Causes of acute insomnia include:
- Major life stress (job loss or change, death of a loved one, divorce, moving)
- Illness
- Emotional or physical discomfort
- Noise, light, or being too hot or too cold while you're trying to sleep
- Some medications (including certain ones for colds, allergies, depression, high blood pressure, and asthma)
- Changes to a normal sleep schedule (like jet lag or switching from a day shift to night shift, for example)