by Chitwan Gupta

Created on: May 26, 2008   Last Updated: May 28, 2008

What is Insomnia?
Insomnia can be defined in many ways. The simplest definition given on wikipedia is as follows: Insomnia is a sleeping disorder characterized by persistent difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep despite the opportunity.

There are several different types of insomnia. Following is the list of most common types of insomnia
1. Adjustment insomnia or acute insomnia

2. Behavioral insomnia of childhood
3. Idiopathic insomnia
4. Chronic Insomnia
5. Paradoxical insomnia
6. Psycho physiological insomnia

Identification Of Insomnia Symptoms:
The first thing to do is to identify symptoms of insomnia. Here are the most common insomnia symptoms that can be very easily identified. To identify it, you just need to ask following questions to yourself
1. How many hours do I sleep in the night? Do I sleep less than 5 hours?
2. Do I always struggle to maintain sleep and wake up frequently during the night?
3. Do my sleep is of poor quality?
4. Do I feel sleepy even after having a sleep of 5-6 hours?
5. Do I feel weakness, anxiety and irritability during the day?
6. Do I feel tired, fatigued and stressed during the day?

If your all answers are yes' then it means your sleep is non-restorative and you are living your life with insomnia. These symptoms of insomnia can be caused by a variety of biological, psychological and social factors. To prevent this disorder from becoming chronic, it is very necessary to take insomnia treatment as soon as you identify the symptoms.

Insomnia Treatment:
Self-care is the best insomnia cure so take care of yourself and try to cure insomnia without prescription drugs. You can follow following steps for insomnia cure
1. Exercise helps increase the depth of your sleep so try and get plenty of exercise. Go for an evening walk, jogging or swimming.
2. If you use tobacco products then avoid them, and reduce or eliminate caffeine intake.
3.Eliminate or drastically reduce the intake of alcohol because alcohol contributes to sleep disorders.
4. Try to remove unnecessary stress and try to avoid stressful situations, particularly in the evening.
5. Make the area that you sleep in dark, quiet, cooler. If your sleep area is noisy, you may try playing relaxing music.
6. Improve your daily routine. Don't sleep during the day. Try to make a regular time each day for when you go to sleep and wake up.
7.You can discuss and share your problems with other people and get some useful information about treatment and symptoms of insomnia. Here are some common resources available for those touched by insomnia
http://www.sleepnet.com/insomnia/insomniainf .html
http://www.topix.com/forum/health/insomnia
http: //www.talkaboutsleep.com/message-boards/viewforum.ph p?f=5
http://ehealthforum.com

8. If all above steps don't help then you should see a physician. Your primary care physician may be able to help you; if not, you can probably find a sleep specialist at a major hospital near you. He can prescribe you a diazepam for insomnia (also known as Valium) that is a benzodiazepine derivative drug, mainly used for short-term treatment of insomnia.

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