If you believe in the saying that there is no smoke without a fire, then you should also realize that insomnia symptoms will not happen without a cause. Broadly speaking the cause of insomnia can be broken down into two classes: psychological or non-medical and medical cause of insomnia.

Insomnia can be classified according to the duration of the symptoms as well as according to the causes. In the second category, there can be primary cause of insomnia and secondary cause of insomnia. The primary causes include those not related to any other medication or psychological disorder and the secondary causes of insomnia have a direct bearing to medical issues.

What are the non-medical causes of insomnia?

• Bedroom environment including room temperature, lighting, noisiness, unfamiliarity are some of the causes of insomnia. Working in different shifts often disturbs the circadian rhythm, disturbing normal sleeping patterns. Jet lag could also be a culprit.

• There are several emotional issues which may leave us mentally devastated resulting in insomnia. Job loss, death of a spouse or a child, divorce, marital disharmony, family disputes are some of the common causes of insomnia, which are non-medical by nature.

• Stimulants like methamphetamine hydrochloride, excessive use of caffeine, tobacco and alcohol can be viable causes of insomnia.

• This category also includes substance abuse and use of narcotics.

What are the medical causes of insomnia?

• There are several health disorders which can be the cause of insomnia. These include respiratory disorders or conditions affecting your breathing patters. Other disease conditions which can provide causes of insomnia include diabetes, arthritic pain, heart ailments, asthma. Health conditions like obesity can be responsible for your insomnia. This health condition often leads to another condition called GERD or gastroesophageal reflux disorder and heartburn, both contributing factors to insomnia. Chronic pains, hyperthyroidism, Parkinson’s disease are other medical causes of insomnia.

There is no denying that the causes of insomnia are difficult to find and takes time and energy but they are critical for the right diagnosis of the underlying condition. Many causes of insomnia can be traced back to poor lifestyle choices, stressful work environment, imbalanced diet, lack of exercise, past trauma or mental problems, chemical imbalances in the brain, etc.

What are the most common causes of insomnia?

• Rampant and excessive use of stimulants like coffee, tea and aerated sweetened drinks in the late evening or afternoon. Tobacco products also stimulate the heart and brain. Alcohol may induce sleep initially, but will wake you up from the deeper sleep stages.

• Stress and depression might go hand in hand resulting in insomnia. People suffering from one or both these conditions would find it difficult to go to sleep and may resort to temporary measures like alcohol, etc, which further aggravate the situation.

• Medication and health problems can be viable causes of insomnia. In case you are currently on some set of medications, you must talk to your doctor about how they may be interfering with your sleep. Your doctor may then adjust the dosage or completely change the medication.

By definition, insomnia is a condition that is characterized by inability to go to sleep or remain asleep for a reasonable amount of time. However, when the condition persists for at least 3 to 4 weeks, doctors describe the condition as insomnia and not before that. It could be a stand-alone disorder or it could be a symptom of some underlying disease condition.

Whatever the duration of the condition is, sufferers and their immediate family members are always concerned with one burning question: what causes insomnia? Insomnia may affect the victim during the night, but its impact lasts throughout the day; the sufferer is invariably sleepy, irritable, and fidgety and has mood swings, not to mention all the other symptoms a person could have, when deprived of deep and restorative sleep.

What causes insomnia – know the types

The amount of sleep that you need or your own sleeping practices and schedules could vary from any other person. This means that what you perceive to be insomnia may not really be the condition, in the truest sense of the term. Therefore, there seems to be some amount of debate regarding the classification of insomnia. However, generally speaking:

• Transient insomnia is when sleeplessness lasts less than a week.
• Symptoms lasting between one to three weeks could be classified as short-term insomnia
• However, when the symptoms last more than 3 weeks, doctors would like to name it chronic insomnia.

While insomnia affects women more than men, it can affect people irrespective of age, though it tends to increase with advancing years.

Insomnia causes: as varied as the patients

Causes of insomnia are varied as patients who suffer from them. They could be transient (situational), as after effects of some disease conditions or they could also be stand-alone conditions, referred to as primary sleep disorder. Some people classify the causes according to the duration of the condition: transient, short-term or chronic.

What causes insomnia: some transient factors?

Jet lag caused by extensive travel schedule, changes in sleeping patterns caused by shift in work schedules, noisy bedroom condition including excessive heat or cold temperatures; emotional disturbances like loss of a loved one, job interview, divorce, etc; acute illness; cessation or withdrawal from drugs, alcohol, tranquilizer, etc could be common causes of transient insomnia.

Similarly, chronic insomnia could be caused due to several factors including psychological or physiological conditions. Psychological reasons that could be causes on insomnia are anxiety, stress, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders and/or depression. In fact, depression and insomnia causes are often closely related. At times depression is one of the primary reasons for insomnia or it could even be one of the most prominent symptoms.

