Archive for the 'Insomnia' Category

Having difficulty to get a good night sleep? Spending several hours without sleep?

Improve sleep with good sleep habits. Lack of sleep can result in stress, lack of concentration, moodiness, memory loss, lower motivation and fatigue. It is important to get a good night sleep otherwise it may lead to different sleep disorders.

Here are 101 ways to get good night’s sleep for those who experience difficulty in getting sleep.

Sleep Routine:

1. Maintain regular bedtime routine. Try to go to bed at the same time and get up in the morning at the same time. Keeping a regular schedule helps the body expect sleep at the same time every day.

1. Maintain the sleep schedule even on weekends and holidays. Following the sleep schedule even on weekends does not disturb the internal clock of the body and helps to maintain circadian rhythm.

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A bad night sleep can have an adverse affect on adult’s performance at work the next day.

In the same way, if there is a disturbed sleep for high school or middle school students, it affect’s their school performance.

According to the research published in the Journal of clinical sleep medicine, students who experience sleep problems are more likely to get bad grades in school.

It is examined that students of middle class and high class have sleep complaints frequently.

The students who got bad grades were more likely to have restless legs syndrome, difficulty concentrating during the day, difficulty waking up in the morning, excessive sleepiness during the day, snoring, and sleeping in the class.

According to the study, inadequate sleep, poor quality of sleep and irregular sleep patterns occur at high frequencies in students and significantly affect school performance. Difficulty in concentration and restless legs syndrome are the symptoms associated with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Parents should take care of their children and teen’s sleep related problems and should discuss the condition with the doctor.

During teenage, the body’s circadian rhythm is reset and tells the teen to fall asleep late in the night and wake up late in the morning.

Almost everyone has battled with at least a short-term case of insomnia. Some people may be more prone to either transient or long-term, chronic insomnia.

Insomnia is divided into three types: Transient: lasting only a few days; Short-term: lasting up to three weeks; Chronic: lasting three weeks or longer.

Below is a list of factors that can cause insomnia:

Psychological Problems:

• Tension/Anxiety
• Depression/Grief [Depression Therapy]
• Any psychiatric disorder
• Post traumatic stress disorder
• Excitement/Anticipation
• Worry/Stress

Stress, Anxiety, and Depression

The undisputed number one cause of insomnia is excessive stress, anxiety, and depression. Almost everyone has experienced transient insomnia the night before a job interview, big presentation, wedding, or other significant personal event.

Transient insomnia usually passes after the stress-inducing event has been overcome. Chronic insomnia is more serious because it can affect an individual for an extended period of time.

Persistent stress at work or home can lead to chronic insomnia. Anxiety and depressive disorders are another major source for chronic insomnia.

Physical Conditions:

• Bone, pancreas, and brain cancers
• Toothache
• Headache/Backache
• Arthritis
• Hypertension
• Food poisoning
• Physical injury
• Premenstrual syndrome/Menstruation/Pregnancy/Menopause

Insomnia in older people are often neglected by their doctors even though treatment of insomnia could improve mental and physical health and improves their quality of life.

This is the found by new research from the Feinberg school of Medicine at Northwestern University.

When patients of age sixty and above visited their doctors, they did not note the sleep problems.

Independent social workers who interviewed the same patients learned that seventy percent of them had at least one sleep disorder while forty five percent said that they had difficulty staying asleep, being able to sleep, or falling asleep.

Doctors may not think it is important to ask the patient about sleep. Researchers assume that doctors think that sleep problems are normal part of aging, said Kathryn Reid, Ph.D., lead authority on study and research assistant professor at Northwestern’s Feinberg school of Medicine.

Reid also said that patients also assume sleep problems are common as they grow older and no need to mention to their doctors.

Some changes in sleep are common such as reduction in slow wave or deep sleep starting at the age of forty five is natural as we grow older. But insomnia is not common as it results from different conditions.

You know that sleep loss is not a just a nighttime problem.

Its effect can extend far into the daytime functioning.

You cannot substitute anything for a good night’s sleep.

Sleep loss causes depression:

In college students, depression is two times more common than in the general population, affecting approximately 20% of students.

Researchers believe that sleep loss contributes to high rate of depression in college students.

Attending college increases the incidence of both sleep problems and depression. Lack of sleep for more than two weeks is a risk factor for developing depression. Some people have sleep loss due to the work submission before the deadline. [Depression Management]

For many students, it’s an indication of achievement to function on minimal sleep, but lack of sleep carries risks. Sleep less than 6.5 hours per night is related with 1.7 times greater risk of disease and death.

Sleep loss causes:

• Automobile accidents (exhaustion is the leading cause)
• Illness such as colds and flu
• Mental illnesses
• Decreased academic performance

Sleep loss alters hormones and metabolism:

Sleep loss can decrease the capacity of even young men and women to perform metabolic functions, such as processing and storing carbohydrates or regulating hormone secretion.

Insomnia is defined as difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, or unrestorative sleep.

The complaint of insomnia can be caused by multiple factors.

Causes of Insomnia

Either by behavioral problems and bad sleep habits, medical problems, psychiatric problems, medications and drugs, circadian rhythm sleep disorders, or sleep disorders can result in insomnia.

Regardless of what originally may be the cause of insomnia, behavioral problems often are the main perpetuating problem. The two more common behavioral conditions are poor sleep hygiene and psychophysiologic insomnia.

Poor sleep hygiene means bad sleep habits. Bad sleep habits usually result from irregular sleep schedules, overuse of alcohol and caffeine, excessive daytime napping, poor sleep environments, or anxiety at bedtime.

Psychophysiologic insomnia occurs when you are negatively conditioned to sleeping in your bed. For instance, you experience some anxiety over an upcoming job evaluation. You go to bed and have difficulty falling asleep.

The next night you tell yourself that you didn’t sleep well the night before, so you have to get some sleep tonight. You become so tense trying to sleep that you have difficulty sleeping the second night. On the third night the same thing happens.