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Do you know about 50 percent of adults experience occasional insomnia, and one in 10 suffers from chronic insomnia? It is twice as common in women as men, and is more common in older than younger people
Patients, who suffer from insomnia, wake up from sleep and remain inactive, and tired, which affects their performance during the day, the level of energy, mood, health, quality of work, and quality of life.
People with insomnia often:
Have trouble falling or staying asleep.
Feel tired or sleepy during the day.
Forget things or have trouble thinking clearly.
Get cranky, anxious, irritable, or depressed.
Have less energy or interest in doing things.
Make mistakes or get into accidents more often than normal.
Worry about their lack of sleep.
These symptoms can be so bad that they affect a person’s relationships or work life. In addition, they can happen even in people who seem to be sleeping enough hours.
Acute or short-term insomnia: ongoing stress and tension will cause insomnia and when the stressful situation eases up or the person adjusts to it, sleep usually return to normal.
Chronic insomnia: occurs because of organic disease.
Insomnia due to medications: that may include antidepressants, medicine to treat heart disease, blood pressure, allergies, and stimulants. Remember caffeine-containing beverages are stimulants too.
Insomnia due to psychiatric problem: when we talk about mental disorders, we do not mean that the patient is mentally ill or crazy. But rapid change in the lifestyle had predisposed individual to psychological pressure that may affect sleep negatively and cause insomnia.
An average person needs about eight to nine hours of good quality sleep every 24 hours, but remember that number of hours of sleep needed may vary individually.
Many people believe that they need eight hours of sleep a day and if they increase the number of hours of sleep then it would be healthier. However, this is not correct.
Some people attribute the lack of performance and failure in tasks of life to the lack of sleep, which leads to over-focus on the need to sleep for more hours. This focus, prevents the person from getting restful sleep at night and cause insomnia.
A doctor will likely perform a physical exam and take a medical and sleep history to determine the cause of the sleep problem.
Your sleep doctor will request you to keep a sleep diary for a week or two,
Probably not. Most people with insomnia need no tests. Your doctor will probably be able to tell what is wrong just by talking to you. He might also ask you to keep a daily log for 1 to 2 weeks, where you keep track of how you sleep each night.
In some cases, people do need special sleep tests, such as “polysomnography” or “actigraphy.”
Polysomnography – Polysomnography is a test that usually lasts all night and that is done in a sleep lab. During the test, monitors are attached to your body to record movement, brain activity, breathing, and other body functions.
Actigraphy – Actigraphy records activity and movement with a monitor or motion detector that is usually worn on the wrist. The test is done at home, over several days and nights. It will record how much you actually sleep and when.
No, do not use alcohol as a sleep aid. Even though alcohol makes you sleepy at first, it disrupts sleep later in the night.
Remember, though, that fatal familial insomnia is extremely rare, and unless a family member died of insomnia, you are not likely to have any predisposition to this disorder. For the vast majority of people, chronic insomnia will not directly lead to death.
When you go without sleep for 20 to 25 hours, your performance impairment is similar to that of someone with a blood-alcohol level of 0.10 percent. At 36, 48, and 72 hours without sleep, your body and your mind begin operating in altered states that put your health, and your life, at risk.
Treatment for insomnia may involve nonmedical therapy, such as developing better sleep habits or psychotherapy, and sometimes medications with or without the use of short-term sleep aids. In order to properly treat and cure your insomnia, you need to become a sleep detective.
Avoid smoking, especially before going to sleep because it has a stimulant effect.
Do not get any caffeine (coffee, tea, cola, chocolate, etc.) within 6 hours of bedtime.
Avoid large meal because it keeps you awake; light snack may help promote sleep.
Drink a small amount of hot drink like warm milk, which increases the secretion of endorphins helping the natural sleep.
Avoid taking a nap in the late afternoon or evening, and do not take naps while reading and watching TV. If you need nap, try to have it in early afternoon and should not exceed 30 minutes.
Try not to stay in bed sleeping for more than eight hours, because sleep over (even if you think that you need) may adversely affect the sleep-wake system, and may lead to general fatigue during the day.
Do not force yourself to sleep; sleep does not come by force. Instead, focus on doing something relaxing like reading verses from the holy book to help you relax and go to bed when you feel sleepy.
If you cannot sleep after 15-20 minutes, leave the bedroom and go to another room and engage in a quiet activity (like reading), go back to your bed only if you feel sleepy.
Hide the alarm if looking at it bothers you. However, set the alarm clock to wake up in the morning.
Try to maintain a regular sleep and wake up during the days of the week, even on weekends. Irregular habits may cause an imbalance in the “biological clock” in the brain, which is responsible for controlling the degree of awareness and the ability to sleep.
You must have a comfortable environment (cool, quiet, dark room, and comfortable mattress) for sleep. If you suffer from muscle pain, pain in the back, hip, shoulder, or other orthopedic problems special quality of medical mattresses may.
Use the alarm clock and wake up on time every morning, regardless of the hours of sleep that night.
Yes, there are medicines to help with sleep. However, you should try them only after you try the techniques described above. You also should not use sleep medicines every night for long periods. Otherwise, you can become dependent on them for sleep.
Insomnia is sometimes caused by mental health problems, such as depression or anxiety. If that’s the case for you, you might benefit from an antidepressant rather than a sleep aid. Antidepressants often improve sleep and can help with other worries, too.
Do not rush to use sedatives, because it has the opposite effect later on, as it should be used for a short period and under the supervision of the attending physician.
Check with your doctor if insomnia continues, especially if you have changes in mood or difficulty in getting out of bed in the morning, as it could indicate other problems.
The local journals in Dubai published many wake-up calls about insomnia
