“The words I thought while laying awake hour after hour, tossing and turning, fretting and fantasising (about sleep...) muttering and grumbling, beating the pillow, kicking the wall, grinding my teeth, mostly started with “f”. I can’t describe how bad insomnia made me feel without making this web site unsuitable for decent folk!” Julie
Insomnia is categorised in three ways: transient, short-term and chronic. Transient insomnia that only lasts for a few days, and typically occurs in anticipation of something exciting or stressful, is familiar to all of us from time to time.
Even children, who usually sleep well, have periods when they have difficulty falling asleep as a reaction to an approaching birthday or a visit from Santa. But being familiar does not make insomnia any the less annoying, and when it becomes habitual, people often dread going to bed.
Short-term insomnia may last for several weeks, and usually occurs during or after periods of severe stress, while chronic insomnia can last for months or even years.
Insomnia is categorised in three ways: transient, short-term and chronic.
Transient insomnia only lasts for a few days, and typically occurs in anticipation of something exciting or stressful. This situation is familiar to all of us from time to time because even children, who usually sleep well, have periods when they have difficulty falling asleep as a reaction to an approaching birthday or a visit from Santa.
But being familiar does not make insomnia any the less annoying, and when it becomes habitual, people often dread going to bed. Short-term insomnia may last for several weeks, and usually occurs during or after periods of severe stress.
Chronic insomnia can last for months or even years and the person who suffers from chronic insomnia probably knows every trick in the book for letting that desirable state of peaceful, restorative sleep to enter the bedroom.
Yet in spite of all the knowledge, the person still cannot make sleep occur as soundly, or for as long as he or she believes it should.
Insomnia is further categorised by when it occurs.
You can make yourself eat that last mouthful of food, and you can force yourself to take one more step if you have to, but you can't make yourself go to sleep.
Read more: Why can't I sleep when I want to?
Insomnia causes day time fatigue, jangled nerves, poor concentration, being more susceptible to catching germs, and a sense of just not feeling 100% well.
Read more: The effects of insomnia
From the amount of information available today about how we are sleep deprived due to the invention of the electric light, late night television, and computer games, and how this sleep deprivation affects our thought processes, it is surprising that any of us can remember our own name. Is this really the case?
Read more: Is insomnia harmful?
Having a calm, relaxed nervous system seems to be a precursor for sound sleep, and hyperventilation causes a drop in carbon dioxide pressure, which stimulates the nervous system. The symptoms this causes are unlikely to promote sound sleep.
Read more: Insomnia and hyperventilation
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