What causes insomnia?

[Lovelife090994]

What causes insomnia? And what is it when you have insomnia nearly every night? Are there ways to stop it naturally?

[Gamma Male]

I have the same thing. It's like every time I get back to sleeping normally, I just start falling asleep later and later until I'm staying up till sunrise and not waking up till 4 In the afternoon.

[Lovelife090994]

I have the same thing. It's like every time I get back to sleeping normally, I just start falling asleep later and later until I'm staying up till sunrise and not waking up till 4 In the afternoon.

That happens to me, only my mother comes in to yell at me like a banshee for sleeping in the day. Her views of insomnia and sleeping in the day are a little odd, cryptic, and ridiculous to say the least.

[CosmicNoodle]

Well, for me:
- Mountain Dew
- Video games
- Internet
- Jacking off.... :/

Seriously though, I tend to just stay up a little later every night until eventually I'm up at 8 in the morning and thinking "Right, time for bed".
Both me and my friends have a trendancy to slowly reverse our sleep cycles.

[xXoblivionXx]

It can be caused by stress, staying up late regularly, caffeine, or even genetically (I think) you can try melatonin, it's a natural supplement to help get to sleep. You can get it over the counter basically anywhere, ask the pharmacist how many mg you should take

[Mushin]

That depends, do you want the neuro-chemistry behind it or the psychological reasoning?

For one, stress, depression, and anxiety are usually the main contributors to non-chronic insomnia. Trying to sleep under these conditions doesn't work too well because your brain is consistently sending electrical signals to your neurons, keeping your mind/thoughts stimulated and therefore making it hard to fall asleep.

Some quick solutions to insomnia include limiting your screen time at least 1-2 hours before bed. Electronics disrupt your circadian rhythm[* (http://sleepfoundation.org/ask-the-expert/electronics-the-bedroom)], so the longer you're away from them before going to bed, the better you will sleep. Another much more effective solution is to stimulate your brain with relaxing activity to adjust your body to sleeping before actually sleeping. These include reading, meditation, drawing, journaling, etc.

I used to have insomnia almost nightly when I was younger. For me, reading and then mindfulness meditation proved really successful in bettering my sleeping habits. Hopefully the same will work for you, as there's no reason they shouldn't. If they don't seem to be effective within at least a week, contact your GP.

[Miserabilia]

I don't really know what causes it in general, I think it's different for every person. With alot of us it's just overthinking or anxiety.
For me the only thing that helps is reading untill I'm so tired I just fall asleep.

[Melodic]

Mines caused by Bipolar. I have been taking 6mg of Melatonin since I was 6 years old. I haven't been able to grab any lately so I've slept from 6 in the morning to like 2 in the afternoon.

[Lovelife090994]

Thank you. I may try melatonin and I have undiagnosed depression.

[Michelle_Stilt]

My mind is always on stuff that I need to do and I can't ever sleep. It really sucks. I occupy myself with these things and I only sleep for about 4 hours. Then i get sleepy during the day.

[Svan]

Sometimes it can be caused by a long-term dependency on melatonin. That can cause the brain to become dependent on the supplement to provide natural melatonin, causing the brain to stop producing enough of its own.

[Lovelife090994]

Sometimes it can be caused by a long-term dependency on melatonin. That can cause the brain to become dependent on the supplement to provide natural melatonin, causing the brain to stop producing enough of its own.

I'm depressed and take nothing for it.

[Giando]

I am not depressed, but I moved to another town 5 months ago, since that day I can't sleep well
so I think it's a thing related to the stress and the psyche

[ComfortableInChaos]

I'm bipolar, so my depression, stress, and distractions that I try to use to keep my mind off things usually keep me up all night. You can try using a melatonin supplement but if you take too much, you'll stay up longer... You literally can't OD on melatonin. And btw, melatonin never worked for me, it didn't do anything. It works for my mom but not for me at all. I've looked it up before. I have sleeping pills now and they work occasionally, but this summer I've not worried about it too much. I'm clinically, severely depressed and don't take anything for it because I've been fine off of it but I can tell that it helps when I'm on it. Insomnia, on the other hand, can be caused by other things like being on your computer all the time (like maybe get off of it at 11 PM and turn your phone/TV off then too?) and drinking some warm milk with honey can make you sleepy. I haven't gone to bed at night in weeks and I've been sleeping during the daytime, which is suckish but hey, what can I say, I'm a night person lol

[Svan]

I'm depressed and take nothing for it.
That doesn't have to do with depression. Melatonin and serotonin are not the same things.

[Lovelife090994]

That doesn't have to do with depression. Melatonin and serotonin are not the same things.

Melatonin is a happiness hormone right?

[Svan]

Melatonin is a happiness hormone right?

Melatonin is the chemical that induces sleep.

[Lovelife090994]

Melatonin is the chemical that induces sleep.

Then is it serotonin?

[CharlieHorse]

http://bit.ly/UXCBR4
lol sorry

Then is it serotonin?

Seratonin is commonly in prescribed antidepressants.

[ksdnfkfr]

What causes insomnia? And what is it when you have insomnia nearly every night? Are there ways to stop it naturally?

Different things cause it for me. Sleep Hygiene (http://sleepfoundation.org/ask-the-expert/sleep-hygiene) has helped some.

[nascar_alex]

I have ADHD so I belive I have my insomnia because my brain just don't stop I don't really have any ideas on how to fire it naturally but there is medication. Hope I helped

[Lovelife090994]

I have ADHD so I belive I have my insomnia because my brain just don't stop I don't really have any ideas on how to fire it naturally but there is medication. Hope I helped

I may not be ADHD but I may be ADD and possibly bipoolar, which doesn't help.

[nascar_alex]

That could definetly be causing it

[thermid]

I remember reading a study a little back that said that people who were night owls or had sleeping problems fixed their sleeping schedules after camping in the woods for a weekend....thats about as natural as it gets!! hahah

[Lovelife090994]

I remember reading a study a little back that said that people who were night owls or had sleeping problems fixed their sleeping schedules after camping in the woods for a weekend....thats about as natural as it gets!! hahah

Yeah that is.