RISK FACTORS

Insomnia can affect anyone. However, there are certain risk factors that can increase your likelihood of developing insomnia symptoms.

Some of these risk factors are listed below.

• Gender:
  • Women may be more prone to insomnia due to certain phases of the menstrual cycle, pregnancy and menopause. These biological changes disrupt sleep and unhealthy sleep habits maintain the pattern.
    • Women report sleeping problems like insomnia more commonly after menopause. Changing and decreasing levels of estrogen can cause menopausal symptoms like hot flashes which causes an increase in body temperature and ultimately awakening from sleep. While total sleep time may not decrease, sleep quality does.
• Age:
  • A 2005 National Sleep Foundation poll found that older people (65+) were more likely to say they wake up during the night (39% vs. 31% of 30-49 year olds). This could be due to the fact that as we age, there are certain biological changes that make it more difficult to sleep.
• Mental Health Issues:
  • Chronic sleep problems like insomnia impact 50-80% of patients in a typical psychiatric practice, compared with 10 to 18% of those in the general U.S. population. Sleep problems are common in patients with anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
• Ethnicity:
  • While lifestyle and conditions such as mental health can increase one’s risk for insomnia, race can too. Racial minorities have a higher risk for sleep disorders such as insomnia in comparison to Caucasians. Socioeconomic factors, stress levels, learned sleep habits all play a role in this increased risk for insomnia.

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