LaMarquis Huston
Professor Latonnja Key
04 Decemeber 2017
Insomnia night in and night out
As you are listening to me, I know everyone is not suffer from Insomnia but I still will like to inform you because many people suffer and are not even aware of it.Insomnia is a health condition that causes an inability to sleep. Do you ever just find yourself up all night, Or just waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to return to sleep? These simple questions can help you figure out if you are suffering from a case of insomnia. Insomnia can affect an individual's psychological, physical, and emotional stability. Multiple factors contribute to the elements of insomnia and can negatively impact an individual's life (Taras). In this paper, it will discuss and focus on the different levels and stages of insomnia. While looking at specific terminology that exists for defining insomnia symptoms that may cause confusion regarding the subject, this paper will explore the most common terminology used by most professionals. Athletic performance when affected by insomnia. Also, evidence-based research on this health condition, causes, and treatment strategies.
There are different levels to insomnia; one in every third person suffers from a case of mild insomnia (Foundation). Insomnia is the result of a number of different sleeping disorders. Most cases become present when a person regularly lacks sleep, they do not stay asleep for a long period of time, or even find it hard to fall back asleep in the middle of the night. The recommended amount of sleep for people to be considered normal is at least nine hours of restful sleep each night (Postolache, 2005). Not consuming the proper nine hours could lead to feeling tired throughout the day and the body not functioning properly.
When getting diagnosed with the disorder, the severity of your case will either be diagnosed chronic or acute (What Is Insomnia). Acute insomnia meaning short term, only lasting a few days or even weeks. Acuteness accrues when traumatic life changes take place such as a close death in a family, stress from work, or even school. Acute insomnia can occur at any age, although establishing a relationship between a particular stress and sleep disturbance may be difficult in infants. Acute insomnia is more common in women than men and in older adults than younger adults and children (American Academy of Sleep Medicine).
Chronic insomnia is more serious, having multi-levels; which are secondary affects to some other element like other medical conditions, other sleeping problems, chronic pain, anxiety, and drugs. This secondary affect can last a persons a few months or their entire life. Insomnia is a chronic problem for about 10% of adults. “Surveys suggest approximately 3% of the population has insomnia symptoms that are caused by a medical or psychiatric condition. Among adolescents and young adults, the prevalence of this form of insomnia is slightly lower. This type of insomnia affects 2% of the general population. Approximately 3.5% of all sleep-center patients are affected by this condition” (Arthur J. Hartz).
Some people with insomnia will often take a half hour or more to fall asleep at night, and may obtain only six or fewer hours of sleep for at least three nights a week over a month time or even longer periods of time. Primary insomnia on the other had is an entirely different order in its self. It is not cause by any of the secondary affects, but can be a result from one. The knowledge on its exact cause is still unsure of but putting the brain under long-term distress is a major trigger to obtaining primary insomnia. Changing your daily habits can keep you away from getting primary insomnia.
Having problems with memory, becoming emotional unstable, becoming paranoid, and depressed are some of the side effects of having insomnia. A challenge health providers face is that often it is difficult to understand when insomnia has become severe enough to require treatment. Receiving treatment depends on how a person comes across getting insomnia. There is not an exact cure for it, only prevention methods on how to control the disorder. In normal cases elderly people with existing health problems are among the highest that suffer from insomnia. To help show that women are twice as likely to suffer from insomnia then men; a study was done on a rural population of men and women. “Females were a strong independent risk factor for all types of insomnia except for early morning awakening (EMA). Other factors that had independent associations with at least one type of sleep disturbance were age, poor health, shortness of breath, and angina (Arthur J. Hartz).
When a person that suffers from insomnia meets with their health provider, they will ask persist questions such as: Are you anxious? Are you under a lot of stress? What medications are you on? Do you travel a lot and if so, is it across different time zones? How often do you consume alcohol and smoke? The more often you answer no to these questions the easier it will be to diagnose you.
Effects from the three different stages are fatigue, moodiness, irritability, anger, daytime sleepiness, anxiety about sleep, lack of concentration, poor memory, poor quality performance at school or work, lack of motivation or energy, headaches or tension, upset stomach, mistakes/accidents at work or while driving (Kelso). “Although chronic daytime sleepiness is a symptom, it is commonly stated as an effect of sleep deprivation and less common associated with insomnia” (What Is Sleep Deprivation). People with insomnia often underestimate the amount of sleep they get each night. They worry that their inability to sleep will affect their health and keep them from functioning well during the day. Often, however, they are able to perform well during the day despite feeling tired.
