🌙 Insomnia (Sleeplessness)
📝 Last reviewed: August 2026
| In brief | Ongoing trouble falling or staying asleep, waking too early, and feeling unrefreshed and drained during the day. |
|---|---|
| Category | Neuro |
🔍 What causes it
Insomnia often grows out of stress, anxiety or depression, but many things feed it: poor sleep habits, shift work, caffeine, some medicines, and illnesses like arthritis, back pain or asthma. Short-term episodes usually follow a stressful life event and pass on their own. Long-term insomnia lasts three months or more and is more common in women and older adults.
⚠️ Key symptoms
- Difficulty falling asleep most nights
- Waking frequently through the night or too early
- Feeling unrefreshed after a full night in bed
- Daytime fatigue, irritability and low mood
- Trouble concentrating, remembering or staying focused
- Relying on alcohol or sleeping tablets to get to sleep
💊 Treatment
Treat the cause first — review stress, routines and any medicines with a doctor. Sleep hygiene is the foundation: fixed wake times, a cool dark bedroom, no screens an hour before bed, and no caffeine in the evening. Moderate exercise, about 30 minutes daily, and yoga genuinely help, though vigorous late workouts can backfire. Sleeping tablets are only a short-term bridge and should never be used long without supervision. See a doctor if poor sleep lasts over a few weeks.
🛡️ Prevention
Keep a consistent sleep-wake schedule, even on weekends. Wind down with a relaxing routine, keep the bedroom dark and quiet, and limit caffeine, alcohol and heavy meals close to bedtime. Use the bed only for sleep so your brain links it with rest.
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