may indirectly give rise to a higher risk of insomnia, including:
Common signs and symptoms of insomnia are basically all related to the lack of sleep, including:
As aforementioned, sleep is essential to physiological recovery and well-being. If insomnia persists and is left untreated, it can further result in serious complications, for instance:
Insomnia can be diagnosed according to the Athens insomnia scale and DSM-5 criteria. Such diagnosis consists of two elements, the inability to acquire quality sleep in spite of sufficient attempts and daytime impairment due to insomnia. The following tests can be taken to confirm insomnia and investigate the causes:
Treatments of insomnia do not necessarily involve medications. Sleeplessness can be relieved with the following approaches:
Still having trouble sleeping? Here are tips to sleep better and longer!
Insomnia itself is rarely a mental illness. Even though it is true that it can be caused by some mental blocks and false expectations of sleep, more often it is the symptoms of other mental illnesses like depression, anxiety and bipolar disorders. Moreover, it can be due to the issues in sleep hygiene and circadian rhythm that cause sleeplessness, instead of mental problems.
No, you definitely shouldn’t. Skipping sleep can be detrimental to your mental health and physical health. Even if you cannot sleep, try to squeeze a few hours of sleep for the body to undergo the recovery phase, as well as complying with the circadian rhythm and releasing the sleep pressure.
No! This kind of replenishment is on the contrary, disturbing the biological clock and making it difficult to build up good sleep hygiene. Try to wake up at your regular time so that you can fall asleep early the following night.
This article was medically reviewed by Dr. Cheung Yu, Vincent 張宇醫生. Dr. Cheung is a specialist in family medicine practicing at HKSH Medical Group. He is currently an honorary clinical assistant professor in family medicine at HKU and clinical associate professor (Honorary) in family medicine at CUHK.
This article was independently written by Healthy Matters. It is informative only and not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It should not be relied upon for specific medical advice.
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