As much as we desire our night sleep to be comfortable and sound, there are certain things we should as well be aware of. Of course, these things concern our sleep. Nothing disturbs so much than experiencing lack of sleep. We all go to bed to sleep and relax our bodies. Some people find it hard to fall asleep and assume it's normal. I want to tell you that it is nowhere close to a normal condition. It is a body disorder called Insomnia.
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Sleep disorders are potential symptoms of almost every psychiatric illness. Never the less, mental health problems linked insomnia is the most common sleep disorder in the United States and the world at large. There several mental problems that may lead to insomnia. Some of these I will discuss in this article.
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What Is Insomnia?
Have you been experiencing difficulties in falling asleep or staying asleep? If this is frequent, am sorry to say that you may be suffering from insomnia. Insomnia is a sleep disorder that involves difficulties in falling asleep or staying asleep. Sometimes you may find that you are spending long hours before falling asleep. Or you may be waking up very early in the morning. Don't assume these two complications for they are common symptoms of insomnia.
Insomnia has its unique signs and symptoms. These include:
• Waking up very early in the morning. Earlier that the normal expected time.
• Feeling tired when you wake up
• Waking up frequently in the night and finding it hard to fall asleep again
Insomnia victims are categorized into two groups. These are:
1. Primary Insomnia Victims
2. Secondary Insomnia Victims
• Primary Insomnia Victims: These are said to have sleep problems that are not directly linked to any health problem at all.
• Secondary Insomnia Victims: These experience sleep problems connected to other health conditions or problems. Drug addicts and people under serious medication mostly fall under this category of insomnia.
Insomnia can be described in several different ways. This mostly based on how long it takes the difficulty sleeping or at what point of your sleep does the difficulty happen. It may be brief or long-term. These descriptions include the following:
• Acute insomnia: This is a short episode of the sleep disorder. It commonly caused by life happenings or events. Maybe you receive bad news and they are haunting you. This obviously won’t last for long. After you get used to the news the disorder possibly fades away.
• Chronic Insomnia: This is a long-term episode. This involves frequent difficulties in falling asleep. Maybe you are experiencing difficulty sleeping for more than two nights a week. That is possibly chronic insomnia. Chronic Insomnia victims usually have a long-standing history of this sleeping disorder.
• Comorbid Insomnia: Comorbid Insomnia may fall under secondary insomnia. The only uniqueness in Comorbid Insomnia is that it carries along other health conditions with. Psychiatric problems like stress and the likes may cause insomnia in most cases.
• Onset Insomnia: This is so obvious. Victims under this description experience the sleep difficulty at the beginning of the sleep. Just immediately you get to bed you start experiencing troubles with falling asleep.
• Maintenance Insomnia: This is associated with difficulties in staying asleep. If you wake severally in the night with no serious reason, then a bigger possibility is that you are suffering from Maintenance Insomnia.
What is The Link Between Mental Disorder and Insomnia?
As we discussed earlier in the article, insomnia is a sleep disorder that involves difficulties in falling and staying asleep. Poor sleep is bound to make us feel down and stressed. Have you ever woke up in the morning and you are experiencing this kind of fatigue still in you? It feels discouraging and worrying. It is expected that when you sleep you wake up relaxed and refreshed. Waking up still tired and unsatisfied may place you in worries and this may lead to stress. To be precise, a mental disorder can be a cause of insomnia and can also be a symptom of insomnia.
There is a bidirectional link between insomnia and mental illness. Research shows that half the number of insomnia adult victims are diagnosed with mental health problems. On the other hand 90% of those adults suffering from depression end-up experiencing frequent sleep problems. Obviously, it is most likely for you to stay awake for long hours when you are depressed or stressed. What I am trying to say is that mental disorders are quite capable of causing insomnia.
As much as sleep difficulties can lead to or cause insomnia, it is can also slow down the recovery from mental illnesses. Depression victims usually have a very poor response to mental illness treatment.
