i dont' know about "self inflicted insomnia" but self inflicted sleep deprivation - definately!
Now.....let me say to everyone who is posting/reading here that there are many sleep disorders that people may have that cause them to always feel tired OR to cause them to not be able to get to sleep OR cause people to only be able to sleep for a couple of hours bfore waking and feeling restless etc etc.
......and they're not called insomnia. Of course, insomnia DOES exist and can of course be a terrible thing to endure...but, often "insomnia" has something lurking behind it.
Already one person has mentioned snoring, and someone in repsponse mentioned sleep apnea, that's one - and probalby one of the most common disorders I'm talking about. Sleep apnea is when you stop breathing frequently in your sleep for a period of 10 seconds or more - most people with sleep apnea stop breathing HUNDREDS of times in their sleep - and whenyou stop breathing, your body wakes up - not fully, just enough to start you breathing again - so you're not usually aware of it (I sure wasn't). Think about it - it means waking up HUNDREDS of times during the night - no wonder it makes people feel tired when they have sleep apnea!
If you have the following symptoms - you NEED to get it checked out - left untreated sleep apnea can have very serious concequences.
daytime sleepiness
snoring (not essential, it's a misconception that all people with sleep apnea snore, I dont' snore but I still have sleep apnea)
restless sleep
frequent awakening through the night
the need for more than one trip to the bathroom through the night
waking up with headache
waking up with sore throat
waking up with dry mouth
inability to concentrate
memory problems
mood swings
I can go into more detail about any of these symptoms if people need me to.
Ok.......now , are you one of those people that has trouble sleeping and finds the bedclothes all over the room when you wake up? You may have periodic limb movement disorder, this is when your limbs move or "jump" while you sleep - it's normal for it to happen once or twice but if someone tells you you're always flopping your arms or kicking your legs in your sleep, you may have PLMD. This can be diagnosed through a sleep study and treated with medication etc.
Simliar in some ways to PLMD is Restless Leg Syndrome. If your legs feel uncontrollable when you're trying to go to sleep, if you feel creeping sensations or that you just have to MOVE your legs - you may have RLS. This disorder often has a daytime symptom (as well as tiredness from disturbed sleep) of restless legs during the day. If you're one of those people that can't stop jiggling your leg while you're sitting - you may have RLS.
Narcolepsy is when someone suffers from EXTREEM tiredness regardless of how often/long they sleep. They will often sleep many more hours than a person without narcolepsy. they also tend to fall asleep frequently in inappropriate situations - during meetings, watching tv, while driving, and some, while doing pretty much anything - even in the middle of a conversation. There are often associated symptoms, one being what's called cataplexy - when they tend to colapse (their legs buckle underneath them) particularly at times of high emotion, like when laughing, crying, getting excitetd etc. This again can be diagnosed through a more extensive sleep study and can be treated sucessfully with medication in most cases.
Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome - most people sleep around the same time of day - ie, at night, but for some their body clock is set differently. I'd almost bet one poster here has this. Typically it is something one has all their life (although it can be aquired in some night-shift workers). Typically people suffering from DSPS will be referred to as "night owls". Those of us who typically stay up very late and try to sleep in till till the afternoon. People with DSPS aren't lazy, they just run on a different body-clock-time to most people. When forced into a "normal" pattern, people with DSPS often feel very tired and unable to function properly. If left to their body's natural cycle, most DSPS suffers will acutally find that their sleep cycle is not only later (delayed) than most people's, but it acutally moves - if you have DSPS and you let your body tell you when it wants to sleep, you'll find that over the period of weeks or months, your cycle will shift, it will typically get a bit later and a bit later until you find your self almost sleeping "normal" hours - but then you start to feel rotten again and your cycle flips to the start again where you're going to bed later and later. DSPS can be effectively treated in some people by the use of Light Therapy - which his used to try and tune the body back into using the sun as a clock-trigger for when you should be sleepign and awake.
There are also parasomnias (problems that occur during REM (dream) sleep) such as sleep walking or talking, night terrors - and those who acutally act out their dreams while they're still asleep.
ALL of these sleep disorders (and these are only a few of the very many) can cause serious problems if left undiagnosed and treated. The potential to develop mental problems are highly increased, potential to put on weight is highly increased, depression, and danger of falling asleep while driving, operating machinery etc etc etc are all very real problems.
Ok...the point of all this? If you're suffering from sleep problems, don't just hope it will go away, there may well be a serious problem behind them that needs treatment. The good news is, pretty much all of it IS treatable - and if you DO see a doctor, and get a sleep study done and find out you have nothing wrong, then you've not lost anything and have some peace of mind - if you find out there IS something wrong, and you get it treated, you'll never regret getting your life back. People often dont' realise how bad things were until they get treated and get thier quality of life back again.
(Please note I am not medically trained and you need to discuss any of the above with your doctor.)
