Types of Insomnia.
Insomnia or sleeplessness is the inability of a person to fall asleep or stay asleep. It is a sleeping disorder and can be classified according to its cause or by its duration. Any type of insomnia can be treated with the right life style habits or when required, by medical treatment.
Classification of Insomnia According to Cause.
Primary insomnia
This is a type of insomnia which has no underlying medical cause. This is found in 20 % of the chronic insomnia cases. This type of insomnia is not due to any medical cause but due to changing life style habits, stress and emotional.
Secondary insomnia or comorbid insomnia
This is the symptom or side effect which occurs due to some underlying health pathology or medication such as asthma, depression, pain due to cancer, arthritis and heartburn (explained in causes of insomnia). This is more commonly found and is present in about 80% of cases of insomnia.
Classification of Insomnia According to Duration.
Insomnia is classified into three types according to how long it lasts and how often it occurs.
Transient Insomnia.
Duration of transient insomnia is less than a week. It can be due to stress caused by a nagging problem, jet lag, change of a physical environment, a minor illness such as a blocked nose, excitement due to a planned vacation, etc. As mentioned above, this type of insomnia is temporary and with just a few adjustments in life style habits and with passage of time, transient insomnia can be overcome.
Acute Insomnia .
This type of insomnia lasts consistently for a few weeks usually less than a month. This is due to problems of a more severe nature than those mentioned in transient insomnia but which take a longer time to pass. Such situations include job loss, death of a loved one, divorce, medications used to treat cold, high blood pressure, allergies, depression, etc
Chronic Insomnia.
As the name suggests, this type of insomnia is of longer duration – more than a month. People with high levels of stress, depression/anxiety or a chronic health disorder causing pain, suffer from this type of insomnia. 10 % of insomnia cases belong to this category of insomnia. Untreated chronic insomnia can cause serious health disorders such as heart problems, high blood pressure and diabetes. Effects of chronic insomnia vary according to the cause of insomnia and include hallucinations, muscle and mental fatigue and in extreme cases, double vision. This type of insomnia requires medical treatment from a sleep specialist.
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