The Many Faces of Sleep Insomnia

Sleep insomnia is a common condition that plagues many individuals at various times of their lives. For some this problem comes and goes briefly while for others it may become a much longer battle. How extreme a specific case of insomnia is often depends on what exactly is causing the problem to begin with. For some it is high levels of stress while for others it may be physical illnesses or various mental disorders. Regardless of what may be the specific cause of your particular problem one thing is certain – facing sleep insomnia even for short periods of time is no fun.

When it comes to insomnia there are several different types based on how it affects a person as well as how long it lasts. While in some cases insomnia is only a minor problem that happens every once in a while there are other cases in which it lasts for weeks or months at a time.

Sleep onset insomnia indicates that a person has difficulty falling asleep. While the average person typically falls asleep in about twenty minutes or less individuals who suffer from this type of sleep insomnia take as long as half an hour or longer to fall asleep.

When a person suffers from sleep maintenance insomnia it means that while they may fall asleep rather easily they rarely sleep for very long at a time. A person affected by this type of insomnia may awaken several times during the night and remain awake for half an hour or more before being able to return to sleep.

Transient sleep insomnia indicates that a person has difficulty sleeping for several nights at a time. This type of insomnia often comes and goes on its own and rarely requires any type of treatment.

Short term insomnia is very similar to transient insomnia except that it can last for up to a month. In most cases treatment is not needed for this type of insomnia however various sleep aids or other natural remedies may be beneficial in relieving the effects and promoting sleep more easily.

Chronic sleep insomnia is by far the worst type of insomnia because it can often last for months and in some cases even years. This type of insomnia often requires treatment by a licensed health care provider. Although there are many different types of pills which may be used to treat insomnia and help a person to sleep this should only be done as a last resort. The biggest reason for this is that many prescription sleep medications can become habit forming when used over long periods of time.