Presenting complaints

• Difficulty falling asleep.
• Recurrent waking during the night.
• Feeling unrefreshed (ie easily exhausted or fatigued) by sleep.
• Falling asleep at inappropriate times during the day.

Insomnia is associated with:

• complaints of poor memory and concentration
• irritability
• prone to accidents at work
• underperformance at work, or educational problems in young people
• psychosocial difficulties
• impairment
• reduced quality of life
• more frequent use of health services due to general ill health
• chronic dependence on hypnotic medication and sometimes alcohol as a (ineffective) means of ‘sleeping’ better.
  

Last edited: 7/2/2004

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