What is insomnia
For many years, the only thing I knew about chronic insomnia was that it meant having disrupted sleep at least 3 times a week for a period of 3 months or more. While that’s technically true, it gave me absolutely no real understanding of what long-term insomnia actually is.
One of the key things to understand about insomnia is the difference between disrupted sleep and insomnia. Disrupted sleep is easy to grasp — your sleep gets disrupted by something obvious like noise, stress, jet lag, hormonal changes, or pain.
There are countless things that can interfere with sleep. But there’s only one thing that guarantees disrupted sleep can turn into chronic (or long-term, or learned) insomnia — and that is our thoughts and behaviors around sleep.
It happens when our relationship with sleep changes.
Insomnia often starts with a trigger that may already be long gone. Now, it is maintained by our response to a sleepless night — a conditioned response (remember Pavlovian response from school?), a cycle of poor sleep followed by stress about not sleeping. Insomnia is an ongoing, self-perpetuating inner struggle.
If you don’t understand this difference, you might spend forever trying to identify the one thing that’s causing your sleep problem. What you actually need is a basic understanding of sleep and insomnia, so you don’t fall into every trap — chasing one sleep hygiene tip after another, hoping that this one will finally make you sleep through the night.
Another important piece is understanding how the human brain works. Our brain evolved with one main purpose: survival. It runs all bodily functions in a way that keeps us healthy and safe. And perhaps most importantly — it’s always on the lookout. Picture this: you’re crossing the street. You’ve looked both ways and stepped into the crosswalk, but out of the corner of your eye, you suddenly see a car speeding toward you, not slowing down. In a split second, your body reacts — you jump back to safety on the sidewalk. This happens because your brain has detected a threat and made sure you acted fast.
There’s a small part of the brain called the amygdala. This little structure is constantly scanning for possible dangers. It’s extremely reactive — it processes incoming signals much faster than the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for rational, logical thinking. amygdala. Táto maličká amygdala neustále vyhľadáva možné hrozby. Je veľmi reaktívna. Spracováva podnety oveľa rýchlejšie ako náš prefrontálny kortex, ktorý je zodpovedný za logické myslenie.
Metaphorically speaking, the amygdala is like a massive archive of snapshots — images of every potentially life-threatening situation we've ever faced. When the current situation contains enough elements that match one of those snapshots, the amygdala triggers an emotional, physiological, and behavioral response that was appropriate in the original situation.
For example, if the amygdala has stored a fear response related to insomnia, you might begin to feel anxious or afraid simply by looking at your bed.
Whenever the amygdala senses danger, it forces us to act fast. Jumping out of the way of a speeding car, pulling your hand off a hot stove, running from a bear. This is why the amygdala is essential for our survival — but sometimes, it can misfire. It can create fear around things that pose no real threat — irrational fears, or even phobias. To our brain, however, they feel real, because they’re stored in the amygdala.
When the amygdala is activated, it affects how we behave. It blocks communication with our prefrontal cortex — the logical thinking part of the brain. That’s why in moments of fear, we often act or think irrationally.
The anxious brain of someone with insomnia tends to behave anxiously. It might push us to lie in bed longer, take sleep supplements, obsessively search for solutions. These behaviors might bring short-term relief — but in the long run, they only make the problem worse. The good news is: the amygdala is flexible. It can create new fears — but it can also unlearn them and rewrite old patterns.
Insomnia is based on a perceived threat that isn’t real. There is NOTHING behind insomnia. No illness, no disorder — it’s simply a loop of anxious thoughts and learned behaviors.
What is insomnia
For many years, the only thing I knew about long-term insomnia was that it was disturbed sleep at least 3 times a week for at least 3 months. While this statement is true, it gives us absolutely no understanding of what long-term insomnia is.
One of the keys to understanding insomnia is knowing the difference between acute and chronic insomnia. Acute insomnia is clear. Sleep disturbed by some obvious cause. Such as noise, stress, jet lag, but also hormonal imbalance or pain.
There are countless things that can disrupt our sleep, but only one thing will guarantee that acute insomnia will become chronic/long-term/learned and that is our habits and thoughts about sleep. This is when our relationship to sleep changes.
Learned insomnia can be caused by some initial trigger that has long since subsided. It is based on our reaction to a sleepless night, a conditioned reaction (remember how we learned about Pavlov’s reflex in elementary school?), a vicious cycle of not sleeping and worrying about not sleeping. Learned insomnia is our constant internal battle.
When you don’t understand the difference, you can spend forever trying to find that one trigger that’s causing your problem. You need this basic information about sleep and insomnia so that you don’t fall into every trap that exists by trying every single sleep hygiene tip in the hope that this one will get you a good night’s sleep.
Another important thing is to know how the human brain works. Our brain was developed for one specific thing in particular, and that is our survival. The brain ensures all processes in the body so that we are healthy and feel good. And what is important – he is constantly on the alert. Imagine that you are crossing a road crossing, you look carefully, you enter the crossing, and at that moment, out of the corner of your eye, you see a speeding car that does not seem to want to stop in front of the crossing. In that one-thousandth of a second, a number of subconscious processes are triggered that ultimately cause you to jump back to the safety of the pavement. The brain has evaluated the potential threat and ensured that you act.
There’s a small part of the brain called the amygdala. This little structure is constantly scanning for possible dangers. It’s extremely reactive — it processes incoming signals much faster than the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for rational, logical thinking. amygdala. Táto maličká amygdala neustále vyhľadáva možné hrozby. Je veľmi reaktívna. Spracováva podnety oveľa rýchlejšie ako náš prefrontálny kortex, ktorý je zodpovedný za logické myslenie.
Metaphorically speaking, the amygdala is like a massive archive of snapshots — images of every potentially life-threatening situation we've ever faced. When the current situation contains enough elements that match one of those snapshots, the amygdala triggers an emotional, physiological, and behavioral response that was appropriate in the original situation.
For example, if the amygdala has stored a fear response related to insomnia, you might begin to feel anxious or afraid simply by looking at your bed.
Whenever the amygdala registers danger, it prompts us to act quickly. Dodging a speeding car, pulling your hand away from a hot stove, running from a bear. Therefore, the amygdala is very necessary, but sometimes it can cause us problems. It can create fear of things that are not a real danger for us – irrational fear or phobias. However, they are real to our brain as they are stored in our amygdala.
An activated amygdala can influence our behavior. It blocks communication with our prefrontal cortex – logical thinking, so in fear we can think and act irrationally.
An insomniac’s fearful brain can act anxiously. It makes us lie in bed, take sleep supplements, Google symptoms. Such behavior may relieve us in the short term, but in the long term it only worsens the situation. The good news is that the amygdala is flexible. It can create new fears and correct existing ones.
Insomnia is based on an unrealistic threat. There is NOTHING behind insomnia. No disease, no disorder, it’s just a collection of our anxious thoughts and learned behaviors.
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