Mental Disorders Causing Insomnia
Mostly, insomnia is caused by mental illnesses. Many victims of insomnia are usually diagnosed with a mental problem alongside the sleeping disorder. Poor sleep can also promote the development of mental illness. And as is I said previously, it can also delay the recovery of mental illness. However there different mental disorders that are common causes of insomnia. These disorders include the following:
1. Bipolar
It is a common mental problem that involves an unexpected change in moods and energy. It normally lowers your activity levels and leaves you psyche less. Now, this is a very bad experience. Trust me you can't ever get enough sleep in such a condition. It makes you feel so much uncomfortable and unsettled. Under such conditions, nothing looks pleasing to you. Everything seems to be pissing. The sudden change in moods is basically from an extremely up-elated or a much-energized reaction to very sad and hopeless periods. There are four common types of bipolar. Below is a list of the four types of bipolar
• Bipolar 1st Disorder: Here the manic episodes are so severe and the victim may need an immediate medical care lest things get worse. The episodes may last for at least seven days. The victim may also be exposed to depression that typically lasts for 2 weeks.
• Bipolar 2nd Disorder: This involves frequent episodes of depression and hypomanic episodes. Mark you, the episodes here are not the full-blown episodes in Bipolar 1st disorder
• Cyclothymic Disorder: This is also termed as Cyclothymia. It involves numerous depression periods as well as hypomanic signs and symptoms. These episodes are mostly long-term and can last for at least 2 years for the adults. For children and teens at adolescent stages, the episodes can last for at least one year.
There are others that are specified and unspecified as bipolar and those that are close to bipolar. They display symptoms that do not match those displayed on bipolar victims. These are unique in their own way. Not same as the 3 categories discussed above.
2. Sleep Apnea
Well, this is not a direct mental disorder but is connected in a way. Sleep apnea is a proximate disorder of the respiratory system. But it is linked to depression. In most cases, depression causes apnea. Apnea patients are most likely to be depressed and this obviously leads to insomnia.
3. Stress
Stress is a mental disorder in one way or the other. When you are stressed everything becomes useless and there is this feeling of hopelessness in you. Now trust me no one has ever made it fall asleep easily under the captivity of stress. Adults are more likely to be stressed and so they are more affected in this case. Stress goes hand in hand with depression. When you are depressed, there are high chances that you may experience depressive episodes. That means no sleep at night.
4. Anxiety Disorders
Have you ever gone to bed anxious about something? Maybe anxious about traveling or attending a very important event or party? Am sure you are aware how this anxious feeling kills your sleep. You will always find it difficult to fall asleep when you are anxious about something. If this happens frequently, cases of insomnia may be experienced.
5. Panic Disorder
This is straightforward. Panic is just next to fear and shock. Mostly when you panic or when you are in fear, your nerves are kept in an alert state. Your nerves are so active and this will obviously kill your sleep. Panic leaves you unsettled and completely uncomfortable. About 6 million people in the US each year often experience sleep disorders caused by panic.
6. Obsessive Disorder
This is a very disturbing mental condition. Usually, the victims are bound to experience these recurring unwanted thoughts, ideas or sensations that keep you restless and uncomfortable. The probability of insomnia is high in this case. 7. Depression: As I said earlier, depression goes hand in hand with stress. Just like it is when you are stressed, depression will never allow getting any peaceful sleep. It is common in adults.
Conclusion
So there are the basic facts about insomnia and sleep disorders. It always good to understand issues facing you in your life. The knowledge helps you deal with the issue in case of its occurrence or if the issue is at hand, you can be able to handle it. Insomnia is a very disturbed sleep disorder. We already discussed that mental illness is a common cause of insomnia. But then as I said they mental disorder and insomnia have a bidirectional relationship. This means that one of them can be a cause or a symptom of the other. At least you have the list of the common mental disorders that mostly cause insomnia.
I believe it will be easier handling insomnia with the knowledge of its causes. They say prevention is the best cure. I hope you prevent insomnia by avoiding the causes where necessary.