Trouble falling asleep or staying asleep (Usually called insomnia) is a problem for one out of every three American adults. If you have ever suffered from insomnia, you know how it can disturb your day and your night. It can make you feel fatigued during the day. It may cause you to have trouble focusing on tasks.
Treating insomnia requires you and your doctor to work as partners to explore the causes and effects of the problem.
What Causes Insomnia?
Insomnia is a symptom of another problem, much like a fever or a stomach-ache. It can be caused by any of a number of factors like;
- Physiological factor
- Lifestyle
- Environmental factors
- Physical/psychiatric illness
When should the patient seek help?
It may be time to seek help if your sleep has been disturbed for more than a month and interferes with the way you feel or function during the day.
What are some behavioural treatments?
There are four suggested treatments that have been well-tested with insomnia.
1. Sleep Restriction: Insomnia may stay in bed for a long time hoping this will result in more sleep time. Instead, too much time in bed spreads sleep over a longer period, breaks up sleep, and increases frustration. Sleep restriction therapy limits the time spent in bed and helps to make sleep more efficient.
2. Stimulus Control: Stimulus control aims to make the bedroom an inviting setting for sleep. For some, the bedroom becomes a place where things such as paper wok and worrying take place.
These activities and thoughts often prevent sleep. At bedtime, the link between these activities and your bedroom keeps you awake. This is done in order to improve the chance of falling asleep quickly.
3. Relaxation therapy: Relaxation therapy is a group of activities that try to produce a feeling of calm. These include trying to focus on pleasant thoughts in a quiet setting. Using relaxation therapy helps to increase the chance of falling asleep.
4. Cognitive therapy: Many people have mistaken beliefs and attitudes about sleep. Some people think that bad things will happen to them if they get less than eight hours of sleep.
Cognitive therapy uses methods of reasoning to correct these faulty ideas and thoughts. This helps to promote sleep and relive daytime worrying and bedtime wakefulness.
Good Seep Hygiene
Here are some tips for how you can improve your sleep hygiene:
1. Don’t go to bed unless you are sleepy.
2. If you are not asleep after 20 minutes, then get out of the bed.
3. Begin rituals that help you relax each night before bed.
4. Get up at the same time every morning.
5. Get full nights sleep on a regular basis.
6. Avoid taking naps if you can.
7. Keep a regular schedule.
8. Do not have any caffeine after lunch.
9. Do not have a beer, a glass of wine, or any other alcohol within 4 hours of your bedtime.
10. Do not go to bed hungry, but don’t eat a big meal near bedtime either.
