Insomnia

[marilyn glover]

If a person has a problem getting a decent night's sleep or feels that
he has a sleeping problem, it could be said that this person is
suffering from insomnia. There are three types of insomnia. Transient
is defined as sleeplessness that lasts one day to a few weeks.
Intermittent is when one suffers occasional or on and off insomnia,
and chronic is a constant, ongoing problem.
Transient and intermittent insomnia are caused by stress, external
noise, extreme temperatures, change of sleeping places, altered sleep
timings and side effects of medicines. Chronic is not so easily pinned
down to a single cause. It is mostly caused by a combination of
diseases, psychological problems, life style patterns like smoking,
alcohol, and caffeine, drugs and work schedules. People over sixty,
pregnant women and women during menopause are more prone to suffer
from this ailment.
A person suffering from insomnia feels tired with lowered energy
level, flares up for nothing and can hardly concentrate on anything
seriously. Discussion with the patient and his family about sleep
patterns can identify insomnia, but finding the root cause is a very
complex exercise involving all causation factors.
Transient and intermittent insomnia does not require serious treatment
other than removing the cause and a short acting sleeping pill.
Chronic insomnia is often a very complicated problem. Underlying
physical and mental disorders need to be treated and necessary life
style modification effected. Mild aerobics exercise would be of great
help. But above all, calming the mind and relaxing the body through
various relaxation techniques is of enormous help. A patient should
use sleeping pills only under a physician's supervision for a short
period of time to avoid
dependency.
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