title: [Concept and definition of insomnia].
abstract: The definition of insomnia is surprisingly quite difficult. It is not possible to decide whether a person has insomnia just by the length of his sleep time. This is because there is a significant difference in how much sleep each person needs. Insomnia is a state in which the patient' s physical, psychological, and social activities are interfered with by a strong feeling of sleep deficiency upon waking in the morning. Insomnia is a symptom, not a name of a disease. In treatment of insomnia, it is not enough to just make the patient sleep by use of sleeping pills. It is essential to research what lies beneath the insomnia, identify the cause, and remove it.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Akita University Graduate School of Medicine.
authors.forename: Takaubu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takemura
authors.forename: Fumi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Takemura
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kanbayashi
authors.forename: Tetsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimizu
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders