The 12 Types Of Insomnia (according To Duration, Severity And Symptoms)
Sleeping problems always cause discomfort and lack of mood and energy, but that does not mean that the causes of these symptoms are the same. In fact, there are different types of insomnia that affect us in a certain way depending on the nature of what generates this alteration.
In this article we will see What are the types of insomnia that exist? what their effects are like and the way in which they evolve.
There is no single criterion to classify the types of insomnia, but rather different parameters are used to classify them This means that these alterations have different dimensions and that each one of them does not describe all the characteristics of the insomnia that a person suffers from. For example, intrinsic type insomnia can be long-term at times, but at other times it is short-term.
That’s why to understand exactly what sleeping problems someone is experiencing, you can use all of those classification criteria at once.
That said, let’s move on to see how to classify these sleep disorders depending on the criteria used.
According to the causes of insomnia
If we focus on the nature of what causes insomnia this can be of two types.
1. Intrinsic
Those cases in which the cause of the problem sleeping properly can be explained by a specific alteration in the functioning of the brain belong to this category. For example, if a brain injury has occurred, there may be problems falling or staying asleep. The same is true for certain disorders, such as restless legs syndrome.
Extrinsic insomnia occurs when the problem can be explained by the dynamics of interaction with the environment For example, work burnout and the destructuring of work schedules can cause insomnia, and the same generally occurs with poor sleep hygiene or the use of stimulants.
According to your intention
Sleep problems can also be differentiated based on their severity. These are its types:
3. Mild insomnia
When insomnia alone affects in a very superficial and transitory way the daily routine and the level of health, can be considered mild. For example, taking half an hour longer than normal to fall asleep for about three days.
4. Moderate
In moderate insomnia there are routines and habits that are already affected by this problem, and in the same way health is compromised by fatigue, discomfort and concentration problems
5. Severe
In this type of insomnia, health is greatly affected, and the same occurs with the ability to adapt to an appropriate schedule. To the symptoms of the previous type we must add memory problems, vision problems (sometimes it is difficult to “focus” your gaze well for a while), bad mood and a manifest lack of energy that prevents you from carrying out important tasks.
According to its duration
Types of insomnia can also be classified by their duration. In this sense we find these categories:
6. Chronic insomnia
When problems falling or staying asleep last more than 5 or 6 months, it is considered chronic insomnia. This type of problem is complicated to correct, since It has been “entrenched” in a person’s routine for a long time and the circadian rhythm has changed a lot until it remains in a state that is difficult to alter**.**
Some events or stress crises can cause a person to experience insomnia for a few days. The problem is considered temporary. if symptoms do not last more than 4 weeks
8. Short-term insomnia
This category includes cases in which the duration of the problem exceeds a month but disappears before it can be considered chronic
Due to the nature of its symptoms
Taking into account the qualitative differences between the symptoms of the types of insomnia, we can classify this problem into 3 categories:
9. Conciliation
In this type of insomnia, problems appear when falling asleep, so a long time passes between when the person goes to bed and starts to sleep. However, once you have truly begun to rest, no frequent awakenings
10. Maintenance
In this type of insomnia the problem is maintaining sleep, so the person will wake up many times throughout the night and consequently will not rest well, since they will not go through all the phases of sleep or will do so only a few times. to long of the days.
11. Early awakening
People who suffer from this insomnia wake up much earlier than they should (for example, 3 hours after going to bed) and cannot go back to sleep, since from the beginning they they feel too active to go back to bed
12. Mixed
This category is a “catch-all” that includes cases in which characteristics of two or more types of insomnia occur constantly at the same time.
