Insomnia

A free article on Health and Fitness

By: Rene Moller

Insomnia is the sleeping disorder affecting men as well as women. In simple words it is the difficulty one faces to relax and rest the mind and have a regular sleep that is necessary to keep fit. Poor quality of sleep can also be considered a part of insomnia. According to a survey made by the U.S. Department of Health and Safety it has been found that insomnia is seen more in women than in men. It has been acknowledged that around 40-50 percent of women are affected with it while only 30-35 percent of men.

Insomnia is not that simple as one might consider it to be. It can be categorized in three types. The three types of insomnia are transient, acute and the chronic. These are generalized depending on their period they affect. The least affecting is the transient insomnia. This lasts only from few days to months. The reasons for this type of insomnia can be restlessness, disturbance in daily schedule, some stress or tension, or changing of environment. If this continues for longer or is experienced frequently than it is said to be intermittent. The next is the acute insomnia; this may last from 3-4 weeks to 5-6 months. This is again the inability to have a relaxed sleep. Last is the chronic insomnia. The period it lasts is the longest, say from some months to even years. Chronic disorder can be reason of some other disease or trouble. The effects of chronic insomnia are thus more than the other two kinds. It may cause muscular fatigue, mental disturbance, depression or sleepiness. The primary insomnia is not relating to any heath problems but the secondary type of insomnia is sure to be caused by some other medical condition. This may include cancer, diabeties, asthama or arthritis.

According to scientist many people these days suffer from insomania, and the reason why this rate has gone up is insufficient sleep. Due to busy and hectic schedules people do not give importance to sleep and so face this problem in later stages. Changes in sleeping times and patterns also lead to insomnia. Ultimately due to the modern lifestyle and extending work people try out for sleeping pills that lead to other side effects like amnesia or sleepwalking in the long run.

Some treatments for working on insomnia can be tried if the problem is not very severe, else a doctor should be consulted. The very basic thing is scheduling and managing the day activities. Drugs and alcohol should be avoided especially at night. Before making oneself addicted to sleeping pills know its side effects and use one only with the doctor’s prescribtion. Methods like relaxation therapy, reconditioning or the sleep restriction therapy can be practiced.

-Relaxation therapy is the simplest of all. Here one needs to relax and provide the body with stress free thoughts. Not only physically but mentally also rest should be given to the muscles.

-Reconditioning is the one which majority needs to practise. Though simple but a bit difficult to follow for those who have habit of doing everything on bed. Here what one needs to do is use the bed only for sleeping purpose. Other activities like watching television, reading books, talking on phone should be done out of bed, so that the mind fixes an approach that when one is in the bed it is time to sleep.

-Some other simple and easy tips to avoid insomnia are to exercise regularly, keeping a check on food habits. Keeping the room dark and cool also helps to get better sleep.