INSOMNIA : CAUSE, SYMPTOMS, DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT & PATHOLOGY.

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Have you ever had one of those nights where you just couldn’t seem to fall asleep? While that happens to everyone every once in awhile, people with insomnia have to deal with these symptoms night after night. Some people with insomnia have trouble falling asleep, whereas others wake up throughout the night, and struggle to fall back asleep, and these disturbances typically happen at least 3 times each week.

Acute insomnia lasts less than a month, whereas chronic insomnia lasts over a month. Insomnia affects both the quantity and quality of sleep, which makes it hard for individuals to reach the restorative levels of sleep which causes daytime sleepiness and fatigue, and over time—feelings of irritability, anxiety, and depression.

This can lead to professional and personal problems, as well as day-to-day challenges like falling asleep while driving. Although insomnia can happen without an underlying cause, it can also accompany and worsen other problems like pulmonary diseases, psychiatric conditions, and a whole variety of conditions that might cause pain. Insomnia is also a common side effect of stimulants like caffeine, as well as depressants like alcohol, which can both disrupt the regular sleep cycle.

Finally, and probably most commonly, insomnia can be the result of daily stresses from work or relationships as well environmental factors such as having to work a night shift, or having a newborn baby. There are a number of biological factors associated with insomnia. Studies have shown that people with insomnia might have heightened levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which plays a role in the process of waking up every morning. People with insomnia are also more sensitive to the effects of cortisol, typically waking up at much lower levels of cortisol as compared to the general population. In addition, insomnia is also associated with reduced levels of estrogen and reduced levels of progesterone, which can happen during menopause.

Commonly, individuals with insomnia will self-medicate with alcohol and benzodiazepines, both of which can be extremely dangerous. Alcohol abuse can lead to a number of physical and psychological changes that can rapidly worsen the sleep-wake cycle and lead to dependence.

Similarly, benzodiazepines, especially short-acting ones, can also create dependence and have a high abuse potential, which can actually worsen insomnia if someone tries to stop using them.

One method of treatment is getting good sleep hygiene, which includes going to sleep and waking up at the same time every day including weekends, getting good exercise (but not right before bed), reducing alcohol intake, avoiding day-time naps, avoiding caffeine and smoking in the evening, and not going to sleep hungry.

Another potential treatment is stimulus control which includes using the bed only to sleep rather than a place from which to watch television, text, or talk on the phone. It also helps to keep the environment calm by removing bright lights like a computer or a phone screen, and minimizing noise.

Sometimes, though, these are unavoidable in which case eye covers and earplugs can definitely help. It’s also not helpful to try to force sleep to happen, which means that people that can’t sleep after 20 minutes should simply leave the bed and then return when they feel ready to sleep.

These suggestions help the individual associate sleep—and only sleep—with the bedroom. Also there’s behavior therapy, which includes relaxation techniques as well as cognitive behavior therapy to help better manage problems and life stressors. While these techniques are being used, some medications such as melatonin agonists, non-benzodiazepine sedatives, and occasionally benzodiazepines might be prescribed to help with sleep. These medications can often have side effects, though, so they are generally used for less than two months, usually in combination with the behavioral therapy techniques.

Alright so as a quick recap. Insomnia is an inability to get restorative sleep that causes daytime sleepiness and fatigue, and can be managed with good sleep hygiene, stimulus control, behavior therapy, and occasionally short courses of medications. Thanks for watching, you can help support us by donating on patreon, or subscribing to our channel, or telling your friends about us on social media.

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• Central For Inquiry (CFI) • Skeptical Inquirer • Free Inquiry • Point of Inquiry ------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Yang nyata ialah manusia itu sendiri bukan tuhan, bukan manusia pikiran tuhan, tetapi tuhan adalah pikiran manusia, agama tidak merubah kenyataan dan mengukir sejarah, tetapi manusia itu sendiri yang merubah dan mengukirnya. Bukan tuhan yang menciptakan manusia tetapi tuhan adalah angan-angan manusia. Agama tidak merubah kenyataan tetapi menusia bisa merubah kenyataan. 2. Agama ialah proyeksi manusia : tuhan, neraka, surga, malaikat. Kenapa? Karena manusia butuh tempat untuk mencurahkan keluhan karena dunia tanpa hati, jadi penderitaan tempat lahirnya tuhan. Dengan demikian agama disebut keterasingan manusia dari kehidupan karena struktur masyarakat tidak mengizinkan secara penuh perealisasian diri sendiri, sehingga manusia membangun kerajaan angan-angan (agama). Dalam kenyataan manusia menderita lalu ia mengharapkan surga 3. kenapa agama khayalan, karena agama tidak inderawi, sedangkan manusia inderawi, manusia penuh dengan kepastian sedangkan agama berbau unsur spekulatif, unsur yang tidak bisa diterima secara ilmiah 4. Jadi agama dan tuhan ialah ciptaan manusia itu sendiri, tetapi manusia itu sendiri lupa dengan ciptaanya (seperti pada zaman jahiliyah dahulu sebelum nabi muhamad dating : orang-orang kafir zaman dahulu mengukir tuhan dari kayu dan batu, yang kemudian disembahnya, sama seperti kita kini yang memproyeksikan tuhan lalu menyembahnya). Agama penyembahan tuhan terhadap dirinya sendiri. Agama penyembahan manusia terhadap ciptaanya sendiri 5. Sehingga khayalan atau angan-angan itu mempunyai eksistensi realitas yang membuat manusia takut dan harus menyembahnya dan tuhan mempunyai hakikat lain yang manusia harus sembah. Sifat-sifat itu yang membuat manusia egois. 6. Penderitaan manusia ialah tempat lahirnya tuhan, penderitaan yang memaksa manusia mengasingkan diri ke dalam agama, itulah dasar yang menyebabkan manusia merasa butuh agama dan tuhan 7. Teologi harus diganti menjadi antropologi dan agama ialah candu rakyat. 8. Kritik agama hanya meruska bunga khayalan pada rantai, bukan bunganya yang harus dipatahkan tetapi rantai itu sendiri. Rantai (factor yang menyebabkan manusia mengasingkan diri ke dalam agama) 9. Kita seperti wayang dengan penuh kesadaran dan kemauan tetapi kita tidak bisa lepas dari tangan sang dalang. 10. Kalau semua ini benar, maka manusia bukan merealisasikan keinginanya tetapi mengharapkan berkah dariNYA (proyeksi manusia itu sendiri/perubahan pasif) 11. agama ialah keterbatasan: agama melarang kita bergaul dengan duniawi, sehingga kita hanya memikirkan surgawi Tanpa agama kita bisa hidup lebih baik, tanpa mengaharapkan hibah/welas asih dariNYA, hanya mengandalkan kenyataan dan diri sendiri. 12. Kepasrahan adalah kelemahan agama 13. Tuhan seperti halnya dengan setan, bila ia terus diyakini dengan adanya exsistensinya maka semakin berkuasalah ia, kita seperti member roh kepadanya dengan keyakinan kita. GROUP : https://www.facebook.com/groups/scientistsecularist