The physiological control a person has over their insomnia is unpredictable. Tension and worrying are normally great factors when a person trying to gain control of their insomnia faces. Restless nights sometimes can lead a person down a path of paranoia or even to much thinking. These factors start when a person sounds cycle pattern becomes foreign to them and the brain does not register them properly. Studies have examined data on the effectiveness of hypnotics and have concluded that they are effective and reliable for, shortening the time it takes to fall asleep, increasing total sleep time, and decreasing the number of awakenings which improves sleep quality will improving a person psyche (Roth).
People that have hard working jobs, or participate in activities that put enormous amounts of stress on the body become more likely to come across mild cases of insomnia too. Athletes fall into the category of people who normally suffer from a deprivation of sleep verses the group that cannot stay asleep. Athletes are among the highest at risk from suffering due to their long hours and the amounts of stress their bodies undertake. Lack of sleep can lead to chronic insomnia if actions are not taken to improve sleeping habits. The quality and amount of sleep athletes get is often the key in performing to the best of their abilities. “REM sleep in particular provides energy to both the brain and body. If sleep is cut short, the body doesn’t have time to repair memory, consolidate memory, and release hormones. Sleep deprivation has also been seen to decrease production of glycogen and carbohydrates that are stored for energy use during physical activity. In short, less sleep increases the possibility of fatigue, low energy, and poor focus at game time. It may also slow recovery post-game” (National Sleep Foundation). Similar to people that hold occupation that require strenuous stress on the body; athletes never really get a break to obtain the right amount of rest for their body to recover. This kind of stress puts the brain under circumstances that in some ways test the mental and physical toughness of a person. Although exercise is good for the body and is considered to be a homeopathic cure for insomnia, too much can be counterproductive.
Nonpharmacologic interventions for insomnia include sleep-hygiene education, stimulus-control therapy, relaxation therapy, and sleep-restriction therapy. The most effective pharmacologic therapies for insomnia are benzodiazepines, benzodiazepine-receptor agonists, melatonin-receptor agonists, and antidepressants (American Academy of Sleep Medicine). As of right now medication is the best way to treat insomnia. People who suffer from distress turn to behavioral therapy. Some natural ways known to help with insomnia consider the following guidelines for better sleep: exercise regularly, about six hours before you want to sleep. Avoid napping, going to sleep and wake at the same time every day. Saving your worries for the daytime. Select a relaxing bedtime ritual, like a hot bath or listening to calming music (Mercola). Science may never master the concepts of insomnia but methods and research will continue until humanity can be restful at night.
Works Cited
American Academy of Sleep Medicine. 2008. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine. 1 December 2015 <http://www.aasmnet.org/resources/factsheets/insomnia.pdf>. Web.
Arthur J. Hartz, Jeanette M. Daly,Neal D. Kohatsu,Ann M. Stromquist,Gerald J. Jogerst,Oladipo A. Kukoy. Risk Factors for Insomnia in a Rural Population. Vol. 17. Salt Lake City: Elsevier, 2007. 12 vols. Print.
Foundation, Sleep Health. Important Things to Know About Insomnia. 2011. 29 November 2015 <http://sleephealthfoundation.org.au/pdfs/Insomnia.pdf>. Web.
Kelso, Catherine McVearry. Criteria for Primary Insomnia. Aug 2014. 2015 <http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/291573-overview>. Web.
Mercola, By Dr. Tips for Preventing Post-Workout Insomnia. 01 January 2015. 02 December 2015 <http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2015/01/02/post-workout-insomnia.aspx>. Web.
National Sleep Foundation. 2012. 2015 <https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-news/sleep-athletic-performance-and-recovery>. Web.
Postolache, Teodor T. Sports Chronobiology. 2nd ed. Vol. 24. Philadelphia: Saunders, 2005. 269-285. Print.
Roth, Thomas. Sleep Aids and Insomnia. <https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-disorders-problems/insomnia/sleep-aids-and-insomnia>. Print.
Taras, Howard. "Sleep and Student Performance at School." Journal of School Health (2005): 248-254. Print.
"What Is Insomnia." 13 December 2011. National Institutes of Health. 28 November 2015 <https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/inso>. Web.