Definition
The term “insomnia” is commonly used in the vernacular to refer to symptoms of insomnia including complaints of difficulty falling asleep, frequent or prolonged awakenings, inadequate sleep quality, or short overall sleep duration in an individual who has adequate time available for sleep. In contrast, an insomnia disorder is a syndrome consisting of the insomnia complaint combined with significant daytime impairment or distress, and the exclusion of other causes. Commonly reported daytime impairments associated with insomnia include complaints of mood disturbances (e.g., irritability, mild dysphoria, or difficulty tolerating stress), impaired cognitive function, and daytime fatigue (Moul et al., 2002). Importantly, insomnia patients commonly report feeling fatigued or exhausted during the day, but rarely report daytime sleepiness, per se (i.e., the propensity to fall asleep). Another important feature that distinguishes the insomnia disorder from sleep deprivation is that...
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References and Readings
Althuis, M. D., Fredman, L., Langenberg, P. W., & Magaziner, J. (1998). The relationship between insomnia and mortality among community-dwelling older women. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 46, 1270–1273.
Bastien, C. H., Vallieres, A., & Morin, C. M. (2004). Precipitating factors of insomnia. Behavioral Sleep Medicine, 2, 50–62.
Brassington, G. S., King, A. C., & Bliwise, D. L. (2000). Sleep problems as a risk factor for falls in a sample of community-dwelling adults aged 64-99 years. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 48, 1234–1240.
Brostrom, A., Stromberg, A., Dahlstrom, U., & Fridlund, B. (2004). Sleep difficulties, daytime sleepiness, and health-related quality of life in patients with chronic heart failure. The Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 19, 234–242.
Caap-Ahlgren, M., & Dehlin, O. (2001). Insomnia and depressive symptoms in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Relationship to health-related quality of life. An interview study of patients living at home. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 32, 23–33.
Daley, M., Morin, C. M., LeBlanc, M., Gregoire, J. P., & Savard, J. (2009). The economic burden of insomnia: Direct and indirect costs for individuals with insomnia syndrome, insomnia symptoms, and good sleepers. Sleep, 32, 55–64.
Drake, C. L., Scofield, H., & Roth, T. (2008). Vulnerability to insomnia: The role of familial aggregation. Sleep Medicine, 9, 297–302.
Foley, D., Ancoli-Israel, S., Britz, P., & Walsh, J. (2004). Sleep disturbances and chronic disease in older adults: Results of the 2003 national sleep foundation sleep in America survey. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 56, 497–502.
Ford, D. E., & Kamerow, D. B. (1989). Epidemiologic study of sleep disturbances and psychiatric disorders. An opportunity for prevention? Journal of the American Medical Association, 262, 1479–1484.
Hamet, P., & Tremblay, J. (2006). Genetics of the sleep-wake cycle and its disorders. Metabolism, Clinical and Experimental, 55, S7–S12.
Kappler, C., & Hohagen, F. (2003). Psychosocial aspects of insomnia. Results of a study in general practice. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 253, 49–52.
Lichstein, K. L., Taylor, D. J., McCrae, C. S., & Ruiter, M. E. (2011). Insomnia: Epidemiology and risk factors. In M. H. Kryger, T. Roth, & W. C. Dement (Eds.), Principles and practices of sleep medicine (5th ed., pp. 827–837). St. Louis: Elsevier.
Morgan, K., & Clarke, D. (1997). Risk factors for late-life insomnia in a representative general practice sample. British Journal of General Practice, 47, 166–169.
Morin, C. M. (2004). Cognitive-behavioral approaches to the treatment of insomnia. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 65(Suppl 16), 33–40.
Moul, D. E., Buysse, D. J., Nofzinger, E. A., Pilkonis, P. A., Houck, P. R., & Miewald, J. M. (2002). Symptoms reports in severe chronic insomnia. Sleep, 25, 553–563.
Ohayon, M. M. (1996). Epidemiological study on insomnia in a general population. Sleep, 19, S7–S15.
Ohayon, M. M. (2002). Epidemiology of insomnia: What we know and what we still need to learn. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 6, 97–111.
Ohayon, M. M., & Guilleminault, C. (1999). Epidemiology of sleep disorders. In S. Chokroverty (Ed.), Sleep disorders medicine: Basic science, technical considerations and clinical aspects (2nd ed., pp. 301–316). Boston: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Shochat, T., Umphress, J., Israel, A. G., & Ancoli-Israel, S. (1999). Insomnia in primary care patients. Sleep, 22(Suppl 2), S359–S365.
Simon, G. E., & Von Korff, M. (1997). Prevalence, burden, and treatment of insomnia in primary care. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 1417–1423.
Spielman, A. J., Caruso, L. S., & Glovinsky, P. B. (1987). A behavioral perspective on insomnia treatment [Review]. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 10, 541–553 [60 refs].
Su, T. P., Huang, S. R., & Chou, P. (2004). Prevalence and risk factors of insomnia in community-dwelling Chinese elderly: A Taiwanese urban area survey. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 38, 706–713.
Watson, N. F., Goldberg, J., Arguelles, L., & Buchwald, D. (2006). Genetic and environmental influences on insomnia, daytime sleepiness, and obesity in twins. Sleep, 29, 645–649.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media, New York
About this entry
Cite this entry
Troxel, W. (2013). Insomnia. In: Gellman, M.D., Turner, J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_806
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_806
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-1004-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-1005-9
eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine