When it comes to getting a good night’s sleep most people overlook the fact that not everyone has the ability to get a good rest each night. Although, people with insomnia do not have this luxury of sleeping well each night like many people. How does someone know that they have insomnia and what actions can be taken to increase the chance of a better night’s sleep? Throughout my paper the symptoms, risk factors, preventions, and treatments will be discussed. Insomnia is a sleep disorder in which a person has trouble falling asleep or stating asleep at night. “Insomniacs are three times more likely to show a mental disorder than individuals with no sleep complaints.” (Douglas, 2008)
Personally, I think it would be extremely difficult to live with this disorder. It’s hard to think about how different your life would be due to a simple disorder like insomnia. Everything about your sleeping patterns that are currently in place would change; developing a schedule for sleep would be difficult because you never know how much the disorder will affect you each night. Some nights it could be more intense than others. I am very thankful that I do not have a disorder like this in my life right now. It would definitely add more stress to an already stressful life of being a college student. I currently know of one person who has insomnia, I do not know much about her situation, but I can make the assumption that it would be difficult to get used to.
WebMD.com tells us that there are two main types of insomnia, primary and secondary insomnia. Primary insomnia means that a person is having sleep problems that are not directly associated with any other health condition or problem. Secondary insomnia means that a person is having sleep problems because of something else, such as a health condition like asthma. (Chanin, 2012) Also, insomnia is different depending on how long it lasts and how often it occurs. It can be acute, which is short-term that usually lasts for days or weeks. Acute insomnia can be caused by situations like stress at work or family pressures. (“Explore insomnia,” 2011) Insomnia can be chronic too; this usually lasts for a month or longer. Most of these cases are secondary; this means they are the symptom or side effect of something else. (“Explore insomnia,” 2011)

According to WebMD.com the symptoms of insomnia are as follows; difficulty falling asleep, feeling tired upon waking, waking up too early in the morning, and waking up often throughout the night having trouble falling back to sleep. The University of Maryland Medical Center also adds that tension headaches and anxiety as bedtime approaches are symptoms of insomnia. What makes a person have insomnia? What increases the chance of someone having this sleeping disorder? There are many factors that increase the risk of developing insomnia. These factors include: age, the elderly are more prone to insomnia, gender, women are more likely than men, substance abuse, depression, asthma, stressful or traumatic events, and changing work shifts or schedules. (Ehrlich, 2012) People can try to prevent/reduce developing insomnia by following certain procedures. One way is to use relaxation techniques and stimulus control therapy. (Douglas, 2008) The reason for this therapy is to try to make the bed become an image associated with sleeping. The purpose is to try to take away the thought of reading, eating, or watching TV in bed. If people tend to read and watch a good amount of TV while sitting or laying in their bed it may create the image in our heads that our bed isn’t a place for sleeping. We then tend to start seeing it as a place to do regular activities in our lives. The University of Maryland Medical Center states that insomnia can be prevented by the