What is insomnia?

失眠会极大地影响您的日常生活。无论您是否入睡或入睡，它都会影响您的整体健康，人际关系和工作生产力。如果您失眠，您的医生可以帮助您找出哪种类型。原发性失眠是失眠症，不是另一种疾病的症状。失眠可以是急性或慢性。急性失眠仅持续几天或几周，慢性失眠是长期的。

如果您的失眠源于潜在的疾病，则称为继发性失眠。这是最常见的失眠类型。它可以是急性或慢性。继发性失眠的一些常见原因和危险因素包括以下内容。

Stress and anxiety

Worries can keep your mind active at night. Issues at work or school or with family can make you anxious. This can make it difficult or impossible for you to sleep. Traumatic events like the death of a loved one, divorce, or job loss often cause long-lasting stress and anxiety. These conditions can lead to chronic sleeplessness.

沮丧

沮丧is a common source of insomnia. This may be due to a chemical imbalance in the brain that affects sleep patterns. Alternately, you may be too distressed by fears or troubling thoughts, which may prevent you from getting a good night’s sleep.

Insomnia can be a common symptom of other mood disorders.Bipolar disorder,焦虑, orpost-traumatic stress disorder都可能导致睡眠问题。

Sex

女性经历失眠的可能性是男性的两倍。月经周期和更年期中的激素转移被认为是导致失眠的原因。失眠通常发生在更年期之前的时间里，当夜晚汗水和炎热通常会干扰睡眠时，被称为绝经期。专家认为，缺乏雌激素可能会导致绝经后女性的睡眠困难。

年龄

Insomnia increases with age as your sleep patterns change. Older adults often have trouble with sustained sleep over an eight-hour period. They may need to nap during the day to get the recommended eight hours of sleep over a 24-hour period. According to the梅奥诊所，一些估计表明，在60岁以上的所有男女中，几乎一半经历了失眠症的症状。

药物

非处方药物可能导致insomnia. Pain medications, decongestants, and weight-loss products can contain caffeine or other stimulants. Antihistamines may make you drowsy at first, but they can lead to frequent urination, which can then disturb sleep by causing more nighttime trips to the bathroom.

Many prescription drugs can disrupt your sleep patterns. These can include:

  • 抗抑郁药
  • 心脏和血压药
  • allergy medicine
  • stimulants

兴奋剂

这些饮料通常含有咖啡因，刺激大脑：

  • 咖啡
  • tea
  • soft drinks
  • 能量饮品

This stimulation can interfere with sleep. Drinking coffee in the late afternoon can keep you from falling asleep at night. Nicotine in tobacco is another stimulant that can inhibit sleep.

Alcohol is a sedative that may help you fall asleep initially, but it will prevent deeper stages of sleep and make you toss and turn. The deep stages of sleep are necessary for adequate rest.

医疗条件

A host of medical conditions can contribute to insomnia. Sleep issues are associated with chronic medical conditions or their symptoms, such as:

  • chronic pain
  • breathing difficulties
  • sleep apnea
  • 关节炎
  • diabetes
  • cardiovascular disease
  • 肥胖
  • 癌症
  • frequent urination
  • gastroesophageal reflux disease
  • 过度活跃的甲状腺
  • 绝经

Obesity

根据 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ，睡眠障碍与肥胖有关。每晚不到六个小时的成年人的肥胖率为33％。每晚睡觉七到八个小时的人的肥胖率为22％。他们在男人和女人以及各个年龄段和种族中都发现了这种模式。

睡眠障碍

Common sleep disorders, such as不安的腿综合症, can disturb sleep. This is a crawling sensation in the lower part of the legs that only movement can relieve. Sleep apnea is a breathing disorder characterized by loud snoring and brief pauses in breathing.

Environmental changes

轮班工作或长途旅行会影响您身体的昼夜节律。这是暴露于阳光的24小时生化，生理和行为周期。这种节奏是您的内部时钟。它调节睡眠周期，体温和代谢。

Sleep habits

担心没有足够的睡眠会导致更多的睡眠剥夺。如果是您的情况，请尝试更改通常的就寝时间。遵循以下提示：

  • Take a relaxing bath.
  • Listen to some soothing music.
  • Avoid watching TV or working in bed.
  • Try not to eat right before you go to bed because your body will be busy with digestion when you should be sleeping. Eating right before bed can also trigger heartburn.

Whether your insomnia is acute or chronic, losing weight if you’re overweight or obese, adopting a healthy sleep routine, and avoiding overuse of stimulants can all help you get a good night’s sleep. Discuss any sleep problems you have with your doctor, and review your medical conditions and medications with them to see if any are responsible for keeping you awake at night.