Money can buy a lot, but it can’t buy sleep. Celebrities may have the high thread count sheets, but pop culture web sites like nickiswift.com are pointing out that it’s not enough to impress the sandman.
Some celebrities such as Michael Jackson so bereft of sleep that he resorted to actual anesthesia. “Michael Jackson died of cardiac arrest after overdosing on propofol, a drug used to make people unconscious for surgery, as Harvard Medical School explains,” writes Daryl Nelson. “Reportedly, Jackson had a terrible time with insomnia and the drug was given to him by his doctor at the time, Conrad Murray, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in November 2011.”
Beyond Jackson’s tragic story is a litany of celebrity complaints, such as that from Carrie Underwood when tweeted about having insomnia while pregnant with her youngest son. “More than likely, one of the benefits of being a prolific songwriter is having constant ideas about lyrics and song concepts,” adds Nelson. “But the downside of being such a creative person could be the inability to turn off that idea machine when it’s bedtime, which Lady Gaga can attest to. She talked about having problems with insomnia about one year after breaking onto the scene.”
WebMD states there are 2 types of insomnia
Primary and secondary
- Primary insomnia means your sleep problems aren’t linked to any other health condition or problem.
- Secondary insomnia means you have trouble sleeping because of a health condition (like asthma, depression, pain, heartburn, arthritis, cancer, medication).
According to the AASM ICSD-3 manual, insomnia is defined as “persistent difficulty with sleep initiation, duration, consolidation or quality.” Insomnia has many potential contributing factors and symptoms, but its diagnosis hinges on two essential components: sleep difficulties that occur despite adequate opportunities for normal sleep, and daytime impairment that directly results from poor sleep quality or duration.
More information can be found at the National Sleep Foundation website