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Biological Rhythms: Insomnia
Person, Symptoms, Diagnosis
Our fictional character, Laura. Laura is a 55-year-old Social Worker who resides in a
small city. She leads a chaotic lifestyle, often managing multiple responsibilities and deadlines.
Despite her busy schedule, Laura is attentive to her physical and mental health needs. Laura
maintains a healthy lifestyle, participating in regular exercise regimens, and ensuring that she
eats healthy meals and maintains a balanced diet. However, in recent months, Laura has been
battling sleep disturbances on a nightly basis. This battle is taking a toll on her physical and
mental health resulting in Laura struggling to cope with her professional and personal life and
the demands her daily life consists of.
Laura's experience with insomnia is described by a numerous number of symptoms that
have interrupted her sleep and quality of life. Laura struggles to initiate sleep, often lying awake
in bed for long periods of time before she is able to fall asleep. Once asleep, Laura struggles with
resting while sleeping. Laura recurrently encounters broken cycles of sleep, waking up various
times throughout the night and finding it difficult to fall back asleep There are often nights where
Laura does not sleep any and struggles to stay awake during her work hours. When she does
sleep, Laura has found her sleep to be limited in time and finds herself tossing back and forth
throughout the night. As a result of this, Laura wakes each feeling drained and drowsy, despite
spending what should be considered enough time in bed. These sleep disturbances have also led
difficulties in Laura’s day to day activities, including difficulty concentrating, irritability, and a
extensive amount of drowsiness.
In the perspective of Laura's symptoms, it is obvious that she is dealing with insomnia.
Insomnia is characterized by ongoing difficulties with falling asleep, staying asleep, and quality
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of sleep. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition
(DSM-5), the diagnostic criterion for insomnia includes the presence of these symptoms, along
with associated impairments in daytime functioning (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
Assessing Laura's presentation against these criteria, it becomes obvious that she meets the
diagnostic threshold for insomnia.
Possible Causes
A common cause of insomnia is stress and anxiety, Laura lives a stressful life as a social
worker who many people rely on. People who consistently deal with large amounts of stress are
known to be more likely to deal with issues with sleep disturbances. Insomnia can also be
influenced by various biological mechanisms. Dysregulation of the body's internal clock, or
circadian rhythm, has been implicated in the development and maintenance of insomnia. The
circadian system, which is responsible for regulating the sleep-wake cycle (Kalat, 2024).
Insomnia frequently co-occurs with some medical and psychiatric conditions. In addition to
medical and psychiatric concerns, insomnia can also be induced by some chronic pain
conditions, such as arthritis and fibromyalgia. These conditions may cause the person to
experience episodes of persistent pain that can disrupt sleep.
Solutions, Treatments, Recovery Plans
One form of treatment for insomnia is that of non-pharmacological interventions. These
interventions include, but are not limited to, cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I),
relaxation techniques, and stimulus control therapy. Cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia
(CBT-I) affects unstable thoughts and behaviors related to sleep. Cognitive-behavior therapy
aims to streamline healthy sleep patterns (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). In addition
to Cognitive-behavior therapy, one may consider relaxation techniques. These types of relaxation
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techniques can help individuals manage their stress and anxiety levels, which are common
contributors to insomnia. These techniques include practices such as taking deep, relaxing
breaths and relaxation exercises such as Yoga. Moreover, one could maintain healthy sleep
patterns by incorporating stimulus control therapy, which involves linking the bed and bedroom
with sleep by limiting activities like watching TV or using electronic devices in bed.
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