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Insomnia can be grouped according to the cause of the sleep problem, frequency and duration of the problem or how the sleep disturbance is experienced.
Primary insomnia is when you have difficulty sleeping that is not caused by another condition, such as illness, a drug, food or drink.
Secondary insomnia is sleep disturbance that is caused by another problem such as pain, caffeine or tobacco. Most people who have insomnia have secondary insomnia. This type of insomnia usually goes away when you treat the condition causing insomnia.
Insomnia can be:- transient (for a short period)
- intermittent (periods of poor sleep alternating with periods of good sleep)
- chronic (occurs at least three nights per week for a month or more)
- Difficulty getting to sleep
- Waking up frequently
- Waking up too early in the morning
- Waking up tired because sleep is not restful
Sleep apnea is said to occur when the sleeping person's breathing is interrupted, thus interrupting the normal sleep cycle. This may cause the person to complain of sleepiness during the day and in some cases, the sleeping individual cannot continue breathing until he or she wakes up.
Restless legs syndrome forces the sleeping person to continually shift and move legs in order to avoid an unpleasant tingling sensation, while sleeping.
Parasomnia refers to different kinds of disruptive sleep events such as nightmares, sleepwalking, violent behavior while sleeping, and REM behavioral disorder in which the sleeping person moves their body parts in response to dream events.