What is insomnia? Is that what I have?

Insomnia deals with an inability to get a sufficient amount of sleep. Insomnia is not measured by how many hours of sleep you get or how long it takes you to get to sleep. Those factors are hard to measure on a whole because they vary from person to person. An adequate amount of sleep for me may not be enough for you.

A better definition of insomnia would deal with the specific ways a person can suffer from insomnia.

• Initial insomnia involves difficulty in falling asleep.
• Middle insomnia sufferers may not have trouble falling asleep at first but they wake up often during the night. It often involves waking so often that you never really feel like you got a restful night of sleep.
• Late or terminal insomnia involves waking too early in the morning and not being able to get back to sleep.

Insomnia can be caused by many different factors. Stress and anxiety are often culprits. Caffeine intake, nicotine and other dietary intakes may be to blame. Exercise too close to bedtime can excite the mind and body, making it difficult to get a good night’s sleep. Menopause and age can both be factors. Health issues can result in insomnia and should always be investigated. Environmental factors can also be blamed (train noises, light in the room, hot temperatures, etc.).

Insomnia can be found in people of all ages, babies and children included. It can be found in both men and women, although women do seem to suffer from insomnia more. Symptoms of insomnia seem to increase with age.