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What Are The Causes And Symptoms of Insomnia?

Published: Dec 17, 2020
Updated: Oct 14, 2024
What Are The Causes And Symptoms of Insomnia?
In this article
    Reading time
    7 min

    Struggling to sleep and wondering what the causes and symptoms of insomnia are?

    Insomnia disorder is the most common type of sleep disorder. In fact, there are 10% to 30% of adults in the population have symptoms of insomnia. Half of them have experienced insomnia within a year.

    Insomnia disorders often appear as comorbidities of other mental illnesses. As a result 20%-40% of individuals with insomnia also have comorbid mental illnesses. Interestingly, the earliest records of insomnia disorders can trace back to ancient Greece.

    Key Takeaways
    Insomnia is the most common type of sleep disorder. It affects 10% to 30% of adults.
    20% to 40% of individuals with insomnia also have comorbid mental illnesses.
    Main symptoms of insomnia include difficulty falling asleep, waking up during the night or too early, daytime fatigue and irritability.
    Insomnia can be caused by acute stress, psychological factors, certain drugs and foods, different diseases, personality traits, environmental factors, and genetics.
    The fear of insomnia can be more detrimental than insomnia itself, creating a cycle of worry and sleeplessness that worsens the condition.

    Insomnia Symptoms

    insomnia symptoms

    Insomnia symptoms can vary from person to person but generally include the following:

    • Difficulty falling asleep
    • Waking up during the night
    • Waking up too early
    • Daytime fatigue or sleepiness
    • Irritability, depression, or anxiety
    • Difficulty concentrating
    • Increased errors or accidents
    • Headaches
    • Digestive issues caused by sleep deprivation

    Insomnia Causes:

    Acute stress

    If your work makes you stressed, anxious, excessively excited, or your business trips cause jet lags, you may experience short-term insomnia.

    But if you do not adjust in time, you may turn into chronic insomnia for more than one month.

    acute stress can cause insomnia

    Psychological factors

    If you are excessively thinking about sleep, you are always worried about being unable to fall asleep, it can make you more awake and lead to insomnia. The fear of insomnia, is, in fact, worse than insomnia.

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    Drug factors

    Some drugs and food can interfere with sleep. Such as caffeine, theophylline, thyroxine, cocaine, and corticosteroids, etc.

    If you are suffering, please consult your doctor if you can adjust alternative drugs to minimize the effects of drugs on sleep.

    ShutEye insomnia causes Drug factors

    Disease

    Insomnia is often accompanied by other diseases. Such as bipolar disorder, depression, hyperthyroidism, etc, which will affect the patient’s sleep time and sleep quality to varying degrees.

    Temperament

    An anxious or worried personality or cognitive style can increase susceptibility to the disease. And a tendency to suppress emotions can also increase susceptibility.

    temperament increases susceptibility of insomnia

    Environment

    Noise, light, uncomfortable high and low temperatures. in other words high altitude can all cause insomnia disorders.

    Genetics and Physiology

    Females are more likely to suffer from insomnia disorders than males. At the same time, people over 65 are more likely to suffer from insomnia. Insomnia is also common during pregnancy.

    people over 65 are more likely to suffer from insomnia

    You may also like:

    10 Tips To Better Sleep and Beat Insomnia

    Conclusion

    In conclusion, different manifestations of insomnia can reflect in different stages of sleep. Among them, Sleep onset insomnia manifested as difficulty falling asleep.

    Therefore, sleep maintenance insomnia manifested as frequent waking up throughout the night or difficulty maintaining long-term sleep.

    Late insomnia manifests as waking up early in the morning and unable to return to sleep.

    If you have trouble sleeping, try ShutEye®, an all in one sleep app. ShutEye® brings a wide variety of tools to help you fall asleep. And it helps you to understand your sleep cycles from a scientific perspective.

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    About authors
    Dr. Cui is a board-certified internal medicine physician and applied psychologist with more than 30 years of experience in both fields especially in terms of the regulation and intervention of sleep disorders.

    Bhaskar S, Hemavathy D, Prasad S. Prevalence of chronic insomnia in adult patients and its correlation with medical comorbidities. J Family Med Prim Care. 2016 Oct-Dec;5(4):780-784. doi: 10.4103/2249-4863.201153. PMID: 28348990; PMCID: PMC5353813.

    Soehner AM, Harvey AG. Prevalence and functional consequences of severe insomnia symptoms in mood and anxiety disorders: results from a nationally representative sample. Sleep. 2012 Oct 1;35(10):1367-75. doi: 10.5665/sleep.2116. PMID: 23024435; PMCID: PMC3443763.

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