Causes and Effects of Insomnia - Essay Example

 Stress is the core psychological factor responsible for causing sleep disorders among people. The inability to cope with stress results in emotional disturbances (such as anxiety, fear, and worry), overthinking, and restlessness preventing an individual from sleeping. Besides stress, other psychological factors that cause insomnia include psychological disorders (both personality and clinical mental disorders) and traumatic experiences (such as rape, a close encounter with death or the death of a loved one).

Conversely, insomnia might result from physiological complications. The brain is ultimately responsible for controlling sleep in human beings. The pre-optic area of the hypothalamus (anterior part) is the part of the brain that controls sleep. Therefore, damage to this area of the brain from accidents might cause insomnia. Other physiological factors that might cause insomnia include coronary diseases, cancer or respiratory diseases among others. Some medications used to treat diseases might affect regular sleep patterns among individuals.

Finally, social factors that might contribute to insomnia include dysfunctional social interactions. For example, physically or verbally abusive relationships are a major cause of stress, which in turn affects different aspects of an individual’s life including sleep. The recreational use of some drugs and substances also affects the sleeping pattern. For example, caffeine found in coffee and Khat all cause insomnia (Brodsky & Brodsky 67).In conclusion, the effects of insomnia are also explicable using a bio-psycho-social approach.

Insomnia impairs optimum mental functioning. Fatigued individuals are highly irritable, which puts a strain on their social interactions. For example, they are prone to emotional outbursts and fits of rage both at home and at the workplace. In addition, insomnia impeded the speedy recovery of sick individuals (Brodsky & Brodsky 124-129).