Pathophysiology, Associations and Consequences of Insomnia

Chronic Insomnia

“…Its etiology can include one or more contribu-ting factors, such as genetic predisposition, cultural influences, comorbid disorders, medications and other drugs such as alcohol and nicotine, social and personal issues, personality, behavior, transient or long-term events (birth of a baby, start of a new job), poor sleep hygiene, environmental disruption (light, noise), physiologic mechanisms such as hyperarousal, and maladaptive thinking, attitudes, and beliefs about sleep. 56 The multifactorial nature of insomnia makes it difficult to define as a single entity suffered by many; there is a great deal of overlap among sufferers, but there is also a degree of uniqueness that each sufferer experiences as well. Insomnia, although technically a sleep disorder, is truly a 24-hour disorder, characterized by impairments in both sleep and wakefulness.…”