Insomnia: Causes and Risk Factors

 


Sleep disorders like insomnia are caused when one can’t sleep and also can’t stay asleep for long hours. An adult person needs a routine sleep of seven to eight hours at night. Insomnia can be a problem in your life when you have other problems which can act as risk factors of patients of insomnia.

Causes of Insomnia

  • Stress 

If you have any kind of stress or any kind of pressure in your life related to personal relationships or work it makes you awake the whole night. Thus it can cause sleep disorders such as insomnia.

  • Work Schedule

If your body’s circadian rhythms get affected due to working in late or early or rotational shifts it can disrupt your sleep-wake cycle. Insomnia symptoms like jet lag, traveling to other time zones, and other acute sleep orders occur eventually.

  • Due to Some Medications

Certain medicines prescribed for diseases like weight-loss, cough, and cold, blood pressure can disrupt your sleep and make you an insomniac.

  • Eating and Drinking Habits

Eating heavy meals late at night, drinking alcohol or caffeine do not let you sleep peacefully at night. Caffeine works as a stimulant and alcohol makes you fall asleep at first but later it keeps you awake at night. Smoking damages your sleep too.

Breathing Problems

Asthma, nasal allergies, and other kinds of breathing problems can make you get up from sleep again and again which may ultimately lead to insomnia. You may not recall it the next morning but you will feel sleepy all day.

  • Mental Health Conditions

Depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety are some of the mental illnesses that are considered as interference to your sleep and they may lead to sleep disorders like insomnia.

  • Pregnancy 

In the third trimester of pregnancy, women need to wake up more frequently due to leg cramps or to use the bathroom. This can be a reason for sleep disorders like insomnia in females.

  • Dementia

When you expect to fall asleep, Alzheimer's disease and other kinds of dementia can be the cause for you to stay awake. It is also called “sundown syndrome” and makes you feel restless, confused and you may even wander off.

  • Pain

Pain felt due to arthritis, cancer, chronic back pain issues can interfere while you want to sleep comfortably. Creating a cycle, sleeplessness again increases the hurt.

Risk Factors of Insomnia

  • Aging

Insomnia is more evident in elderly persons over 60 years. Elderly people living in a noisy environment, becoming socially less active, having old age diseases, and medications are taken for them; are more prone to get affected by insomnia.

  • Gender

Women are more prone to be a patient of insomnia like sleep disorders than men.

  • Adolescents

Young and adult students can have insomnia. As students, we often like to stay awake late at night to finish our homework and assignments. This can lead to insomnia.

  • Sedentary Lifestyle

Sedentary behaviors like working in an office, watching television make our body do much of the activities in the seated position. These have negative impacts on our health and we do not fall asleep at night due to the limited burn of calories.

  • Lower Income

Earning less money makes us think about ways to earn and often we worry too much about the same. Hence people with lower income can be a victim of disorders due to insomnia.

Before insomnia worsens we recommend you to fix an appointment with your doctor. Sleeping is very much important in our lives to keep our bodies energized and active. You can also keep yourself involved in any kind of physical activity like exercising, walking, swimming, and others to get rid of your sleep disorders.


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