The most common cause of insomnia

The most common cause of insomnia

One of the main root causes of insomnia.


The vast majority of people have had acute (short term) insomnia at some stage of their lives.


But how many people have actually thought what exactly caused their insomnia? I certainly haven't until today.


One of the most common causes of insomnia is a romantic love. Whether it's falling in or out of it, truly is the cause of acute insomnia. So indeed, the most common cause of insomnia is not what you thought it was.  Before we explore the dangers of the above-mentioned lets firstly establish the definition of the words "acute" and "insomnia"


The acute meaning short-term, lasting from one night to a few weeks.


Insomnia is a sleep disorder where one has trouble sleeping, whether it's falling asleep, staying asleep through the night or for a desired length of time.


One of the main causes of acute insomnia is stress. Haven't we all heard that before?

What is stress?

Stress is a biological and psychological response to a stressor. We experience it when we are doomed to face a threat and we just do not have the resources to deal with it.


Now, we all definitely heard of the term "broken heart". You are most likely now picturing a pretty looking cartoon drawn heart with a jagged line through it. However, the real-life broken heart doesn't look pretty at all. It can certainly lead to cardiac consequences, literally.


Undoubtedly not all of us heard of a term 'stress-induced cardiomyopathy" or also known as takotsubo cardiomyopathy, put in simple term broken heart syndrome.


What really happens to the heart when we are heart broken?

At the time of stress that was experienced by a loss of a loved one, we experience a weakening in the left ventricle of the heart, which is the heart's main pumping chamber. When we are heartbroken we experience physical weakness throughout the entire body, not to mention the degree of emotional trauma that is caused simultaneously.


Biologically the cause of the heart weakness isn't known precisely. However, the experts believe that the surge of adrenaline and other stress hormones can paralyze the heart, which causes changes in heart muscle cells and coronary blood vessels, and as a result, the ventricle can not contract effectively.


The symptoms could be as bad as the ones of a heart attack. In fact, tests show a dramatic change in the rhythm and blood substances with no evidence of blocked arteries.


If that's not enough damage, there is more, during the broken heart stress a part of heart temporarily enlarges and the rest of the heart works harder to compensate for the part, which function has been inhibited, by having much more forceful contractions to keep us alive.


This happens to healthy people as well.  Even to the extent of death that the pain can be caused by the loss of a loved one or a divorce, a breakup or physical separation, betrayal or romantic rejection.


This could even happen from a positive shock such as winning a lottery.

Even more bad news, broken heart can lead to severe short-term heart muscle failure and in rare cases could be fatal.


However, the good news is that broken heart is usually treatable and most people eventually make a full recovery.


Despite that, the typical side effect of broken heart is usually a loss of sleep.

Sleeplessness or acute insomnia usually resolves itself on its own.


However, the problem escalated when insomnia takes on the life of its own. This happens when we continue to worry about sleep loss even after the heart heals. The loss of sleep itself becomes the stressor. And this is how acute insomnia transforms into chronic insomnia.


So for those with chronic insomnia, the root cause could be a broken heart indeed. We have all been there and a tincture of time is the best remedy.


For more information, refer to my books:

Fix my sleep book
Sleep now book


One Thought on The most common cause of insomnia

  1. I feel it babe i get good sleep even on my flat matress


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