Insomnia is one of the most common complaints that doctors encounter on a daily basis. According to The National Commission of Sleep there are an estimated 80 million Americans struggling with this condition.
Because of the large numbers one would assume that insomnia is easily diagnosed and treated, but quite often this simply is not the case. Perhaps one reason for this is the somewhat fuzzy definition of insomnia provided in the Bible of mental health disorders and diagnostic criteria known as the DSM-IV. Let’s take a minute or two to walk through these vague and confusing guidelines.
The DSM-IV defines “insomnia” as a sleep disorder with complaints about the quality, duration, and timing of sleep. Sleep complaints must occur at least three times a week for at least one month and the patient must be impaired to some degree in her work, social, or school performance. Oftentimes people with insomnia have other problems, such as daytime fatigue, trouble concentrating, forgetfulness, depression, tension headaches, and difficulty with motivation, especially in the morning.
Yips, what if I have trouble sleeping only two days every week? What if my insomnia is inconsistent only occurring every other month or every third month? What if I perform adequately despite my insomnia?
As you can see by adopting a strict interpretation of the DSM-IV guidelines many insomniacs will fail to meet the criteria needed to receive a positive diagnosis.
Another case in point is if you doctor believes that you are unintentionally doing something that disrupts your natural sleep cycle then a diagnosis along with the much needed help you are seeking may not be immediately forthcoming. Examples that might fall under this umbrella of disruptive behaviors are eating sugar late in the day, staying up very late at night, drinking too much caffeine, smoking, consuming too much alcohol, or taking naps during the day.
One interesting study that was administered in questionnaire form to 3,445 individuals asked a series of questions about quality of life issues as they related to specific chronic conditions. It probably will not surprise many insomniacs to learn that this condition impacted quality of life to the same extent as other chronic conditions considered by many to be far more serious such as congestive heart failure (CHF) and clinical depression. According to those in the study sleeplessness also made other conditions such as epilepsy, adult ADHD, and fibromyalgia much worse.
The financial impact of insomnia cannot be overlooked either with insomniacs under achieving both professionally and academically. The financial cost is estimated to be somewhere in the range of $100 billion annually.
Once a problem is recognized the next step is to find an effective solution. Certainly there’s no shortage of choices with store shelves being filled with numerous sleep aids, many of which have addictive properties. These same sleep inducing drugs also are slow to get out of a person’s system producing drowsiness and grogginess which in turn can lead to a viscous cycle of drugs to wake up and drugs to go to sleep.
On the other hand herbal and homeopathic sleep remedies have few side effects and have been shown to shown to be very effective, especially when combined with diet modification and regular physical activity.
In conclusion, when in trying to put a face on insomnia on the way to a diagnosis what seems to have emerged is a condition that throws up both physiological and psychological roadblocks in almost every aspect of an insomniacs daily life.
Certainly, there are no easy answers, but there are answers nonetheless, and finding the one that’s right for you can help you live a happier, healthier, life complete with peaceful nightly slumber.