Can't sleep? Learn about 8 types of insomnia: how to identify them and what the solutions are.

It is quite common for people to say that “it is nothing” without a good night’s sleep. Lack of productivity, tiredness, irritability, inability to concentrate and headaches are some of the signs faced due to a “bad” night’s sleep.

Before identifying your type of insomnia, it is important to understand that there are two motivators, which are:

Internal factors (primary): It is caused by the body itself, that is, it exists independently of any other condition, such as the body's difficulty in producing melatonin, known as the “sleep hormone”. It requires treatment to be resolved.

External factors (secondary): It is caused by external factors and conditions, for example, caffeine consumption before bed, emotional distress due to anxiety or stress, the environment where you sleep, habits and other situations. 

Insomnia caused by external factors is usually resolved as soon as the underlying cause of the condition is resolved. 

Knowing the two types of factors, it's time to define which type you may have.

General insomnia (habits):

It is the most common of all, being a type of sleep disorder in which there is difficulty falling asleep, waking up during the night, or waking up too early. 

They can be motivated by bad habits of sleep close to bedtime, such as:

• Being exposed to light, such as a lamp in the bedroom, cell phone, TV and computers.
• Do physical exercise hours before going to bed.
• Change your bedtime frequently.
• Eating foods considered “heavy”.
• Studying, working or performing some task that requires a lot of brain activity.
• Nap after 3pm.

People who identify with these symptoms should analyze what they are doing before going to sleep and identify whether any of these habits are making it difficult to sleep. Once they are identified and eliminated, sleep will return to normal.

Acute (emotional) insomnia:

This type, also known as adjustment insomnia, occurs for specific reasons. emotional stress, such as separation, mourning, job loss and others.

In these cases, it will last for a short period until the problem causing the lack of sleep is resolved. Generally, the duration¹ is a few weeks, but can vary up to three months, depending on the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. 

This type requires attention, as maintaining this condition for a period longer than 3 months can turn into permanent or chronic insomnia. Seek a specialist if this is your case.  

This problem that affects sleep is resolved when the cause of stress ends or when you get used to the cause of stress.

Insomnia caused by substances (food):

This category of external factor is caused when the lack of sleep is linked to the use of certain drinks, foods and medicines.

Is everything fine with your body and there is no psychological problem and yet you have difficulty sleeping? The cause may be something you are consuming.

Some examples are products that contain caffeine, such as energy drinks, coffee, some teas; and other substances such as alcohol and even supplements such as pre-workouts. 

Certain types of medication that treat blood pressure, diabetes and depression can cause insomnia. In these cases, it is recommended to see a doctor and report the difficulty in sleeping due to the use of the medication. 

People who identify with these symptoms should analyze what they are consuming between hours of sleep, and identify whether any of these foods contain something that is speeding up their body and keeping them from falling asleep. 

After identifying and eliminating consumption, sleep tends to return to normal.

Psychophysiological insomnia:

This class is associated with high anxiety that refers to psychological concern about not being able to sleep. Because when lying in bed, they tend to have a great flow of mental activity instead of relaxing, generating anxiety and stress.

People who are affected by this type feel increasingly anxious and tense as the time to fall asleep approaches, generating a kind of panic about sleeping and they generally associate sleep with something negative. 

Some people with this condition can only return to normal after changing their environment, as they have associated their own room and bed as an anxiety trigger.

According to a study² by Scientific Reports, the best treatment for this psychophysiological class is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia known as CBT-I.

Paradoxical insomnia:

This type of internal factor insomnia, also known as sleep hypochondria, is caused by a false feeling of not being able to sleep. 

The unusual thing is that the person affected by this class can, in fact, fall asleep relatively quickly and with good quality sleep. According to³ Frontiers in Psychiatry.

This conclusion was reached in a study, where people who reported not being able to sleep well or for a short period of time, underwent polysomnography exams, which analyze sleep data.

One group of people really didn't get a good night's sleep, but another group, They were able to have quality sleep and fall asleep quickly, but they reported the feeling of having taken a long time to fall asleep and having slept for very few hours..

This occurs because for this group of people, the brain remains in a state of alert while the body sleeps. This is why they report being conscious throughout the night, as if they were awake.

Insomnia caused by medical conditions:

This insomnia caused by an external factor is caused by problems linked to some physical or mental issue, where insomnia is a symptom and not the cause.

Some examples are gastrointestinal problems, headaches, thyroid, chronic pain, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

In these cases, after solving the problem or treating the disease causing insomnia, sleep will return to normal.

Childhood Behavior Insomnia:

It is normal that as children grow, the way they sleep also changes completely. 

These changes are also known as BIC (Behavioral Insomnia of Childhood), on average, this disorder can affect around 30% of children.

Second⁴ the American Thoracic Society, there are three subtypes of this insomnia: 

1- Associated with falling asleep: refers to difficulty falling asleep. Some examples are the child only being able to sleep in the presence of their parents, or depending on a favorite toy or blanket.

2- Sleep procrastination: It occurs when the child refuses to sleep, usually throwing some kind of “tantrum”, asking to go to the bathroom or saying that he/she is hungry; with the intention of delaying bedtime. 

3- Mixed: occurs when the other two behaviors are practiced together. 

A child care professional should be sought to treat these behaviors if your child has any of these habits.

Unidentified insomnia:

Some professionals may classify their patients with this type of insomnia, also known as “unspecified.”

It occurs when the cause of the lack of sleep has not yet been identified, where the patient will undergo further evaluations, being considered a type of temporary classification.