Insomnia

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Recommended: review related literature on sleep deprivation

Insomnia

How many times during the night do we toss and turn, check the clock, and find it ticking away and tell ourselves, "If I could fall asleep right now I would get at least five hours of sleep"? But, sleep doesn't come so we continue to toss and turn. This happens to many people and may suffer from a disorder known as insomnia. People who suffer from this disorder have many complaints, and many have similar symptoms. Symptoms can vary from stress to pain to always feeling tired. Insomnia is a very difficult disease to have to live with. It is hard for both those that suffer from it and their family members.

According to Linde and Savaley's, The Sleep Book, (1974), "the person who has trouble sleeping is not alone" (p. 9). They also claim, "An estimated thirty million people suffer from chronic insomnia" (p.9). Many non-insomniacs have occasional periods when they wonder if they'd make it through a sleepless night. Many insomniacs can't fall asleep because of pain and discomfort. Those that can fall asleep but can't stay asleep might be caused from depression, or too many things to worry about. In Ernest Hartmann's The Sleeping Pill (1978) some causes of insomnia (p. 113). He states that pain and discomfort do indeed play an important part in the difficulty remaining asleep. For those having difficulty remaining asleep might be because of depression or having too much to worry about.

In Linde and Savary's, The Sleep Book (1974), Dr. Dale C. Friend claims, "insomnia can be classified by four causes: tension, fatigue, discomfort, and in and out insomnia" (p. 100). Tension insomnia occurs mostly in executives or people who worry about their businesses. Tension builds up inside during the day and is still inside at bedtime, it won't come out, so they tend to worry and are not able to go tot sleep. Fatigue insomnia happens when people who get tired during the day and then they take a nap in the early afternoon and as a result they cannot go to sleep at bedtime. People suffering from discomfort insomnia often complain of stomach upsets, such as ulcers, toothaches, or arthritis. This causes them to wake up during the night, which gives them discomfort. In and out insomnia occurs when patients feel that they didn't sleep at all during the night when they really did, but only stayed in the first stages of light sleep ...

... middle of paper ...

... our minds and ourselves. We need to exercise right, at appropriate times, sleep at the right time and never get ourselves so stressed out that we can't sleep at night. Insomnia can affect a person really fast and it's hard to get rid of this disorder without a lot of effort. If we follow the advice given here, we will have an easier life.

References

Eddy, M.; & Walbroehl, G. (1999) Practical therapeutics : insomnia. American Academy of Family Physicians [Online] Expanded Academic Index. Available www.web6.infotrac.galegroup.com

Hartmann, E. (1978). The sleeping pill. New Haven and London: Yale university press

Linde, S.; & Savary, L. (1974) The sleep book New York NY: Harper and Row

Mendelson, W.B. (1977). Human sleep and it's disorders New York NY: Plenum Press

President and Fellows of Harvard College (1998, Dec. 1). Insomnia: Get a good nights sleep. Harvard health letter [Online] Expanded Academic Index Available.www.web6.infotrac.galegroup.com

Roberts, S. (1999, April 1) Ten tips for better sleep. American family physicians p.1911(1). [Online] Expanded Academic Index. Available. www.web6.infotrac.galegroup.com

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