Insomnia is a sleeping disorder that prevents you from getting enough sleep because:
If you have insomnia you never feel like you are getting enough rest – probably because you aren’t. To say the least, it’s frustrating to not be able to sleep when you want to, and there are a whole host of risks associated with sleep deprivation.
There are two types of insomnia: secondary insomnia and primary insomnia.
Secondary insomnia - insomnia that is a direct result or symptom of something else, such as a health condition, medication, pain, substance abuse, etc. For example, depression can be an underlying cause for insomnia.
Primary insomnia - insomnia not directly related to some other underlying issue.
While these terms are convenient and in many cases clear cut, it’s also easy to see that the line can become blurred. For example, in the case where both insomnia and depression are present, the question becomes, “Which comes first?”
Insomnia varies in how long it lasts, and the frequency with which it occurs. Primary and secondary insomnia are further broken up into two descriptors for short- and long-term insomnia:
Taking these further descriptors into account, you can have:
Short term insomnia is usually caused in response to temporary, external factors such as:
Generally, acute insomnia may clear up once the cause goes away.
Causes of chronic insomnia include things like:
Insomnia should be treated differently depending on what type of insomnia you have. Acute insomnia will likely go away on its own, especially in the case of secondary/acute insomnia. When the cause goes away, the insomnia should disappear. If you can, consider working to overcome the root cause of your insomnia.
Chronic insomnia treatments may be a little less straightforward, and will likely require some intervention of some sort – usually behavioral therapy. This might include:
It is not recommended to treat chronic insomnia with over the counter pills, such as melatonin, because they may have undesired side effects and lose their effectiveness over time.
The other reality is that sometimes chronic insomnia is the direct result of choices we make or don’t make. Insomnia might be caused by chronic TV binge watching, when it could be fixed simply by making the choice to turn off the TV, or stop scrolling, etc.
For more information about treating insomnia in Alaska, contact our sleep specialists by clicking the orange button below to take a free online sleep test.