Anxiety and Primary Insomnia Often Co-Exist in a "Chicken and Egg

question 37

Essay

Anxiety and primary insomnia often co-exist in a "chicken and egg" cycle, where it seems impossible to determine if the anxiety is causing the sleep disorder or if the sleep disorder is causing the anxiety.Describe the process of how anxiety and primary insomnia might interact within a patient.Why would it be difficult to determine which came first?

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Definitions:

Learned Response

A reaction that is developed as a result of experience.

Rate of Learning

Rate of learning refers to the speed at which a person acquires new information or skills over time.

Conditioned Stimulus

A stimulus that, after being repeatedly associated with an unconditioned stimulus, begins to evoke a similar response as the unconditioned stimulus on its own.

Unconditioned Response

A reflexive, automatic reaction to an unconditioned stimulus, not learned through prior experience.