Insomnia 101
Did you know that at least 40 million Americans suffer from long-term sleep disorders? While there are many sleep disorders, most people suffer from the big 4: insomnia, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, and narcolepsy. The focus of our site is insomnia–the most pervasive of all sleep disorders.
The Insomnia 101 section of our website provides critical information on the background and causes of insomnia. Read these sections and articles to learn more about your sleep disorder.
In order to understand Insomnia, one must first learn about sleep.
When we sleep, our bodies rest and rejuvenate, preparing for another day. While our muscles rest during sleep, our brains remain extremely active.
Most research indicates that there are 5 sleep phases:
- Drowsiness
- Light Sleep
- Deep Sleep
- Slow-Wave Deep Sleep
- Rapid Eye Movement (REM)
Most people spend about 50% their sleep time in phase 2: light sleep; REM accounts for about 20%; the remaining time is split among the other three phases.
Have you ever awakened in the middle of a wild dream? Did you fall back asleep almost immediately and continue the dream? This happens during the REM phase.
Have you ever been awakened by an alarm clock in the middle of deep sleep? Well, if you were groggy and disoriented for several minutes then your body and brain were not ready to wake.
Can’t fall asleep? There are many potential causes for this disorder. Most of them are mental, a few are physical, all are extremely frustrating. Sleepbettertips.com is devoted to helping you achieve the deep sleep and REM phases of sleep. Frankly, we, as insomniacs, would be thrilled to awake in the middle of REM or deep sleep phase.
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