Do you often find yourself counting sheep and tossing and turning all night? The inability to fall asleep is a serious matter and it has a negative effect on everyday life, especially when it’s a lifetime issue. This type of sleeping disorder, known as insomnia, is particularly common in elderly people and can’t be solved with sleeping pills.

People who deal with insomnia have difficulty falling asleep or cannot stay asleep for long. If you are trying to cope with this sleeping disorder, it’s crucial to know why insomnia happens and which are its causes and types.

Insomnia Symptoms

There are numerous symptoms that a person suffering from this form of sleep disorder might experience. So, some of the most common symptoms associated with insomnia are:

• Trouble falling and staying asleep
• Fatigue
• Unrefreshed sleep
• Irritability
• Mood changes
• Feeling tired yet couldn’t sleep or nap
• Waking up early in the morning

These symptoms might last for some time, but can also be a lifetime issue. Thus, they might come and go in no time, but sometimes they may cause severe problems. When you don’t get enough proper sleep, it can have a huge impact on your quality of life.

Insomnia Causes

The causes of insomnia are not a clear-cut, but they are usually associated with a poor sleeping environment, anxiety, jet lag, medicines, mental and physical health condition. Some of the most common causes are some medical conditions, such as asthma, chronic pain, arthritis, nasal allergies, and endocrine problems. What’s more, insomnia might be a result of an unhealthy lifestyle and poor habits.

Insomnia Types

In order to determine the types of insomnia, there are various aspects which should be considered. So, there are numerous ways that characterize insomnia and some of them might even overlap.

Insomnia can be either primary or secondary depending on the causes behind it. Thus, primary insomnia isn’t caused by other health conditions, but it’s usually a result of life changes. On the other hand, secondary insomnia or comorbid insomnia is often triggered by other health condition.

There are types of insomnia which are determined by its duration. So, short-term insomnia can be either episodic (lasts one to three months) and situational (lasts for days).

If you are dealing with chronic forms of insomnia, then you should know that there are two types, recurrent and persistent insomnia. The former type appears at least twice a year and lasts one to three months at a time, while the latter type lasts for more than three months.

The types of insomnia might be even characterized by the symptoms a person is experiencing. Therefore, if you have difficulty falling asleep at the beginning of the night, you’re dealing with onset insomnia. On the other hand, if you can’t stay asleep, this type of insomnia is known as maintenance insomnia.

What’s more, even children can suffer from insomnia. Insomnia in children is usually caused by medications, psychiatric disorders, and stress. As a result, children might face mood swings, memory issues, restlessness, attention deficits, and disciplinary issues.

Treatment for Insomnia

First and foremost, in order to make sure that you deal with insomnia, you have to be diagnosed. So, in order to get a proper diagnosis, you should either spend a night at polysomnography or PSG, complete a questionnaire given by your physician or wear a headband containing just 3 sensors on your forehead. If the last option sounds intriguing, with that headband, VirtuSOM can validate your insomnia symptoms or reveal underlying causes. After being diagnosed with insomnia, you should undergo 6 weeks of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT-I).

What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT-I)

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT-I) is a course of sleeplessness treatments which was shown to be extremely useful in numerous studies. This therapy highlights the mental and physical behaviour modification for better sleep. VirtuOx has developed an online CBT-I program which will help you overcome insomnia using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. This revolutionary online program is free to use and helps you learn techniques to overcome the issues which interfere with your sleep. So, you can overcome your insomnia with a free access to our CBT-I Program.

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