It’s 3 a.m. and you’re wide awake. Maybe it’s the television throwing light across your bedroom or the cup of coffee you drank after dinner, but something is keeping you from catching some z’s. The cause could be from one of those or other simple explanations, but your bout of sleepless nights could also be the result of a much more serious, albeit misunderstood, problem – insomnia.
Insomnia is a sleep disorder that has visited one on three adults at one time or another, according to the American Sleep Association (ASA). Difficulty falling asleep, waking up often during the night and having trouble getting back to sleep or an ever-present feeling of exhaustion during the day are hallmarks of the disorder. There are two kinds: acute insomnia, which last for a few days at a time and can reoccur once in a while, or the chronic variety in which sleeplessness is the rule rather than the exception.
Insomnia can also be categorized as primary – insomnia that is not related to other health problems – or secondary, which is associated with other conditions that keep you awake.
Whatever the cause, insomnia is probably the most misunderstood disorder that doctors hear about from their patients. Some of the commonly thought aspects of the disorder, it turns out, are apocryphal. Some insomnia myths that, it turns out, aren’t true:
Insomnia is “not being able to sleep.”
That’s only one aspect of the disorder. According to the ASA, it can also include waking up too early or not feeling refreshed after you get up. Both are signs of restless sleep, which can be insomnia, and can lead to falling asleep at your desk in the middle of the day or continued irritability.
Sleeping through your alarm is a sign of insomnia and sleep deprivation.
Not necessarily, according to sleep disorder experts. You may merely be suffering from another common problem: sleep inertia. Sufferers of sleep inertia may feel lethargic right after waking up in the morning, only to get traction after taking a shower or a cup of coffee. Sleep inertia is perfectly normal and may not be a problem, other than occasional missed appointments.
You can will your way through insomnia.
Advice from friends and family like “just go to sleep” is no help at all. Trying to go to sleep may not solve the cause of your insomnia. If lying in bed trying to will yourself to sleep is relaxing, exports say, do it. If, on the other hand, staring at the ceiling worrying that you’re not falling asleep only gets you worked up, get up and distract yourself. Go back to bed when you feel tired.
Don’t worry about insomnia, you can “catch up” on sleep.
Wrong. Believing you can catch up on sleep on the weekend or by taking naps during the day will likely only disturb your sleep patterns further, according to sleep professionals. That will tend to make your problem worse, not better.
The bottom line, say sleep disorder experts, is to seek help if you’re struggling to sleep and may have insomnia. Your doctor will ask you questions, will likely perform a physical exam and ask you to keep a sleep diary for a week or two to get a handle on the problem. He or she may also have you spend a night in a sleep lab, where health care workers can monitor the quantity and quality of your sleep. If it’s determined you do have a problem, your doctor is the best source to help you through it.
