Primary Insomnia (cont.)
IN THIS ARTICLE
Primary Insomnia Symptoms
Psychophysiological insomnia
- Sleep disturbance varies from mild to severe.
- Sleeplessness may manifest as difficulty falling asleep or as frequent awakenings in the night.
- Persons with insomnia often find that they can sleep well anywhere else but in their own bedroom.
- Persons with this type of insomnia tend to be more tense and dissatisfied compared to good sleepers. Emotionally, they are typically repressors (suppress their feelings), denying problems.
- Insomnia is long-standing, typically beginning in early childhood.
- Persons with idiopathic insomnia often complain of difficulties with attention or concentration or hyperactivity.
- Emotionally, persons with childhood-onset insomnia are often repressors, denying and minimizing emotional problems.
- Individuals often show atypical reactions, such as hypersensitivity or insensitivity, to medications.
- Insomnia tends to persist over the entire life span and can be aggravated by stress or tension.
Sleep state misperception: Persons complain of insomnia subjectively, while sleep duration and quality are completely normal. These people may be described as having "sleep hypochondriasis." They may subsequently develop anxiety and depression.
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Primary Insomnia »
Primary insomnia is sleeplessness that is not attributable to a medical, psychiatric, or environmental cause.
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