Insomnia

Insomnia & Lack Of Sleep
Insomnia,If you are a practicing therapist, you will know that one of the most common presenting symptoms of stress is insomnia. It may, however, surprise you to know exactly how common it is: an estimated one third of the population will suffer from insomnia at some stage in their lives. This is not to say that all these people will be suffering from stress – although I would point out that a recent survey indicated that a horrendous one in five people suffer from stress generated by their work or workplace – but the fact remains that insomnia is a massive problem, and that a high proportion of these incidences may be caused by stress inducing situations.

Let us go back to those statistics. One in three of us will suffer from insomnia. One in five may suffer from work-related stress. This means there are a lot of people out there who cannot sleep. On the face of it, this sounds quite trivial. Think of it this way, however. In the UK, if someone has little or no sleep for more than a week it is called insomnia. In other parts of the world, if this situation is brought about by artificial means, it is called torture. The results are the same – disorientation, deprivation of REM sleep and, over the longer term, loss of contact with reality. Lack of sleep can also cause digestive problems, muscle pain and even depression. Lack of sleep over an extended period can have serious results. This sounds very clear-cut but in fact the situation is far more complicated than that.

Diagnosis

Professionals in rest remedies are certified to identify the much different sleeplessness. Sufferers with various conditions such as late rest stage signs are often mis-diagnosed with primary sleeplessness. When a person has trouble getting to rest, but has a normal rest design once sleeping, a circadian beat problem is a likely cause.

In many situations, sleeplessness is co-morbid with another condition, side-effects from remedies, or a emotional problem. Roughly half of all clinically diagnosed sleeplessness is related to emotional conditions. In depressive disorder in many situations "insomnia should be considered as a co-morbid condition, rather than as another one;" sleeplessness generally predates emotional signs. "In fact, it is possible that sleeplessness symbolizes a significant risk for the progression of a following emotional problem."

 Knowledge of causation is not necessary for a analysis.

 Types of insomnia

There are two main types of insomnia – the inability to fall sleep in the first place and the inability to sleep through the night, even though sleep is achieved. There is no reliable research to link either with any particular cause, i.e, the type of sleep disruption is not directly attributable in all cases to any particular event or cause.

There is the difference between short and long term insomnia.

Short term and long term insomnia

An overwhelming majority of the population will suffer from short term insomnia at some stage in their lives. This is caused primarily by stress and/or by

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