Insomnia Medications
- What Is Insomnia?
- What Causes Insomnia?
- What Are the Risks of Insomnia?
- How Is Insomnia Treated?
- Benzodiazepine Hypnotics
- Nonbenzodiazepine Hypnotics
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- Pineal Gland Hormones
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What Is Insomnia?
Insomnia is the most common sleep complaint. Insomnia is defined as difficultly falling asleep or staying asleep, resulting in inadequate length of sleep and/or poor quality of sleep. Insomnia is not a disease, but a symptom associated with a variety of medical, psychiatric, or sleep disorders.
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Insomnia Medications
Primary Insomnia Overview
Primary insomnia is sleeplessness that cannot be attributed to a medical, psychiatric, or environmental cause (such as drug abuse or medications). It is characterized by the following:
- A 1-month or longer history of at least one of the following: a) difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep or b) nonrestorative sleep.
- Sleep disturbance (or associated daytime fatigue) causing significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
Primary Insomnia Causes
Sleeplessness without any medical, psychological, or environmental cause can be divided into the following 3 subgroups:
Psychophysiological insomnia
In a person with previously adequate sleep, sleeplessness begins because of a prolonged period of stress. Tension and anxiety resulting from the stress causes awakening. Thereafter, sleep i...
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Insomnia »
Insomnia is defined as repeated difficulty with the initiation, duration, maintenance, or quality of sleep that occurs despite adequate time and opportunity for sleep that results in some form of daytime impairment.
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