Insomnia

            
             Insomnia is commonly known as an abnormal wakefulness or the inability to get an adequate amount of sleep ("Insomnia," 1993). The difficulty can be in falling asleep, remaining asleep, or both (Newton, 2000).
             Insomnia is a very common condition that probably affects most people at one time or another (Newton, 2000). Insomnia is the most common complaint among sleeping disorders, affecting more than 60,000,000 Americans; 35,000,000 of who have suffered from the condition for a long time (Rickard, 1997). A sleep disorder is any condition that interferes with sleep. The American Sleep Disorders Association has identified eighty-four different sleep disorders (Newton, 2000).
             According to the National Commission on Sleep Disorders Research, approximately 40,000,000 Americans have a chronic sleep disorder, and another 20,000,000 experience occasional sleep disturbances (Rickard, 1997). Insomnia varies with age and sex, occurring roughly 1.5 times more often in the elderly than in younger adults and affecting approximately forty percent of women and thirty percent of men (1997). People who are divorced, widowed or separated are more likely to experience the symptoms over those who are married. Also, those with a lower socioeconomic status have an increased rate of developing the symptoms of this disease (Olendorf, 1999).
             Short-term or transient insomnia is a common occurrence that tends to last only a few days; it can arise from a headache, indigestion, a cold, or homesickness. Long-term, or chronic insomnia lasts more than three weeks and may cause daytime sleepiness and decreased concentration. It can also lead to mood disorders like depression (Olendorf, 1999). Chronic insomnia has several different causes. These include: a medical condition or its treatment, substances such as caffeine, alcohol and nicotine, psychiatric conditions such as mood or anxiety disorders, stress, disturbed sleep cycles caused by erratic work hours, sleep-disordered breathing, such as snoring, nightmares or panic attacks, and excessive worrying about whether or not one will be able to fall asleep; the anxiety of current or future events actually triggers insomnia.