Originally posted on https://www.pacementalhealthsugarland.com/mental-health-blog/do-i-have-insomnia/

No one feels good after a poor night’s sleep. However, if this poor night’s sleep turns into many nights without sleep, you possibly suffer insomnia. Get to know the signs of this condition so you can learn, “Do I have insomnia?”

Specifically, Do I Have Insomnia?

Insomnia is more than occasional tossing or turning. It also goes deeper than just struggling to sleep when someone else is making too much noise. Instead, there is a simple answer to your question, “Do I have insomnia?” This answer relates to whether your problem is merely passing or chronic sleeplessness.  The best psychiatrist in Sugar Land TX can help sleep better on a more consistent basis.

Insomnia is a chronic sleep problem. This means you struggle to fall asleep or stay asleep at least three nights per week. If this pattern continues for three months or more, you suffer insomnia.

Anyone can struggle with sleep now and then. Stress, life changes, and medications can cause these problems. Moreover, the same is true if you take in too much caffeine, other stimulants or sugar late in your day.

Periods of sleeplessness lasting less than three months fall into the category of acute insomnia. We all suffer these issues at some point in life. Staring at the ceiling for hours, counting sheep or tossing and turning possibly point to sleeplessness. Jet lag also causes these acute problems.

Insomnia Symptoms

To further answer your question, “Do I have insomnia,” review the symptoms of sleeplessness. These help you understand if you suffer a short-term sleep problem or one requiring a doctor’s care.

People with chronic insomnia experience one or more symptoms, below. These symptoms include:

• Problems falling asleep
• Difficulty staying asleep or waking too early
• Work, relationship or school problems because of poor sleep
• Feeling tired despite sleep, non-restorative sleep
• Fatigue or low energy
• Difficulty thinking and concentrating
• Mood problems or shifts, like irritability

How long your insomnia lasts helps your care providers understand if you suffer occasional sleeplessness due to external factors like anxiety.

Sometimes sleeplessness becomes a behavioral pattern. In other words, you do things unknowingly that affect your sleep and obsessing over the need for sleep prevents it from happening as it should. Your sleep may be out of sync with your natural, internal clock. Or maybe you do things at night that prevent falling asleep, such as playing games on your smartphone in bed.

When Sleeplessness Requires Treatment

Your insomnia is possibly comorbid if you suffer a health problem or psychiatric disorder. Comorbidity simply means you suffer two conditions at once. One of these problems sometimes causes another. Regardless of why your sleep frustrations occur, you need a doctor’s help.

For example, methods used to help your sleep include:

• Sleep disorder therapy
• Outpatient therapy for psychiatric disorders
• Psychiatric evaluation and consultation
• Medication therapy management
• Medication-assisted treatment

These therapies and others take place at PACE Sugar Land in Sugar Land, Texas. Call PACE Sugar Land now to ask, “Do I have insomnia?” Set an appointment at 866-413-3818 for help with your sleep problems and the root causes of insomnia.