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Insomnia

Delivered August 29, 2019. Contributor: Gail

Goals

To understand the causes, symptoms, effects, and remedies for insomnia. In addition, to understand how people generally feel about insomnia and the effects of it on their lives, and who tends to suffer from it the most from a gender, age, and occupation standpoint. Finally, to understand if insomnia is trending upwards and is more of an issue today than ever before.

Early Findings

  •  Insomnia is a common sleep disorder. It is defined as an inability to go to sleep, waking up too early, or feeling unrested after sleep for at least three nights a week for at least three months. Most adult women need to get seven or more hours of sleep a night to feel rested.
  • There are medical causes of insomnia, and some examples of that are nasal/sinus allergies, gastrointestinal problems such as reflux, endocrine problems such as hyperthyroidism, arthritis, asthma, neurological conditions such as Parkinson's disease, chronic pain, and lower back pain.
  •  The Mayo Clinic offers a source that explains the symptoms and causes, diagnosis and treatment, and doctors and departments that deal with insomnia.
  • Anyone can get insomnia, but it affects more women than men. More than one in four women in the United States experience insomnia, compared with fewer than one in five men.
  • In one study, women of all ages reported worse sleep quality than men, including taking longer to fall asleep, sleeping for shorter periods of time, and feeling sleepier when awake.
  • Older women are at a higher risk of insomnia. Other people at risk for insomnia include those who have a lot of stress, have depression, or other mental health conditions, and work nights or have an irregular sleep schedule, such as shift workers.
  • People with insomnia are 10 times more likely to have depression, and 17 times more likely to have anxiety. Researchers aren't sure if mental health conditions lead to insomnia or if insomnia leads to mental health conditions. But not getting enough sleep may make mental health conditions worse.
  • Insomnia can be acute (short-term) or chronic (long-term). While acute insomnia may last for only a few days or weeks, chronic insomnia can last for three months or more.
  • Chronic or long-term insomnia can be treated with steps you can try at home to sleep better, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and prescription medicines. 
  •  For people with insomnia, sleep does not reduce the shame of an embarrassing experience. For them, the distress does not fade; in fact, it can get worse with recall. This was one of the findings of a new study from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience in Amsterdam. The study also revealed how brain differences between people with and without insomnia might explain it.
  •  Sleep tracking can help you determine if you're getting a good night's rest, but it might make your problems worse in some circumstances. Scientists talking to the New York Times have warned that sleep tracker apps and devices can worsen insomnia both through inaccurate data and by making your anxieties that much worse. In a study, for instance, it led to people both spending too much time in bed (in order to boost their sleep statistics) and reporting non-existent conditions that resulted in wasted treatment.
  • Clinical sleep disorders such as insomnia or apnea affect as many as 70 million Americans, and 60 percent of the country’s adults report experiencing sleep problems every or most nights.
  • According to a study by Chemist 4 U, 30% of people have experienced insomnia at some point in their lives.
  • According to nutritionists, hard cheese, dark chocolate, a hamburger, matcha-infused snacks and foods, and cold cuts/processed meats if eaten 4-6 hours before bedtime, can make it hard to fall asleep.
  • A scientist with insomnia researched how to get better sleep.
  •  Sleep deprivation accelerates Alzheimer's brain damage.
  • In addition to this public search, we scanned our proprietary research database of over 1 million sources and were unable to find any specific research reports that address your goals.

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