Are These Things Causing Your Insomnia?

Sleep isn’t just something you want — it’s something your body needs to function properly. Many different things lead to problems with sleep, including health conditions and certain daily habits. If you’re dealing with issues sleeping every night, you could be suffering from a condition called insomnia.

Insomnia is a real disease, and our team members at Carolina Wellness Psychiatry, led by board-certified psychiatrists Dr. Elizabeth Bullard, Dr. Brian Moore, and Dr. Allison Foroobar, are experts in helping you determine the cause of your insomnia so you can get the proper treatment and finally get the sleep you need.

What is insomnia?

Insomnia is a disorder that affects your sleep. It not only affects your ability to get to sleep, but also to stay asleep. Often with insomnia, you wake up feeling fatigued or tired, because you haven’t really slept much at all.

The American Psychiatric Association reports that insomnia is the most common form of sleep disorder, and about a third of all adults experience insomnia symptoms at some point.

But how do you know if you’re just having trouble with sleep or you’re actually dealing with insomnia? Our team of doctors use two distinct criteria to get to the diagnosis of insomnia. These two criteria are:

Trouble sleeping for three nights a week for at least three months
Sleep problems that cause issues with your work or home life

If you meet both these criteria, you’re likely suffering from insomnia. Because your body needs sleep to thrive and be productive, it’s imperative that you seek treatment if you aren’t getting the rest that you need.

Insomnia does lead to fatigue, but there are other signs and symptoms as well. Some of the more common signs that you’re dealing with this disorder include:

Difficulty concentrating
Depression or anxiety
Irritability
Waking up early
Constant worry about sleep

You may also notice an increase in errors in your work or daily tasks. This is usually due to your brain and body not getting the appropriate amount of rest that it needs to be productive.

Causes of insomnia

There are two different types of insomnia causes: primary and secondary. Primary causes are directly linked to you and your sleep habits. These may include things like:

Genetics
Stress
Your environment
Sleep schedule changes

Primary causes of insomnia are harder to change than secondary causes. For example, there’s not a lot you can do about your genetics. However, you can change some aspects related to the environment where you sleep.

Secondary causes, on the other hand, are related to other conditions in your body that could result in insomnia. Examples of secondary causes include:

ADHD
Menopause
Sleep apnea
Endocrine problems
Anxiety or depression
Chronic pain

Alcohol use and caffeine consumption also fall under the category of secondary insomnia causes. Drug use and smoking may also lead to sleep deprivation from insomnia.

Medications are yet another reason you might not be able to sleep at night. If you’re taking certain medications to help control another condition, an unfortunate side effect could be insomnia. Common medications that cause sleep problems include blood pressure medications and asthma medications.

Finally getting the sleep you need

When you aren’t getting sleep for days or weeks at a time, your body and mind both suffer greatly. But not to worry, our team of psychiatrists helps you get the proper treatment for your insomnia.

The first step is determining what’s causing the insomnia. Whether it’s a primary cause or a secondary cause, our team can help you effectively overcome your symptoms through a number of different therapies.

Making lifestyle changes is one of the ways we can help you finally get some sleep. Sleep hygiene is very important, and includes making the area that you sleep ideal for rest. This means no naps; no TV, phones, or reading in bed; and a set bedtime and wake time.

However, you also need to address any underlying conditions that could be causing your insomnia. Our team assists you with these disorders and finding the proper treatment to get them under control.

We may also incorporate cognitive behavioral therapy with your treatment strategies to help you deal with stressors and other reasons you’re not getting sleep. This may include biofeedback or progressive muscle relaxation to help ease your insomnia.

Don’t lose one more night of sleep due to insomnia. Call us at 919-446-3232 today to set up an appointment, or request a consultation using our online booking tool.