According to studies, the duration and severity of insomnia vary from one person to another. Because of this sleeping disorder, hundreds of people spend hours tossing and turning in bed night after night. The several factors including medical problems and environment affect the degree of the symptoms of insomnia. When it comes to duration, some people suffer insomnia for only a short period of time while others experience sleep deprivation chronically.

The varying degrees of sleep deprivation in people prod experts to come up with different classifications of insomnia based on its causes, severity and duration. There are two classifications of insomnia according to its causes. Sleep deprivation that is triggered by events unrelated to any medical ailments fall under the primary insomnia category. On the other hand, co-morbid insomnia is mostly associated with sleeplessness caused by existing medical and severe psychological problems.

When it comes to severity of symptoms, co-morbid insomnia usually comes in as more severe. The existing medical condition of the sufferer often makes the symptoms of insomnia more severe and debilitating. People who are suffering from co-morbid insomnia usually need medical attention and sometimes, they even need strong medications to help them get a few hours of sleep. On the other hand, people who are suffering from primary insomnia usually do not need any medical interventions to deal with their sleeping problems. A change in lifestyle is often enough to help people with primary insomnia get a good night’s sleep.

Aside from classifying insomnia according to causes, experts also consider the severity and duration of the symptoms to come up with other types of insomnia. There are three types of insomnia under this classification namely, transient, short-term and chronic. Transient insomnia is usually associated with mild symptoms that last not more than two weeks. While transient insomnia presents only mild symptoms, short-term insomnia is a bit more severe and longer lasting. As for chronic insomnia, this disorder is often linked with other forms of medical problems.

While transient and short term insomnia often gets resolved after a while, chronic insomnia is more difficult to deal with. Transient insomnia usually does not require any medical intervention while short-term insomnia may be resolved with the help of non-drug based treatment. Drugs and therapy often bring momentary relief to people who are suffering from chronic insomnia.