Causes of Insomnia: Risk Factors, Medical Conditions, and More

Figuring out whether you have insomnia typically isn’t difficult. Yet it can be challenging to determine what’s causing your sleep woes, namely because so many factors can contribute to your inability to get a good night’s sleep.

Personality factors, medical conditions, mental health, and your day-to-day lifestyle habits can all contribute to your likelihood of developing insomnia. Here’s what you should know.

Certain Risk Factors Can Make You More Likely to Develop Insomnia

“The theory is that there are some predisposing factors or personality traits that contribute to insomnia,” says Sheila Tsai, MD, a pulmonologist and section head of sleep medicine at National Jewish Health in Denver.

Another characteristic that might make you more predisposed to developing insomnia: You have a sleep-wake cycle that doesn’t match your current schedule.

Other factors that may make you more likely to develop insomnia include:

• Being a Woman For reasons that aren’t clear, women are more prone to insomnia than men, especially as they approach menopause, when rates of insomnia rise.

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   Fortunately, though, sleep issues often resolve after menopause, Tsai says.
• Being 60 or Older Rates of insomnia increase as people age, as sleep patterns and health status tend to change as you age.

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• Family History Research suggests people with family members with insomnia may be more likely to develop the sleep disorder, too.

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Some Medical Conditions Can Trigger Insomnia

Risk factors are only one part of the puzzle, though, and just because you have one doesn’t mean you’ll develop insomnia.

• Arthritis
• Any type of chronic pain, including back pain
• Asthma
• Gastrointestinal problems, such as acid reflux
• Allergies
• Endocrine problems, such as hyperthyroidism
• Pulmonary or cardiology issues, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or congestive heart failure
• Neurological conditions, including Parkinson’s disease

Another category of medical conditions that can trigger insomnia is other sleep disorders. For instance, restless legs syndrome is a disorder in which you have uncomfortable sensations in your legs or other body parts and have an urge to move your legs to relieve those sensations. It can trigger insomnia.

Anxiety, Depression, and Stress Can All Cause Insomnia, Too

It’s also important to understand that insomnia is a complex problem. Even if anxiety or another mental health issue triggered insomnia, that doesn’t necessarily mean that treating the mood disorder will make the insomnia go away.

Nowakowski explains that the mental health issue can be the acute cause of insomnia, but coping behaviors, such as sleeping in to make up for a poor night’s sleep, maintaining an irregular sleep schedule, staying in bed longer, and napping, can continue contributing to long-term insomnia and poor sleep — even after the acute cause of insomnia is addressed.

That’s why it’s important that people inform their mental health providers and therapists about any sleep problems so they can treat the insomnia either independently or in addition to the mental health issue.

Exercise, Diet, and Personal Sleep Habits Can All Affect Insomnia

Even though you’re probably not intentionally trying to mess up your sleep, the personal lifestyle choice you make (and habits you’ve adopted) can end up triggering insomnia, too.

• Drinking Too Much Caffeine or Too Close to Bedtime It could keep you so wired you can’t sleep.
• Drinking Alcohol Too Close to Bedtime “While alcohol can help make you sleepy, it will wear off as you sleep and most likely disrupt sleep, which is why I would limit or avoid it,” Tsai says. Specifically, alcohol causes more sleep disruptions in the second half of the night, and it can suppress REM sleep.

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• Spending Too Much Time in Front of a Cellphone, Computer, or Other Bright Screen Before Bed Using digital devices before bed can also be problematic because the bright light they produce can suppress melatonin, a hormone your body produces that tells it when it’s time to go to sleep and wake up. Instead of your body getting the signal that it’s time to get sleepy, it gets the signal to feel more alert and awake, Tsai says.
• Exercising Too Close to Bedtime Getting regular physical activity generally helps sleep, but working out is a stimulating activity. If you schedule your workout too close to bedtime, the stimulation may make it tougher for your body to relax once your head hits the pillow. If you do exercise at night, try to do so at least two hours before bed.

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• Not Managing Stress Stress makes for a bad bedfellow. If you haven’t taken steps before you hit the pillow to let go of the stress from your day (from work, from family responsibilities, and any other factors), those worries may get the best of your sleep.

The Takeaway

• If you’re struggling with insomnia, it’s important to consider that both medical conditions and certain lifestyle habits may play a role.
• Medical conditions, such as arthritis, chronic pain, and asthma, as well psychological factors, like anxiety and depression, can significantly affect sleep quality.
• Certain lifestyle habits, such as consuming caffeine or alcohol close to bedtime, exercising late at night, and using screens before bed, can disrupt sleep patterns, too.
• Consulting a healthcare professional may help identify and address underlying causes of insomnia that need medical attention.