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Forty million Americans didn’t sleep well last night and you may be one of them. Exhausted and discouraged getting enough sleep may seem eternally elusive. But it’s a solvable problem if you educate yourself on how it starts and what to do about it before sleep loss ruins your life. Now the typical pattern with insomnia is that we’re worried about something or someone that we toss and turn all night restlessly without being able to calm down long enough to fall asleep. Our mind just keeps spending which is hardly restful. This pattern gradually makes us even more panicked.
The next day we’re restless, lethargic and unplugged. Everything seems hard and it feels like we’re walking and thinking through mud. Now over time, this pattern can get much worse. Studies tell us that if you deprive a normal person of just two hours of sleep at night for five nights that they’ll begin to share symptoms of depression. Now, think about it. That’s just a few late nights at the office or being up with your kids. You may lose this amount of sleep every time you have a big project or presentation coming up and that’s the worse time to be depressed or off your game. Up to 90% of depressed patients have insomnia and insomniacs have 35 times of a ready depression with compare to good sleepers. So what is the most effective intelligent thing to do about your insomnia?
Regular schedule, become a disciplined sleeper and keep a regular sleep-wake schedule. Avoid daytime nap again. I know it’s hard but you got to do it. Restrict your caffeine especially afternoon. Don’t use caffeine within four to six hours before bedtime. Don’t stay in your bed. Restrict the amount of time that you spend in bed to the time that you are specifically sleeping. If you’re unable to sleep after around 20 minutes or so, get out of bed. Go to another room, do something relaxing, low-lighting and return to bed when sleep is eminent.
Bedroom for sleeping, reserve you bedroom for sleep only. Don’t watch TV in there. Don’t play on your computer or your cell phone or talk to your partner about your problems. You need to above all, associate your bedroom with relaxation and sleep. Now, if these steps don’t help, then it’s time to check with your family physician. There is no shame in taking medically prescribed sleeping pills to get through a tough time. In fact, prescriptions for sleeping have increase by almost 10% since 2007.
Talk to your doctor or sleep physician and follow their advice closely. Now, if there are more serious underlying issues such as little health problems caught into behavioral treatments for sleeping issues have an 80 to 85% cure rate. That’s pretty high. This approach addresses false beliefs about sleep, did you do techniques for relaxation in lowering anxiety and helps you to not panic when you’re struggling to get that sleep. Make sure though that you work with a psychologist who specializes in cognitive behavioral approaches and has a lot of experience dealing with this problems of sleeping.
For more information, please visit my website at GearingUp.com. I’m Dr. Sylvia Gearing.
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