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Insomnia is one of the sleeping disorders which you are not able to sleep persistently. You might have a perception that people who suffer from insomnia are those who are having mental illnesses and old people. Surprisingly, insomnia affects all of us no matter how old you are. However, insomnia does happen more frequently among women than men. In this article, we will discuss some basic information about insomnia.

There are 3 types of insomnia ' transient insomnia, acute insomnia and chronic insomnia Transient insomnia is the lightest level among them. It only lasts from days to weeks. It might happen to the people who change their sleeping environment, timing and stress. Next, acute insomnia is someone who has difficulties to sleep tight for a period of 3 weeks to half of a year. Chronic insomnia is sleeplessness that continues for months to years. It could be caused by another illness or it's the primary one. If someone is suffering from chronic insomnia, he is most likely to experience sleepiness in the day time, muscular and mentally fatigue.

The common causes of insomnia are anxiety, depression, emotional tension, fears, financial problems, etc. These are basically the psychological factors which may lead to insomnia. Psychoactive drugs or stimulants such as coffee, tea, chocolate, herbs or some medications you are taking will affect your sleep quality as well. Some people who work in different shifts might probably suffer from insomnia due to the circadian rhythm or inner clock in the body. Some external factors such as uncomfortable mattress, sound disturbances like dog barks, cricket sounds will contribute to insomnia either.

From the causes mentioned above, for sure there are groups of people who are at higher possibility for developing insomnia. They are:

a. Travellers
b. Shift workers
c. Adolescent/ students or young adults
d. Individuals with chronic pain, heart disease
e. Pregnant women
f. Women in experiencing menopause

As we hear the name of insomnia, we can have a guess that a person has not enough sleep. What else do we know? When someone's organs and brain are having restless night frequently, the individual will feel fatigue, tired, and decrease in response speed. Doubtlessly, insomnia will affect your concentration and learning process. The mind will become blank, jammed and blurred. If you are having difficulties to sleep well more than a week, you should seek for professional help. Otherwise, it might lead to higher level of insomnia, depression, hallucinations or even schizophrenia in the worst case.

There might be some ways for us to reduce or prevent to be an insomnia victim. First, you need to seek for a doctor to diagnose what are the causes for your sleeplessness. Then, you might need some medications such as antidepressants, benzodiazepines, melatonin, etc. For psychological concern, you could be referred to a therapist. Recently, cognitive behaviour therapy has been proven to be more effective than medications to deal with insomnia issues. Besides, you can do something at home to maintain a comfortably sleep. Aerobic exercises would be helpful. Also, avoid making your stomach full before going to bed. Try to minimize the environment disruptions such as noise, light, room temperature. With these, hope that everybody could have nice sleep during night time and stay a healthy lifestyle.