INSOMNIA

Inability to go to sleep or to get sleep for a period sufficient for the needs individual. Chronic inability to sleep .The most common cause of insomnia is worry; the other is depression. Environmental disturbances also cause lack of sleep.Sleeping pills should be avoided as far as possible.Practice some technique to relax. Yoga can help and so can meditation or listening music. Definition :- According to the definitions in encyclopedias Insomnia is a symptom of any of several sleep disorders, characterized by persistent difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep despite the opportunity. Insomnia is a symptom, not a stand-alone diagnosis or a disease. By definition, insomnia is "difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep, or both" and it may be due to inadequate quality or quantity of sleep. It is typically followed by functional impairment while awake. Both organic and non-organic insomnia without other cause constitute a sleep disorder, primary insomnia. According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services in the year 2007, approximately 64 million Americans regularly suffer from insomnia each year. Insomnia is 1.4 times more common in women than in men. Types of insomnia:- Although there are several different degrees of insomnia, three types of insomnia have been clearly identified: transient, acute, and chronic. 1. Transient insomnia lasts from days to weeks. It can be caused by another disorder, by changes in the sleep environment, by the timing of sleep, severe depression, or by stress. Its consequences - sleepiness and impaired psychomotor performance - are similar to those of sleep deprivation. 2. Acute insomnia is the inability to consistently sleep well for a period of between three weeks to six months. 3. Chronic insomnia lasts for years at a time. It can be caused by another disorder, or it can be a primary disorder. Its effects can vary according to its causes. They might include sleepiness, muscular fatigue, hallucinations, and/or mental fatigue; but people with chronic insomnia often show increased alertness. Some people that live with this disorder see things as though they were happening in slow motion, wherein moving objects seem to blend together. Can cause double vision. Causes:- Insomnia can be caused by: • Psychoactive drugs or stimulants, including certain medications, herbs, caffeine, cocaine, ephedrine, amphetamines, methylphenidate, MDMA, methamphetamine and modafinil • Fluoroquinolone antibiotic drugs, see Fluoroquinolone toxicity, associated with more severe and chronic types of insomnia Restless Legs Syndrome can cause insomnia due to the discomforting sensations felt and need to move the legs or other body parts to relieve these sensations. It is difficult if not impossible to fall asleep while moving. • Any injury or condition that causes pain. Pain can preclude an individual from finding a comfortable position in which to fall asleep, and in addition can cause awakening if, during sleep, the person rolls over and puts pressure on the injured or painful area of the body. • Hormone shifts such as those that precede menstruation and those during menopause • Life problems like fear, stress, anxiety, emotional or mental tension, work problems, financial stress, unsatisfactory sex life • Mental disorders such as bipolar disorder, clinical depression, generalized anxiety disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, or obsessive compulsive disorder. • Disturbances of the circadian rhythm, such as shift work and jet lag, can cause an inability to sleep at some times of the day and excessive sleepiness at other times of the day. Jet lag is seen in people who travel through multiple time zones, as the time relative to the rising and setting of the sun no longer coincides with the body's internal concept of it. The insomnia experienced by shift workers is also a circadian rhythm sleep disorder. • Estrogen is considered to play a significant role in women’s mental health (including insomnia). A conceptual model of how estrogen affects mood was suggested by Douma et al. 2005 based on their extensive literature review relating activity of endogenous, bio-identical and synthetic estrogen with mood and well-being. They concluded the sudden estrogen withdrawal, fluctuating estrogen, and periods of sustained estrogen low levels correlated with significant mood lowering. Clinical recovery from depression postpartum, perimenopause, and postmenopause was shown to be effective after levels of estrogen were stabilized and/or restored.[9][10] • Certain neurological disorders, brain lesions, or a history of traumatic brain injury • Medical conditions such as hyperthyroidism and rheumatoid arthritis[11] • Abuse of over-the counter or prescription sleep aids can produce rebound insomnia • Poor sleep hygiene, e.g., noise • Parasomnia, which includes a number of disruptive sleep events including nightmares, sleepwalking, violent behavior while sleeping, and REM behavior disorder, in which a person moves his/her physical body in response to events within his/her dreams • A rare genetic condition can cause a prion-based, permanent and eventually fatal form of insomnia called fatal familial insomnia • Parasites can cause intestinal disturbances while sleeping.[citation needed] • Sometimes a rare case of insomnia is also seen in individuals who have long hours of consistent television watching or computer surfing.[citation needed] Sleep studies using polysomnography have suggested that people who have insomnia with sleep disruption have elevated nighttime levels of circulating cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone They also have an elevated metabolic rate, which does not occur in people who do not have insomnia but whose sleep is intentionally disrupted during a sleep study. Studies of brain metabolism using positron emission tomography (PET) scans indicate that people with insomnia have higher metabolic rates by night and by day. The question remains whether these changes are the causes or consequences of long-term insomnia. Insomnia can be common after the loss of a loved one, even years or decades after the death, if they have not gone through the grieving process. Overall, symptoms and the degree of their severity affect each individual differently depending on their mental health, physical condition, and attitude or personality. A common misperception is that the amount of sleep required decreases as a person ages. The ability to sleep for long periods, rather than the need for sleep, appears to be lost as people get older. Some elderly insomniacs toss and turn in bed and occasionally fall off the bed at night, diminishing the amount of sleep they receive. HOMOEOPATHIC REMEDIES: ACONITE NAP 30: • Of the aged. AMBRA GRISEA 30: • Cannot sleep from worry. Must get up. ARNICA 200: • With restlessness ehen overtired. ARSENIC ALB 200: • On account of mental or physical restlessness. CAMPHOR 30: • Insomnia with cold limbs. CANNABIS INDICA 30: • Obstinate and intractable insomnia. Sleepy but cannot sleep. CHAMOMILLA 200: • Sleep lost on account of unbearable pain at night, in bed. • Rheumatic or abdominal pain. • Uneasiness an anxiety. CHINA 200: • Insomnia in women after copious menstruation. Sleeplessness night after night. COFFEA 200: • Sleeplessness on account of mental activity. Flow of ideas. • The best medicine. • Unable to sleep due to joy, sorrow, sudden surprise, emotional excitement, fancies and plans for the future, hysteria. (Makes sleeping pills unnecessary.) NUX VOMICA 200 (One dose needed at 3:00 a.m. or about when sleep is disturbed. Clears the problem in few days): • Cannot sleep after 3:00 a.m. until towards morning. All problems converge on the mind. Goes to sleep at 5:00 a.m. and wakes up feeling wretched. RAPHANUS 30: • sexual insomnia of women. Excessive desire. • Copious and long menstruation.