Overview

Insomnia can interfere with daily activities and affect memory and concentration. Short-term insomnia can be caused by stress or schedule changes, while chronic insomnia occurs three or more nights a week and lasts more than three months. Healthcare providers diagnose insomnia by examining sleep habits.

Causes

Insomnia is often caused by,

• Stress, trauma, or anxiety

• Short-term causes include disruptions in the circadian rhythm due to work shifts, environmental noise, jet lag, and high altitudes.

• Psychological issues like depression 

• Bipolar disorder 

• Anxiety

• Chronic pain 

• Hormone shifts during menstruation or menopause 

• Partner snoring noise 

• Family history 

• Overactivity 

• Pregnancy and caffeine consumption.

Symptoms

Insomnia symptoms include 

• Difficulty sleeping

• Wakefulness 

• Low energy 

• Irritability 

• Depression 

• Waking up too early 

• Daytime tiredness

• Crankiness 

• Anxiety 

• Attention issues 

• Lack of concentration

• Ongoing sleep concerns.

Ayurvedic View

Nidra nasha- when vata dosha gets aggravated, due to the following of vata vruddhi kar food and activities, this vata enters masthiska (mind, brain), then enters to mano vaha srotas, causing very difficulty to fall asleep, sometimes the patient does not get sleep the whole night. Though the patient is tired, the patient is not able to sleep, and when slept can not remain so. The Ayurveda way of approach is to bring vata dosha back to prakruta awastha (balance state), improve and correct normal circadian rhythm, to encourage natural sleep cycle by following ayurvedic panchakarma treatment and local treatment for reducing stress, calm the agitated and restless mind such that the patient has prakruta nidra (good and undisturbed sleep).