Insomnia: Causes, Effects, And Solutions

Insomnia
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Abstract
Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness is one of the most dangerous sleeping disorders, which often accompanies laziness, depression, stress, anxiety, and other similar diseases. A person who has insomnia is likely to feel restless the whole day, and staying asleep during office hours becomes his habit. Experts indicate that more and more people are becoming the victims of this sleeping disorder, and the main reason is believed to be our urge to defeat the others in respective fields or industries. For example, if a student wants to score better than his classmates, he may have to study overnight, and as a result, he will develop sleeplessness. The chance is that he will feel lazy the next day or until he gets enough sleep, probably for six to eight hours or more (Wong & Fielding, 2011, p. 120). The same is the situation of a housewife, an office employee and a businessman. It means anyone can become the victim of this disease at any stage of his or her life. If insomnia persists for a long time or remains untreated, the patient is likely to lose his interest in day-to-day activities, will find it difficult to concentrate on his studies or the business, and may get injured during a motor vehicle collision. In this paper, we will analyze how insomnia affects a large number of people, what are its possible causes and symptoms, and how the disease can be cured. We will also determine what types of medicines are available to recover from the illness as soon as possible (Wong & Fielding, 2011).
Keywords: insomnia, patients, disease, short-term, long-term
Introduction
The world we live in is full of challenges, and the survival of a person is possible only when he is able to undertake multiple tasks at a time and can accomplish them in a timely manner. In this competitive environment, the chances of an individual to develop insomnia and other similar disorders are high. According to Ritu G. Grewal and Karl Doghramji, insomnia affects hundreds to thousands of people in the United States. Those who awake the whole night and remain busy with their projects are likely to fall ill and may find it difficult to fall asleep. The disease can be short term or long term, depending on the age of a person as well as the environment he lives in. For example, people living a miserable life have to work hard to earn a living. They may have to spend the whole night on the duty, and as a result, they will fall ill and develop sleeplessness. In such individuals, insomnia is developed for a long-term, which means the disease persists for months or years depending on whether they get proper treatment or not (Grewal & Doghramji, 2016).
In contrast, wealthy people may not have to work overnight and can manage to enjoy their sleep for five to eight hours. Even when they develop insomnia, the disease persists for only a few days since they can afford costly treatments and medications. In 2016, Annise Wilson and Hrayr P. Attarian published an article titled Defining Insomnia in which it was clearly mentioned that insomnia is sometimes associated with other complications. For example, if a person is already suffering from a psychological disorder, has blood pressure, chronic pain, diabetes, or complains about heart problem or restlessness, then his chances of developing insomnia are significantly high (Wilson & Attarian, 2016).
What Causes Insomnia?
Both medical and psychiatric conditions cause insomnia. Sometimes the unhealthy sleeping habits of a person lead to depression, anxiety and of course, insomnia. Plus, the overdose of anti-depression medicines is also harmful to human health. According to Wing S. Wong and Richard Fielding, the medical causes of the disease are mild and serious ones, depending on the age of a person as well as the environment of his house. In some situation, the condition causes discomfort and may make it impossible for the person to fall asleep. Examples are sinus allergies, skin infections, endocrine diseases, asthma, arthritis, Parkinson’s disease, low back pain, chronic pain and headache (Wong & Fielding, 2011, p. 117). In all of these situations, insomnia is likely to be caused and may take a serious form with time. Medicines taken to treat cold, cough, flu, birth control, depression, allergies, heart diseases, thyroid disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure may also cause insomnia. It means a person using any kind of pharmaceutical drug should speak to his doctor regarding the possible side effects of those tablets, syrups, and pills (Wong & Fielding, 2011).
It has also been revealed that insomnia is caused due to some underlying sleep disorders especially restless legs syndrome. This neurological condition makes a person feel restless the whole night. He may feel pain in his legs and arms, and will eventually suffer from a lack of energy. As a result, it will become impossible for him to fall asleep properly. The very next day, he may not be able to stay asleep, and the same situation persists for some days, he is likely to develop insomnia. In the United States, nearly 15 percent of the population suffers from restless legs syndrome as well as insomnia (2009).
Sleep apnea is yet another disease that is often linked to insomnia. The airway of a person with sleep apnea becomes obstructed during night hours. It means when he tries to fall asleep, it becomes difficult for him to breath properly, and as a result, he develops sleeplessness. In some circumstances, their entire respiratory and blood circulatory systems get disturbed as oxygen is not transported to the organs. The decreased level of oxygen in the body and an increased level of carbon dioxide can cause heart attack and immediate death too. Thus, it is vital for the patient to visit his healthcare professional as soon as possible (Grewal & Doghramji, 2016, p. 14).
Depression, anxiety, and tension are among the psychological causes of insomnia. A person with any of these conditions has high chances of developing sleeplessness since his body hormones get disturbed to an extent. Most students and adults have troubles sleeping as they think too much about their studies and businesses respectively. In such a situation, they develop insomnia for a long term. However, it is difficult to see the symptoms like feeling overwhelmed and worrying excessively so the treatment may get delayed (Wilson & Attarian, 2016).
The lifestyle of a person also contributes to how healthy he is. Insomnia can be triggered if he does not take sleep...