Insomnia or trouble falling asleep or staying asleep is a common problem these days. And this problem is affecting women more in comparison to men.
Sound sleep is necessary for charging our body and regaining the strength. But a disturbed sleep fails our all plans of the next day as we feel sleepy, fatigued, feel irritated and it becomes difficult for us to concentrate.
Insomnia may be due to a number of reasons, the important ones are:
1) Disturbances in the circadian rhythm: e.g. shift works and jet lags can cause disturbance in sleeping pattern. Jet lag is seen in people who travel multiple time zones so their internal body does not adapt to the external environment. This type of insomnia is transient and is auto corrected once the body got adapted.
2) Stress: one of the main causative factors. Emotional or mental tensions, work problems, financial problems, anxiety, too much work load- all these factors affect our sleep adversely.
3) Hormonal disturbances: e.g. in pre-menopause phase, hyperthyroidism etc.
4) Mental disorders: like depression, bipolar disorder etc.
5) Psychoactive drugs: use of psychoactive drugs like amphetamines, cocaine, ephedrine etc may also result in insomnia.
6) Gastroesophageal reflux or heart burn: it is the back up of the stomach contents in to the oesophagus and results in the pain or tightening in the mid chest area. During day time as we are in upright position so by swallowing the irritating material got cleared up from the oesopgagus but while sleeping we are in lying down posture and our swallowing mechanism is also slowed down so it can cause coughing and choking resulting in our disturbed sleep.
7) Use of alcohol: alcohol may help in sleeping quickly but may result in interrupted sleep.
8) Too much use of caffeine: too much use of coffee, tea or using them during bed time may also disturb our sleep.
9) Smoking: studies show that smokers take longer to fall asleep than non-smokers.
10) Moreover too much noise and light in the bedroom may disturb our sleep.
Some Methods That Can Help:
1) Be involved in some physical activities like exercise, yoga or some sports or go for a daily walk. These activities will reduce the stress count of your body and thus help in regulating your sleep cycle.
2) Avoid the use of alcohol, tobacco (in any form).
3) Also limit the use of tea, coffee. Instead use some healthy drinks like fruit juices.
4) Try to go to bed at the same time daily including the weekends and also wake up at the same fixed time daily so that a routine is developed.
5) Have light dinner. Your dinner should be at least 2-3 hrs before you go to the bed.
6) Your bedroom should be well ventilated, quite and dark. You can use some aroma candles, fresh flowers or play some light music in the bedroom to make the atmosphere more relaxing.
7) There are drugs also to help you get some sleep. But avoid them as much as you can as they had a lot of side effects. And never try them without consulting your doctor.
No comments:
Post a Comment