Insomnia is a frequently occurring sleep disorder that has been diagnosed in different individuals. This sleep disorder makes it difficult for the person to get to sleep at night or remain asleep all through the night. Insomnia can also make it hard for you to go back to sleep if you’re awake too early or make you feel fatigued even after sleeping at night. Insomnia has negative effects on everyday life and can affect health, work, etc.
What Causes Insomnia?
There are various things that can be responsible for insomnia developing in an individual, and these things could include any of the following:
- Stress (work-related stress, emotional or relationship-caused stress, financial stress)
- Poor lifestyle choices and sleep routine
- Anxiety or depression
- Medical conditions like cancer, arthritis, fibromyalgia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, etc.
- Other sleep-related disorders, like restless legs syndrome
- Gastrointestinal problems like heartburn.
Symptoms of Insomnia
In individuals, there are different occurrences of sleep difficulties that may not be insomnia, but these could have similar signs and symptoms. Some signs to look out for to know if you’ve probably got insomnia include:
- Trouble falling asleep at night.
- waking up frequently during the night or getting up too early and being unable to return to sleep
- Feeling fatigued and tired after waking up from sleep
- Dizziness or drowsiness during the day
- Anxiety or depression
- Irritability or mood swings
- Lack of concentration and memory problems
- High risk of accidents
Treatment of Insomnia
There are different causes of insomnia in people, and there are also different methods of treatment. Sometimes insomnia might be a result of different medical conditions, or it could be psychological. Depending on the cause, different treatments like cognitive behavioral therapy or the use of sleeping pills can be used.
Treatment using sleeping medication
Sleeping medication has been used to treat insomnia in individuals for a long time and is usually recommended as an alternative to CBT. It is used effectively in the short-term treatment of insomnia and not in the long-term to avoid dependency of the user on the drug. An example of a sleeping pill is Zopiclone, and you can buy Zopiclone online at trustworthy online pharmacies.
Treatment using Cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I)
Cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is an effective therapy program that makes use of different exercises and changes to one’s behavior to improve their sleep quality. People who have sleep disorders like insomnia usually get to try out CBT-I first before getting to use alternative medications.
Some of the exercises and practices that CBT-I makes use of include:
- Bedtime diary keeping
- Changing your sleep environment to be more conducive to sleep
- Creating a bedtime schedule, including sleep time and wake time
- Carrying out relaxation techniques or light exercises like yoga
Meditation as treatment
Meditation is another technique that has been researched to help people with insomnia. It probably does not affect how long you stay asleep at night, but it can affect sleep quality. You can do it at home, and there are apps to help you out if you so desire.
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Sleep Hygiene
Sleep hygiene is usually introduced to you in CBT-I and these are habits that you can have or develop in your daily life that can help improve your sleep quality. These tips include the following:
- Associate your bed with only sleep-related activities, and not work.
- Avoid taking long daytime naps
- Do not use mobile devices or PCs close to bedtime.
- Avoid eating heavy foods, drinking coffee or too much alcohol at night.
- Exercise often but limit it to the mornings and afternoons. Don’t do extensive exercises at night.
