Causes of Secondary Insomnia
Secondary insomnia
When the insomnia is caused by a psychological disorder (the most commonly depression) or a medical disorder (chronic pain, mostly), is called secondary insomnia. In these cases, these disorders should be treated to overcome insomnia.
Psychological disorders. Insomnia, especially when the person wakes up too early, is one of the most common symptoms of depression. Insomnia is also associated with anxiety disorders and posttraumatic stress disorder.
In these cases it is necessary to treat both the underlying disorder such as insomnia itself.
Medical problems. Arthritis, headaches, benign prostatic hypertrophy, and other medical problems can cause or worsen the problem of insomnia. In general, treatment of the underlying cause will produce an improvement of sleep, but sometimes also be necessary to treat insomnia.
Respiratory problems related to sleep, like sleep apnea can cause repeated pauses in breathing during sleep. This can wake a person many times during the night. It is more common in men, people who snore, obese and elderly.
Restless legs syndrome. Brief muscle contractions can cause leg jerks lasting a second or two to occur every 20-40 seconds for periods of varying duration throughout the night (often for an hour or more.)
In almost all cases the individual is not aware of the movements of their legs. These movements can cause hundreds of brief interruptions of sleep each night, resulting in a restless sleep. It is more common in the elderly.
Gastroesophageal reflux. Stomach reflux into the esophagus can awaken a person several times during the night. When reflux occurs during the day, the fact to swallow several times and maintain an upright position generally clean esophagus irritating material. During sleep, when lying down and not swallowing, reflux can occur May 1 and cause the person to wake up coughing and choking. Using a high pillow can help.