Insomnia: Its Causes and Treatments

"Insomnia is a potential cause of anxiety, depression, and anomalies of experience; separate research has shown that anxiety, depression and anomalies of experience are predictors of paranoia. Thus insomnia may contribute to the formation and maintenance of persecutory ideation." Daniel Freeman, Katherine Pugh, Natasha Vorontsova, and Laura Southgate

Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, United Kingdom

Daniel Freeman: D.Freeman@iop.kcl.ac.uk Corresponding author.

Psychology Department, PO Box 077, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF, United Kingdom. Email: D.Freeman@iop.kcl.ac.uk

This valuable quote is from Ref. 1, which is available free full text at the database Pubmed Central. In paranoia the patient has persecutory delusions. In other words, the patient imagines that he is being persecuted. In hypochondria the patient imagines all kinds of imaginary diseases. A hypochondriac can go to the doctor every day! Phobias can also be seen.

One classification scheme has paranoia as a type of schizophrenia.

Energy Metabolism

There is a very strong theory that these problems are due to abnormal energy metabolism in the brain (3). However, no treatment that I know of is based on that theory. Cognitive therapy has been used as a treatment. There are drugs, but these drugs have notoriously dangerous side effects.

Insomnia

Ref. 4 reports insomnia in schizophrenia. However, it is also seen in cancer patients (5). I suspect that it could be a side effect of one of the treatments for cancer. Ref. 6 reports that sleep deprivation can produce psychosis. Ref. 7 reports insomnia in depression.

Treatments

Ref. 8 describes a drug treatment. However, this is an old drug. Ref. 9 discusses treatments. Ref. 9 is valuable because it can be seen free full text on the Pubmed database, and it is very thorough. Psychotherapy is a common treatment.

Comorbidity

Ref. 10 discusses the comorbidity of insomnia with known physical medical problems. This is useful because it can provide clues as to the biochemical causes of insomnia.

Conclusions

Anxiety is often seen in insomnia. Ref. 11 links anxiety with excessive tryptophan in the brain. Thus excessive tryptophan in the brain could contribute to insomnia. Ref. 12 recommends the vegan diet, which is low in tryptophan. Ref. 13 discusses drug abuse, which is another important mental health topic.

Ref. 14 discusses orthomolecular medicine, which is the approach I favor for treatments. This approach uses diets and supplements. Unfortunately some drugs can be addictive. The problems with drugs are so many that a book would have to be written to list them all. Such books have already been written. One is called the PDR. Another is "Worst Pills; Best Pills".

References

1. Insomnia and paranoia. Daniel Freeman, Katherine Pugh, Natasha Vorontsova, and Laura Southgate. Schizophr Res. 2009 March; 108(1-3): 280-284. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2008.12.001.

2. Freeman D., Freeman J. Oxford University Press; Oxford: 2008. Paranoia: The 21st Century Fear.

3. Luby E.D., Frohman C.E., Grisell J.L., Lenzo J.E., Gottlieb J.S. Sleep deprivation: effects on behaviour, thinking, motor performance, and biological energy transfer systems. Psychosomatic Medicine. 1960;22:182-192.

4. Monti J.M., Monti D. Sleep disturbance in schizophrenia. International Review of Psychiatry. 2005;17:247-253.

5. Savard M-H., Savard J., Simard S., Ivers H. Empirical validation of the Insomnia Severity Index in cancer patients. Psycho-oncology. 2005;14:429-441.

6. West L.J., Janszen H.H., Lester B.K., Cornelisoon F.S. The psychosis of sleep deprivation. Annals New York Academy of Sciences. 1962;62:66-70.

7. Prevalence, Course, and Comorbidity of Insomnia and Depression in Young Adults. Daniel J. Buysse, Jules Angst, Alex Gamma, Vladeta Ajdacic, Dominique Eich, and Wulf RösslerSleep. 2008 April 1; 31(4): 473-480.

8. Gleason PP, Schulz R, Smith NL, et al. Correlates and prevalence of benzodiazepine use in community-dwelling elderly. J Gen Intern Med. 1998;13(4):243-50.

9. Clinical Guideline for the Evaluation and Management of Chronic Insomnia in Adults. Sharon Schutte-Rodin, Lauren Broch, Daniel Buysse, Cynthia Dorsey, and Michael SateiaJ Clin Sleep Med. 2008 October 15; 4(5): 487-504.

10. Taylor D, et al. Comorbidity of chronic insomnia with medical problems. Sleep. 2007;30:213-8.

11. www.associatedcontent.com/article/2371816/anxiety_causes_and_treatment.html

12. www.associatedcontent.com/article/2359246/animal_rights_activism.html

13. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/261514/drug_abuse.html

14. www.associatedcontent.com/article/2342794/an_obituary_for_dr_abram_hoffer.html