While everyone has trouble falling asleep sometimes, there are some individuals who suffer from chronic sleep disorders, with symptoms lasting for many months at a time! There are three basic types of insomnia: transient, acute, and chronic. Here is an overview of each category and its causes:

Transient insomnia, “short-term insomnia” or “adjustment sleeping disorder”, only lasts for a short period of time. It is usually triggered by stress, traveling, or a traumatic experience. In most transient cases, sleep returns after the stress or anxiety is relieved.

Acute — This condition lasts longer than the average transient condition, but does not occur as frequently as chronic insomnia. It can last from a few days to a few weeks. When it lasts for a few weeks, the sleeplessness comes and goes. Approximately 10% of the US population suffers from this type of sleeping disorder at any given time.

Chronic — Whenever sleeping disorders occur frequently on a prolonged basis, they become a chronic condition and cause a lot of problems for the sufferer. In these cases, there are usually medical reasons for insomnia, such as severe stress, illness, a bipolar disorder, sleep apnea, and so forth.

Common reasons for insomnia

Alcohol and drugs can cause sleeping problems. Sometimes the toxins themselves cause the insomnia, as stimulant properties can lead to sleeplessness. These types of stimulant problems can be found in dugs such as pseudoephedrine, antidepressants, and caffeine. Sometimes it is not the chemicals themselves, but rather an individual’s reliance on them that causes sleeping problems. Someone who depends on alcohol or drugs to help them sleep will experience insomnia whenever they do not take alcohol or drugs.

Another reason some people experience insomnia is because they have an irregular sleep pattern due to lifestyle factors, such as work and school. Since we lived in a fast-paced world, it is not unusual for someone to have an irregular work or school schedule. Alternating shifts can cause sleeplessness due to a disturbance of the circadian rhythm. This can happen whenever an individual toggles between three different shifts in three days.

As mentioned above, there are some medical reasons for insomnia. Some diseases or psychiatric disorders that can lead to sleeping problems include bipolar disorder, asthma, fibromyalgia, Parkinson’s disease, degenerative neurological disorders, schizophrenia, generalized anxiety disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

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