If you’re struggling with insomnia, this article will help shed some light on the causes and provide resolutions to your sleep issues.
What Is Insomnia?
In a nutshell, insomnia is the inability to sleep. What’s so brutally torturous about insomnia is that you can be completely exhausted, yet unable to fall asleep. Insomnia can be an acute issue (short term), meaning that it can creep into your life for a night or a few weeks. It can also present as a chronic issue, meaning it ebbs and flows and comes and visits you every know and then, although uninvited. Chronic insomnia is diagnosed when the individual suffers at least three nights a week for three months or longer.
Symptoms of Insomnia
There are a spider web of symptoms that can root from insomnia, especially when it shows up chronically in your life. According to WebMD, general symptoms of insomnia can include:[1]
Sleepiness during the day General tiredness Irritability Problems with concentration or memory
In addition to these general symptoms, insomnia can effect your relationships, career life and limit activities that give you joy, strictly because you don’t have the energy or motivation to do them. Feeling exhausted really takes a huge toll on your mood, energy level and overall zest for life. Just like any issue, overtime a lot of other consequences can, and most likely will, result. This is so with lack of sleep.
Reasons of Insomnia
Insomnia can strike any of us at any point of our lives. A major cause of sleeplessness is stress and worry. I know that when I’ve had periods of time where there has been a ton on my mind, it’s resulted in sleep disturbance. I can recall nights just laying there as hours past by. Below are more detailed reasons why insomnia would come knocking at your door: According to WebMD, the causes of acute insomnia can include:
Significant life stress (job loss or change, death of a loved one, divorce, moving) Illness Emotional or physical discomfort Environmental factors like noise, light, or extreme temperatures (hot or cold) that interfere with sleep Some medications (for example those used to treat colds, allergies, depression, high blood pressure, and asthma) may interfere with sleep Interferences in normal sleep schedule (jet lag or switching from a day to night shift, for example)
According to WebMD causes of chronic insomnia include:
Depression and/or anxiety Chronic stress Pain or discomfort at night
How to Overcome Insomnia
There are, without a doubt, many things you can attempt to do differently in order to get your sleep habits back to a healthy state. Even if you’ve struggled with sleep for years, please know that you can find relief. Here are 10 tips on how to combat insomnia:
1. Believe That You Can Develop a Healthy Sleep Life
Believing that you can is a huge part in getting beyond any difficulty. If that’s where you need to start, it’s worth really looking at your belief system surrounding what’s possible for your sleep patterns. Just as if you didn’t believe that you can find love, if you don’t believe that you can find a good groove with your sleep, it will be very difficult to do so.
2. Stay Away from Any Screen Time Before Bed
Everything that you come across is being ingested, including what you watch and listen too. Be mindful to make time to wind down before bed by disconnecting from anything that’s coming at you. This can be a violent flick or a charged up sports game. To go further, even if you’re watching something mellow, the blue light from screens can affect circadian rhythms, which can mess up your sleep cycle. Just as you can feel super loopy after traveling that entails changing time zones, your devices can have a similar effect.
3. Have a Consistent Bed Time
I get it, routines can take the fun away from life, although some routines can guarantee that the fun will keep going around. Just like little kids need consistency via their routines to avoid melt downs, we, as adults, need to do consistent things for our health to stay grounded. Having a consistent bedtime routine allows your body to have a flow, which will help it, overall, function at its best.
4. Avoid Caffeine Intake After Noon
I know that asking some of you to avoid caffeine all together is just a hard “No.” Therefore, I’ll ask you to avoid any intake of caffeine after 12pm. Why, you ask? This gives your body time to process the stimulant effects that caffeine has and can potentially really help your sleep cycle.
5. Keep an Eye on Your Alcohol Intake
If you’re struggling with sleep, drinking is one habit that can truly be interfering with your sleep. Alcohol can cause waking in the night and interferes with sleep quality. It’s deceiving because initially alcohol can make you “pass out” and fall asleep quickly, although the deepest and most restful part of sleep, (REM), rapid eye movement sleep, is compromised when we drink alcohol. This is why, even if we do sleep sound after a couple drinks, the quality of our sleep was not a pure that it would be without alcohol processing in our bodies.
6. Move Your Body Consistently
I feel like this suggestion is always on one of my tip lists! Getting regular exercise has so many benefits including what it can do for your sleep pattern. Utilizing up some of your daily energy by moving your body is a win/win on so many levels. It keeps you fit, it keeps you feeling emotionally better, it helps release endorphins and it can improve the quality of your sleep. If you’re having issues sleeping; try regular exercise. It could be a game changer for you.
7. Don’t Go to Bed Full
When we go to bed full, we are already at a disadvantage because being full is uncomfortable. Eliminating any states of discomfort is a key step to ensuring that our sleep is going to be higher quality. Be mindful of eating a big meal right before you go to sleep. Your digestive track will be happy not to have to go into busy mode when your system is trying to shut down.
8. Create a Zen Vibe in Your Bedroom
One of the key ways to create an ideal sleep environment is to bring a sense of calm and comfort to your sleep space. If you have the means, invest in nice bedding, buy an essential oil diffuser (lavender oil is great for calming), get some amethyst stones to promote calming and healing energy. Do your best to make sure your sleep environment is dark, quiet, and not too warm or cold. Do whatever you are called to do to make your bedroom a place of peace and rest. Need I say to avoid using your bed for anything other than sleep (or sex.)
9. Make a List
What do you mean make a list? I mean, that if you find yourself with a racing mind right before bedtime, write your thoughts down. Take all the mental noise and write it down in a list type format to put it somewhere other than floating around in your head. This action has been so helpful for some of my clients that have struggled with sleep disturbance.
10. Find Flow through Rhythm
There have been times where I have literally self soothed my way back to sleep by finding rhythm. I’ve found rhythm with counting numbers; both backward and forward. Although, I don’t care what you count; just count. Counting creates rhythm and it also creates a space to focus our thoughts. This is especially true for those of us who have a worried and racing mind.
The Bottom Line
As I mentioned a bit earlier, there is hope for anyone struggling with sleep disturbance. A significant first step toward addressing any issue is becoming more familiar with it. We can combat this issue with understanding symptoms and causes. Often times, we’ve never been taught that simple, small habits that we’ve been doing can be the gateway to our disturbed sleep patterns. That one shot of expresso after dinner can be a killer for those of us struggling with sleep. Do your pat to clear up all that you can on your end, but tidying up what’s within your control. As always, if your symptoms continue there are specialist and other avenues to take. Talk with your medical doctor to get more details of higher levels of assistance toward your sleep. Be well.
More Tips to Help You Sleep Better
9 Natural Remedies for Insomnia to Help You Achieve Quality Sleep The Ultimate Night Routine Guide: Sleep Better and Wake Up Productive The Importance of Sleep Cycles on Productivity (+ Tips to Improve Yours)
Featured photo credit: Unsplash via unsplash.com
