Psychology Research Report on Insomnia: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments.

Essay by aricmUniversity, Bachelor'sA+, April 2004

download word file, 4 pages 5.0

Downloaded 146 times

Psychology Research Report on Insomnia: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments.

Sleep is vital to human life yet over 100 million Americans of all ages regularly fail to get a good night's sleep (Morin, 2004). This is especially visible at university where students always complain of being tired because of a lack of sleep. One disorder that can lead to lack of good sleep is insomnia. It is therefore significant, in our sleep-deprived society, to learn what insomnia is, how it is caused, and how it is treated.

According to the 2004 National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of America (NHLBI) insomnia is the complaint of inadequate and poor-quality sleep because of difficulty falling asleep, waking up frequently during the night with difficulty returning to sleep, and waking up too early in the morning. Insomnia can cause problems during the day, such as sleepiness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and irritability. Individuals vary in their need for sleep, so insomnia is not determined by the number of hours of sleep.

There are two types of insomnia. One is called "acute insomnia", and it is often caused by emotional or physical anxiety. Some common factors include significant life stress, acute illness, and environmental disturbances such as noise, light, and temperature. Sleeping at a time inconsistent with the daily biological rhythm can also cause acute insomnia. The other type is called "chronic insomnia". One study states that chronic insomnia afflicts approximately five to ten percent of the adult population in Western industrialized countries (Riemann et al., 2002). It can be caused by many different factors, and it often occurs in conjunction with other health problems (Hunt et al., 2004). It often results from a combination of factors, including underlying physical or mental disorders. Ailments such as arthritis, kidney disease, heart failure, asthma, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, restless...