Insomnias

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Insomnia

 

How many thousand of my poorest subjects
Are at this hour asleep! O sleep, O gentle sleep,
Nature's soft nurse, how have I frighted thee,
That thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down
And steep my senses in forgetfulness? . . . . .

      Shakespeare - Henry IV, Part II,

Insomnia

 

According to the DSM-5, the criteria for insomnia disorder include:

• Intense dissatisfaction with the quality or amount of sleep caused by trouble falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep and waking up too early in the morning without being able to fall back asleep
• Sleep issues create a significant amount of stress that begins to impact aspects of daily life
• Sleep problems occur at least three nights each week and persist for at least three months
• Poor sleep occurs even when there is enough time devoted to sleep and rest

One type of insomnia, called primary insomnia, lasts for a month or more and is related to external stressors in the person’s life. The causes of primary insomnia include:

• Major life changes, like moving
• High stress
• Travel or work changes
• Bad habits, like napping or going to bed too early or late

According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine:

• Stress can result in adjustment insomnia, which may affect up to 20% of people each year
• Poor sleeping habits in children can lead to behavioral insomnia of childhood, affecting 30% of children
• Prescription drugs, substance abuse, medical disorders, and mental health conditions can cause insomnia, with about 3% of the population having this type of sleep issue. Specific causes include depression, drug withdrawal, obesity and anemia
• A person with high anxiety and worry could have psychophysiological insomnia, a condition affecting about 2% of the population and about 15% of sleep center patients.

Cost of Insomnia

Insomnia takes a heavy toll in the workplace. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, insomnia costs:

• 11.3 days of work for the average worker every year
• $2,280 in lost productivity for the average worker each year
• A total of $63.2 billion for the entire nation [USA] in lost productivity per year

Treatments can be expensive as well. The cost of filling a generic sleeping pill prescription may run $200 per year, while a course of psychotherapy for insomnia can cost up to $1,200.

The American Sleep Association notes the human cost of insomnia is steep, with about 1,600 deaths and 40,000 injuries caused by drowsy driving each year. Additionally, a significant portion of the 100,000 hospital deaths caused by medical errors each year can be attributed to sleep deprivation.

Insomnia Prognosis and Outlook

Overall, the prognosis and outlook for insomnia are favorable. However, it’s essential to keep in mind some risk factors associated with a poorer prognosis, including:

• High anxiety, worry and tendency to repress feelings
• Being an older woman
• Family members with insomnia
• Poor sleeping conditions
• Excessive caffeine use
• Drug and alcohol use
• Irregular sleep schedules

Editor – Megan Hull

Megan Hull is a content specialist who edits, writes and ideates content to help people find recovery. Read more.

Medically Reviewed By – Eric Patterson, LPC

Eric Patterson is a licensed professional counselor in the Pittsburgh area who is dedicated to helping children, adults, and families meet their treatment goals. Read more.

Insomnia

Thin are the night-skirts left behind
By daybreak hours that onward creep,
And thin, alas! the shred of sleep
That wavers with the spirit's wind:
But in half-dreams that shift and roll
And still remember and forget,
My soul this hour has drawn your soul
A little nearer yet.

Our lives, most dear, are never near,
Our thoughts are never far apart,
Though all that draws us heart to heart
Seems fainter now and now more clear.
To-night Love claims his full control,
And with desire and with regret
My soul this hour has drawn your soul
A little nearer yet.

Is there a home where heavy earth
Melts to bright air that breathes no pain,
Where water leaves no thirst again
And springing fire is Love's new birth?
If faith long bound to one true goal
May there at length its hope beget,
My soul that hour shall draw your soul
For ever nearer yet.

     Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti

Dante Gabriel Rossetti - Jane Morris asleep

Insomnia

 

American insomnia

 

The New Yorker Cartoons

Je sais très bien ce qui se passe

 

Sommeil : que se passe-t-il dans votre cerveau insomniaque ?

An Ode to Insomnia

How to find solace in sleeplessness

James ParkerDaniel Savage

You have to get up.

That’s the first thing. Don’t just lie there and let it have its way with you. The sea of anxiety loves a horizontal human; it pours over your toes and surges up you like a tide. Is your partner lying next to you, dense with sleep, offensively unconscious? That’s not helping either. So verticalize yourself. Leave the bed. Leave its maddening mammal warmth. Out you go, clammy-footed, into the midnight spaces. The couch. The kitchen.

...

It’s 4 a.m. You’ve experienced yourself, fully and purgatorially. You’ve preserved the balance of global sanity. You’ve had pity on your fellow man. You have sniffed timelessness. Your work is done, insomniac. Go back to bed.

The Atlantic

Insomnia