What is Insomnia - what makes me an Insomniac?

Insomnia is a common sleep complaint that occurs when you have one or more of these
problems:
• You have a hard time initiating sleep.
• You struggle to maintain sleep, waking up frequently during the night.
• You tend to wake up too early and are unable to go back to sleep.
• You sleep is nonrestorative or of poor quality.

These symptoms of insomnia can be caused by a variety of biological, psychological and social factors. They most often result in an inadequate amount of sleep, even though the sufferer has the opportunity to get a full night of sleep. Insomnia is different from sleep deprivation, which occurs when an individual does not have the opportunity to get a full night of sleep. A small percentage of people who have trouble sleeping are actually short sleepers who can function normally on only five hours of sleep or less.

There are two types of insomnia – primary and secondary. Primary insomnia is sleeplessness that cannot be attributed to an existing medial, psychiatric or environmental cause (such as drug abuse or medications). Secondary insomnia is when symptoms of insomnia arise from a primary medical illness, mental disorders or other sleep disorders. It may also arise from the use, abuse or exposure to certain substances.

Review the patterns!