Insomnia causes: when the reasons are medical or physiological

Like there are emotional factors responsible for insomnia, there could be several physiological disorders that can be termed as insomnia causes. Ranging from medical conditions, insomnia can result from a disturbance in the circadian rhythm or the biological clock causing disturbance in the sleep-wake cycle. Few of the most common physiological factors responsible for causing insomnia are:

• If you suffer from chronic pain or fatigue syndrome
• Congestive heart failure
• Chest discomfort caused by heart ailment
• GERD or acid reflux diseases.
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) – a serious lung condition
• Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease
• Brain trauma including strokes or tumors

What Causes Insomnia: Medication Factors

There are some medications which could result in insomnia as part of the side-effects. These include:

• OTC medications used for cold/allergies or asthma control
• Some prescription drugs for the management of these disease conditions could also contain stimulants that keep the user awake or result in disturbed sleep.
• Drugs used for treating high blood pressure could result in insomnia.
• Some anti-depressants, anti-anxiety medications or medicines used for the treatment of schizophrenia could contribute to insomnia causes.

Insomnia causes: lifestyle factors

Causes of insomnia may not always be linked to illnesses or medications. They may have close links to some poor lifestyle choices. For example, overt consumption of caffeine or nicotine is associated with poor sleep patterns. This is particularly true when such consumptions are made during the time immediately preceding sleep.

Alcohol is often treated as a sleep inducer but this is a poor choice, since alcohol is more often than not, a great stimulant that is capable of robbing both quality and quantity of good sleep.

Often the environment in the bedroom, including a snoring partner or a noisy atmosphere could cause insomnia.

What causes insomnia: are you at risk?

Though most of us would experience insomnia at least once in our lifetime, some of us are prone to attract this condition more than others. People who have high-risk of developing insomnia include:

• Frequent travelers
• If your work schedule changes frequently
• Elderly people
• People in their adolescent years
• Women during pregnancy or menopause.

What causes insomnia: act before it gets chronic?

Though 8 out of 10 people suffer form this condition, the normal tendency is to ignore it. However, you need to seek medical treatment as soon as the condition starts to disturb your daytime activities as well as leave you tossing and turning in bed consistently for some period of time. This can help you get well before the condition gets into a chronic state.

Insomnia could range from mild to severe depending on the frequency of sleeplessness and the duration of the condition. You could have trouble falling asleep and you could also wake up earlier than usual, unable to get any good sleep. Whatever the manifestations are, if the situation persists, do consult a doctor, before it gets too late. Once the doctor diagnoses the precise insomnia causes, you could hope to get out of the condition with the right kind of treatment and get the sleep you and your body deserves.

At times, if you think hard, you might be able to decipher yourself, what causes insomnia and bring the condition under control with some amount of will power and self-help strategies.

If you believe in the saying that there is no smoke without a fire, then you should also realize that insomnia symptoms will not happen without a cause. Broadly speaking the cause of insomnia can be broken down into two classes: psychological or non-medical and medical cause of insomnia.

Insomnia can be classified according to the duration of the symptoms as well as according to the causes. In the second category, there can be primary cause of insomnia and secondary cause of insomnia. The primary causes include those not related to any other medication or psychological disorder and the secondary causes of insomnia have a direct bearing to medical issues.

What are the non-medical causes of insomnia?

-          Bedroom environment including room temperature, lighting, noisiness, unfamiliarity are some of the causes of insomnia. Working in different shifts often disturbs the circadian rhythm, disturbing normal sleeping patterns. Jet lag could also be a culprit.

-          There are several emotional issues which may leave us mentally devastated resulting in insomnia. Job loss, death of a spouse or a child, divorce, marital disharmony, family disputes are some of the common causes of insomnia, which are non-medical by nature.

-          Stimulants like methamphetamine hydrochloride, excessive use of caffeine, tobacco and alcohol can be viable causes of insomnia.

-          This category also includes substance abuse and use of narcotics.

What are the medical causes of insomnia?

-          There are several health disorders which can be the cause of insomnia. These include respiratory disorders or conditions affecting your breathing patters. Other disease conditions which can provide causes of insomnia include diabetes, arthritic pain, heart ailments, asthma. Health conditions like obesity can be responsible for your insomnia. This health condition often leads to another condition called GERD or gastroesophageal reflux disorder and heartburn, both contributing factors to insomnia. Chronic pains, hyperthyroidism, Parkinson’s disease are other medical causes of insomnia.

There is no denying that the causes of insomnia are difficult to find and takes time and energy but they are critical for the right diagnosis of the underlying condition. Many causes of insomnia can be traced back to poor lifestyle choices, stressful work environment, imbalanced diet, lack of exercise, past trauma or mental problems, chemical imbalances in the brain, etc.

What are the most common causes of insomnia?

-          Rampant and excessive use of stimulants like coffee, tea and aerated sweetened drinks in the late evening or afternoon. Tobacco products also stimulate the heart and brain. Alcohol may induce sleep initially, but will wake you up from the deeper sleep stages.

-          Stress and depression might go hand in hand resulting in insomnia. People suffering from one or both these conditions would find it difficult to go to sleep and may resort to temporary measures like alcohol, etc, which further aggravate the situation.

-          Medication and health problems can be viable causes of insomnia. In case you are currently on some set of medications, you must talk to your doctor about how they may be interfering with your sleep. Your doctor may then adjust the dosage or completely change the medication.