Insomnia

Sleep is a state of consciousnesses, which gives your body time to rest and build up your strength. While you are asleep, your body goes through different stages at approximately 90 minute cycles. These include light sleep, deep sleep and dreaming, also known as rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.

It is hard to define what normal sleep is for you. Other factors include your age, lifestyle, diet and environment.

Newborn babies can sleep for 16 hours a day, while children of school age need an average of 10 hours.

Adults usually need, on average, 7 to 9 hours of sleep per day and only 35% of American adults consistently get this amount of rest. As we get older, it's normal to need less sleep. Most people over 70 need less than 6 hours sleep per night; and they tend to be light sleepers.

It is important to know that nearly everyone has problems sleeping at some time or other and it is thought that a third of people in the UK have bouts of insomnia.

Insomnia is the disturbance of a normal sleep pattern. Insomnia may stem from a disruption of the body's circadian rhythm, an internal clock that governs the timing of hormone production, sleep, body temperature, and other functions.

People with insomnia tend to experience one or more of the following sleep disturbances:

• Difficulty falling asleep at night. Lying awake for a long time at night before getting to sleep.
• Waking too early in the morning- the least common type of sleep disturbance., or
• Waking frequently throughout the night.
• Not feeling refreshed after sleep. You may have trouble functioning normally during the day, feel irritable, tired, and find it difficult to concentrate.
• Waking up several times in the middle of the night.
• Anxiety as bedtime approaches

Causes

Primary insomnia is not caused by any known physical or mental condition and risk factors. Disruptions within the sleeping environment or to bedtime routines can cause insomnia. Factors include:

• noise,
• light,
• snoring,
• partner moving about,
• jet lag,
• activities before bedtime, like reading or exercise.

This is because your body is designed to release awake chemicals when there is daylight and sleepy chemicals when it gets dark.

Secondary insomnia is often caused by underlying medical or psychological condition such as depression. Loss or worry can make sleeping difficult, caused by events such as:

• bereavement,
• relationship problems,
• exam stress,
• work worries, and
• anxieties about being unable to sleep.

Some conditions or situations that commonly lead to insomnia include:

• Substance abuse
• Disruption of circadian rhythms ; travel across time zones, or vision loss; by release of a hormone called melatonin from the brain
• Menopause -- between 30% and 40% of menopausal women experience insomnia
• Hormonal changes during menstrual cycle ; cycle with ovulation
• Advanced age -- biological changes associated with aging
• Medical conditions ; attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and obstructive sleep apnea (difficulty breathing during sleep); or other chronic pain syndromes, heart disease
• Psychiatric and neurologic conditions ; anxiety, depression, manic-depressive disorder, dementia, Parkinson's disease, restless leg syndrome (a sense of indescribable uneasiness, twitching, or restlessness that occurs in the legs after going to bed), post-traumatic stress disorder
• Certain medications -- decongestants, bronchodilators, and beta-blockers
• Excessive computer work
• Partners who snore

Preventive Care

In order to get a good night's sleep, there are some simple measures that you can take to help: even if you feel you haven't had enough sleep. This will gradually train your body to sleep at night.

• Only ever go to bed when you are feeling tired and sleepy.
• Try to create a bedtime routine, such as a warm bath and warm milky drink every night. These activities will then be associated with sleep and will cause drowsiness.
• If noise is a problem, wear ear plugs. If the early morning sunlight or bright street lamps affect you sleeping, use thick blinds, curtains or wear an eye mask to create a dark environment.
• Avoid or limit tea, coffee, chocolate, and cold remedies containing caffeine drinking alcohol and smoking as these are also stimulants. Alcohol may make you sleepy at first but will wake you up when the effects have worn off.
• Practicing stress reduction techniques such as yoga, meditation, or deep relaxation

Be aware that you may feel tired during this period so you must take extra care when you are driving or operating machinery etc.

When you are asleep for the majority of the time you are in bed, try going to bed 15 minutes earlier, but make sure you get up at the same time.