Insomnia

Insomnia is a sleep disorder involving difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, waking earlier than intended, or feeling that sleep is unrefreshing despite adequate opportunity for rest. It can be short-term, often triggered by stress, travel, illness, or schedule disruption, or chronic, where symptoms occur repeatedly over time and begin to affect daytime energy, mood, concentration, and quality of life. Insomnia is also sometimes a primary condition and sometimes a signal of an underlying issue such as anxiety, depression, chronic pain, reflux, medication effects, circadian rhythm disruption, or sleep apnea.

Treatment options vary because insomnia is not a single pathway problem. In Western medicine, approaches often focus on behavioral sleep therapy, circadian timing, or short-term symptom relief with medication when appropriate. In Eastern traditions, insomnia may be understood through patterns involving stress reactivity, imbalance, restlessness, or dysregulated daily rhythms, leading to options such as acupuncture, herbal formulas, or mind-body practices. Research generally supports cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) as a leading first-line approach, while other options may be considered depending on symptom pattern, urgency, tolerance for side effects, and whether the insomnia appears to be stress-related, circadian, or linked to another medical condition.