Insomnia is a prevalent sleep disorder where people find it difficult to fall asleep, stay asleep, or get good sleep. It makes the patient tired during the day, hampering their productivity in their routine tasks. Sometimes, one’s memory and attention span are also impacted. But the good news is that insomnia can be managed well with simple lifestyle changes. Read on to learn about the common symptoms, causes, and solutions to insomnia.

Signs and symptoms
It is okay if someone does not get sleep on rare occasions. But if sleeplessness persists, one should visit a healthcare professional for advice. Insomnia symptoms can be episodic (occurring for one to three months), persistent (more than three months), or recurring (more than two episodes in a calendar year). Here are a few indicators of insomnia:

Difficulty falling asleep
Difficulty sleeping through the night
Unwanted waking in the morning
Kids and teenagers having trouble falling asleep at night
Kids and teenagers facing difficulty sleeping without assistance from a caregiver
Anger, sadness, or irritability
Difficulty focusing, paying attention, or remembering
Increased mistakes or mishaps
Persistent concerns about sleep

Causes
Numerous factors can contribute to chronic insomnia, including:

Stress
It may be challenging to sleep at night because of a traumatic incident or worry about family circumstances, career, health, or finances. Difficult life situations like divorce or losing a job can also cause insomnia.

Travel or professional commitments
A person’s circadian rhythm controls their body temperature, metabolism, and sleep-wake cycle. As a result of travel or work responsibilities, one’s circadian rhythm may get disrupted, leading to insomnia. Some causes of this abnormal circadian rhythm include jet lag, working a late or early shift, and frequent change in shifts.

Poor physical health
One’s physical health can impact their sleep. Both short-term conditions like minor infections or wounds and long-term ones like Parkinson’s disease or acid reflux can disrupt sleep. Some diseases disturb the circadian rhythm, disrupting the body’s normal cycle of sleep and wakefulness.

A person’s age, gender, and family history may determine their susceptibility to insomnia. Mental health conditions, including sadness and anxiety, frequently co-occur with insomnia difficulties.

Treatment and management options
Sleep disorders should be carefully treated regardless of whether they result from an underlying health condition or due to another reason. Treatment for chronic insomnia frequently involves a combination of behavioral therapies, such as cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and sleep therapies. According to experts, cognitive behavior therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), among the most successful initial treatments for persistent insomnia, helps patients develop better sleep habits and manage anxiety. It employs various approaches, such as stimulus control, relaxation techniques, sleep restriction, and light therapy.

Besides CBT, patients may adhere to a sleep schedule, stay active, exercise, avoid daytime naps, limit caffeine intake, and avoid large meals before bedtime to manage the disorder. Yoga, hypnosis, and aromatherapy are alternative treatments for sleep disorders. However, there is currently a lack of empirical data to support the use of these techniques to cure insomnia.