Say you were to ask the average "man on the street" to define the difference between sleep and insomnia you would probably receive an interesting range of answers.
Probably the most common answer would be that insomnia is the inability to sleep while the state of sleeping is exactly the opposite of it or the ability to lie down and sleep.
Although, this elementary answer has a lot t of truth to it, there is some gray area associated with clarifying the difference between sleep and insomnia.
In order to know the difference between them and determine whether you suffer from it it is important to understand what insomnia is, causes of it and what to do to prevent it.
What Is Insomnia? You need to figure out the sleep that you receive each night.
This is important because you need to define your sleep between sleep and insomnia.
It is true that insomnia is the inability to fall asleep at night, but it is also true that it may be a combination of sleeping patterns.
Those patterns can include falling asleep and waking up during the night with the lack of ability to fall back to sleep again.
In addition, insomnia may include an individual waking up too early in the morning and not getting back to sleep.
The condition leaves the individual feeling tired and lethargic.
This is because itis not defined by the how many hours you slept or not slept, but how restful the sleep is.
Therefore, if there is a consistent routine in which the individual wakes up and does not feel rested, then that person may suffer from insomnia.
Some of the Causes of Insomnia? There are many different causes of insomnia that can disturb an individual and become the difference between these two.
Some causes of it can include normal daily routine factors.
Also known as environment factors they can include a change in a person's schedule at work or a new addition to the house like a newborn baby that needs your attention immediately or sometimes weather changes can cause this.
Stress can also be a major catalyst as to whether a person experiences sleep or insomnia.
Problems at your job marital problems or a family situation for example can cause stress and lead to insomnia.
Another important link between sleep and insomnia is a person's dietary habits.
A person that drinks a significant amount of alcohol or coffee is inclined to have insomnia.
This is due to the fact that these two beverages are diuretics.
These diuretics increase the activity of the kidneys which in turn causes frequent urination.
How can I Prevent Insomnia? If you were to ask 100 people if they had a choice between sleep and insomnia, it is probably a safe bet that the 90% are going to choose sleep.
To help you in this normal process there are a number of steps that can be taken, that an individual can implement to insure a good night's rest.
Some of those steps include the following of a fairly strict routine of going to bed at a certain hour and waking up a specific time.
Make an effort to be consistent.
If you go to bed regularly at 10:00 pm and wake up at 8.
00 am, for example, you are conditioning your body for sleep which can help cure your insomnia.
Sleeping in on weekends does more harm than good because you break that sleep consistency.
Also, try to avoid taking naps during the day if you can.
In regards to a person's diet, try to avoid or minimize the use of coffee and alcoholic beverages.
You can also try and eat a light meal at night sometimes that may aid in the sleeping process.
It may not help your waistline but we are just trying to get some sleep at this point.
Finally, the main problem can be just stress.
Having problems at your job or worrying about a financial situation can really have an adverse affect on your sleep .
So try and relax by reading in the evening, listening to some relaxing music, and soak in a warm bath or if you are lucky get a nice message.