what are the symptoms and causes of insomnia?

Symptoms of Insomnia
All of us have difficulty getting to sleep at some point in our lives. An occasional period of sleep disruption doesn’t necessarily warrant a visit to the doctor’s office for an insomnia diagnosis. The following symptoms indicate possible insomnia:

* difficulty falling asleep at night
* inability to get adequate sleep at night
* feeling tired after sleep
* waking up at early hours
* waking up through the night.

Again, anyone can experience these symptoms of insomnia periodically. When the symptoms listed above become severe enough, they result in additional symptoms that affect people during their waking hours, including:

* daytime sleepiness
* depression
* diminished performance at school or work
* fatigue
* impaired alertness
* impaired concentration
* irritability
* muscle aches.

People suffering from symptoms of insomnia may find themselves falling asleep at work, while watching television or while driving. Rates of car accidents are higher than normal among night-shift workers, a group who are at a high risk for symptoms of insomnia.

Causes of Insomnia
Many causes of insomnia exist. In fact, insomnia is usually considered a symptom of some other condition, rather than a condition itself. Depending on individual circumstances, any of the following insomnia causes could result in symptoms of insomnia.
Age
As people age, symptoms of insomnia become more common. Aging brings a tendency to need less sleep, and also to have less restful sleep. Many of the health conditions that are causes of insomnia become more common with age, increasing the risk of insomnia symptoms.

Women entering menopause often develop sleep disturbances. The hot flashes common to menopause can wake women up at night, disrupting sleep and causing insomnia.

Men may develop an enlarged prostate as they age. Enlarged prostates result in more frequent nocturnal urination, which disrupts sleep.
Health Conditions
Physical conditions are some of the most common causes of insomnia. Any conditions that result in pain or discomfort are potential insomnia causes, including conditions as diverse as arthritis, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), asthma, cancer and muscle sprains.

A full list of health conditions that result in symptoms of insomnia would go on for pages. If you have symptoms of insomnia, report any existing health conditions to your doctor.
Mental Health Insomnia Causes
Depression and anxiety are often associated with symptoms of insomnia. Insomnia is, in fact, one of the most common warning signs of depression. Determining whether depression causes insomnia or whether pre-existing insomnia causes depression can be challenging. If insomnia is causing depression, the root cause of the sleep disturbance must be found for successful treatment.

Anxiety disorders are also causes of insomnia. A person with anxiety disorders may lie awake worrying, or may suffer from busy, uncontrolled thoughts that prevent sleep.
Substance Abuse
Substance abuse often results in symptoms of insomnia, but even small amounts of legal substances can disrupt sleep. Caffeine and nicotine are both stimulants and too much of either in the evening will cause insomnia.

Alcohol is a depressant, and initially makes people drowsy. However, as alcohol’s effects wear off, sleep tends to be disrupted, so symptoms of insomnia may develop after a few hours of sleep.

Even eating can cause insomnia. Eating a large meal in the evening can make people feel uncomfortable when they lie down to sleep.
Lifestyle and Insomnia Causes
Disruptions in daily schedules, nightshift work and travel can result in symptoms of insomnia. People who work night shifts have difficulty adjusting their bodies’ circadian rhythm, or internal clock, to sleeping during the day.

Jet lag is one of the most famous temporary causes of insomnia. Traveling across several time zones disrupts the circadian rhythm, and it can take days for symptoms of insomnia to subside as the body readjusts.

To learn more about insomnia, you can download the Guide to Heathy Sleep, edited by U.S Department of Health And Human Services (see Resources)

If you would like to cure your insomnia from the root of the problem, here are some natural cures that you can use which tend to help.

- Prepare your mind and body for a good night’s sleep. Try to avoid any type of heavy eating or stimulant drinks, such as caffeine within several hours of going to sleep. You should also avoid watching any television shows or movies that will stimulate your thinking to a level that may keep you up at night. About an hour before it is time to go to sleep, take the time to relax your mind with some soft music and perhaps some poetry. Take a nice bath and do some deep breathing exercises. You would probably be surprised with how much this will help you sleep at night.

Meditating on relaxing things is also one of the thing you can do to put your mind and body in a position where sleep will come naturally.

Through a process called brain entrainment, that uses binaural beats, you can practice meditation to help you fall asleep by relaxing your body. Binaural recordings can be used to treat sleep disorders.

A binaural recording will quickly put you in an optimum sleeping state by lowering your brainwave frequency. It does so by delivering a different sound, called frequency, to each ear. The frequencies are usually blended into a calming sound like rain or waves rolling on the shore.

To find out How Binaural beats can help you and get a free binaural beat download, see Resources.

- Finally, you may try some good old fashion warm milk if you are having a difficult time sleeping. Warm milk has tryptophan which can help the body to produce serotonin naturally. This particular hormone helps you to feel good and may help to alleviate any stress that is keeping you up at night. Not only that, it may also help in producing the hormone melatonin naturally which is one of the body’s strongest ways of putting us to sleep.

Wish you the best of luck!

After living for 30 years with known insomnia here is my take. The symptoms of insomnia are an inability to get a continuous nights’ sleep on an ongoing basis. After only 3 nights lacking sleep I doubt you have real insomnia: maybe a touch of anxiety insomnia?

For a general, understandable, overview go to the following site which also has interesting, varied blogs on insomnia and sleep disorders.