Causes of Insomnia Risk Factors Medical Conditions and More Everyday Health MenuNewslettersSearch Insomnia Causes of Insomnia Risk Factors Medical Conditions and More Put simply: It’s complicated. By Karen AspMedically Reviewed by Chester Wu, MDReviewed: August 19, 2022Medically ReviewedGenes, health conditions, lifestyle, and medical history are all factors that can cause insomnia.Shutterstock (2)Figuring out if you have insomnia typically isn’t difficult. Yet it can be challenging to determine what’s causing your sleep woes, namely because so many factors can contribute to your inability to get a good night’s sleep. Personality factors, medical conditions, mental health, and your day-to-day lifestyle habits can all contribute to your likelihood of developing insomnia. Here’s what you should know. Certain Risk Factors Can Make You More Likely to Develop Insomnia Sleepless nights can be triggered by a lot of things, such as a traumatic experience, a stressful time in your life, or a medical condition. Some people who find themselves dealing with one of those things, of course, may not experience any trouble with their sleep — while for others, one of those triggers can lead to insomnia. “The theory is that there are some predisposing factors or personality traits that contribute to insomnia,” says Sheila Tsai, MD, a pulmonologist and section head of sleep medicine at National Jewish Health in Denver. One of those unique personality traits that is thought to make you more likely to develop insomnia is having more cognitive arousal — or in layman’s terms, a more restless mind. “This would include people who are always thinking or may be more prone to anxiety,” Dr. Tsai says. Another characteristic that might make you more predisposed to developing insomnia: You have a sleep-wake cycle that doesn’t jibe with your current schedule. If you’re a night owl, for instance, you might have trouble falling asleep early enough at night to wake up naturally to get to a job by 8 or 9 in the morning, Tsai says. (Certain sleep habits are thought to be habits we adopt, while other sleep preferences — including whether you tend to be an early riser or a night owl — are thought to be determined in part by the genes you’re born with.) (1) Other factors that may make you more likely to develop insomnia, include:Being a Woman For reasons that aren’t clear, women are more prone to insomnia than men, especially as they approach menopause, when rates of insomnia rise. Fortunately, though, sleep issues often resolve after menopause, Tsai says.Being 60 or Older Rates of insomnia increase as people age, as sleep patterns and health status tend to change as you age. (2)Family History Research suggests people with family members with insomnia may be more likely to develop the sleep disorder, too. (3) Evidence linking specific genes with insomnia, however, is still in early stages. (4) Some Medical Conditions Can Trigger Insomnia Risk factors are only one part of the puzzle, though, and just because you have one doesn’t mean that you’ll develop insomnia. Typically people develop insomnia after another cause triggers acute sleep problems (acute insomnia), which, if exacerbated, lead to chronic sleep problems (chronic insomnia). Some medical conditions can be insomnia triggers, either directly or because they may come with symptoms that make it more difficult for you to sleep. Medical conditions with symptoms that may make sleep difficult can include: arthritis; any type of chronic pain, including back pain; asthma; gastrointestinal problems (such as reflux); allergies; endocrine problems, such as hyperthyroidism; pulmonary or cardiology issues, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or congestive heart failure; and neurological conditions, including Parkinson’s disease, according to SleepFoundation.org. (5) Note that pain in particular has a reciprocal relationship with insomnia. “The more pain you experience, the more disturbed your sleep can become,” says Sara Nowakowski, PhD, a sleep researcher and associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Yet a 2015 study also shows that poor sleep is associated with a lower tolerance or threshold for pain. (6) Another category of medical conditions that can trigger insomnia is other sleep disorders. Restless legs syndrome, a disorder in which you have uncomfortable sensations in your legs or other body parts and have an urge to move your legs to relieve those sensations, for instance, can trigger insomnia. Sleep apnea (a condition that causes your airways to become partially or completely obstructed during sleep, resulting in pauses in breathing that wake you up for brief but repeated periods during the night) can also cause insomnia. Anxiety Depression and Stress Can All Cause Insomnia too While the above are primarily medical conditions, psychological conditions (including depression and anxiety) can cause insomnia, too. “Studies show that people with mental health conditions are more likely to report trouble sleeping, but it’s a reciprocal relationship, meaning that while insomnia is a symptom of depression, depression and irritable mood are symptoms of insomnia,” Nowakowski says. It’s also important to understand that insomnia is a complex problem. Even if anxiety or another mental health problem triggered insomnia, that doesn’t necessarily mean that treating the mood disorder will make the insomnia go away. “The mental health issue can be a precipitating event or acute factor of insomnia. But even if it’s treated, the perpetuating factors (behaviors incompatible with sleeping, such as sleeping in to make up for a poor night’s sleep, maintaining an irregular sleep schedule, staying in bed longer, and napping) can continue contributing to insomnia and poor sleep — even after the cause of insomnia is long gone,” Nowakowski says. That’s why it’s important that people inform their mental health providers and therapists about any sleep problems, so they can treat the insomnia either independently or in addition to the mental health problem. Exercise Diet and Personal Sleep Habits Can All Affect Insomnia Even though you’re probably not intentionally trying to mess up your sleep, the personal lifestyle choice you make (and habits you’ve adopted) can end up triggering insomnia, too. Some of these lifestyle factors that can cause insomnia include: Drinking too much caffeine or too close to bedtime. It could keep you so wired you can’t sleep. Drinking alcohol too close to bedtime. Contrary to popular belief, “while alcohol can help make you sleepy, it will wear off as you sleep and most likely disrupt sleep, which is why I would limit or avoid it,” Tsai says. Specifically, alcohol causes more sleep disruptions in the second half of the night, and it can suppress REM sleep, according to SleepFoundation.org. Spending too much time in front of a cell phone, computer, or other bright screen before bed. Using digital devices before bed can also be problematic because the bright light they produce can suppress melatonin, a hormone your body produces that tells it when it’s time to go to sleep and wake up. Instead of your body getting the signal that it’s time to get sleepy, it gets the signal to feel more alert and awake, Tsai says.Exercising too close to bedtime. Getting regular physical activity generally helps sleep, but working out is a stimulating activity. And if you schedule your workout too close to bedtime, the stimulation may make it tougher for you to relax once you hit the pillow. (7) If you do exercise at night, try to do so earlier in the evening or choose a lower-intensity workout.Not managing stress. Stress makes for a bad bedfellow. If you haven’t taken steps before you hit the pillow to let go of the stress from your day (from work, from family responsibilities, and any other factors), those worries may get the best of your sleep. NEWSLETTERS Sign up for our Healthy Living Newsletter SubscribeBy subscribing you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Editorial Sources and Fact-Checking Patke A, Murphy PJ, Onat OE, et al. Mutation of the Human Circadian Clock Gene CRY1 in Familial Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder. Cell. April 6, 2017.Insomnia: Symptoms & Causes. Mayo Clinic. October 15, 2016.Beaulieu-Bonneau S, LeBlanc M, Mérette C, et al. Family History of Insomnia in a Population-Based Sample. Sleep. December 1, 2007.Lind MJ, Gehrman PR. Genetic Pathways to Insomnia. Brain Sciences. December 2016.What Causes Insomnia? SleepFoundation.org. August 11, 2022.Sivertsen B, Lallukka T, Petrie KJ, et al. Sleep and Pain Sensitivity in Adults. Pain. August 2015.What’s the Best Time of Day to Exercise for Sleep? SleepFoundation.org. April 5, 2022.Additional ResourcesAlcohol and Sleep. SleepFoundation.org. 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