Natural Treatments For Insomnia – Causes and Symptoms
Natural treatments for insomnia have restored good sleep back to the lives of many insomnia patients. Insomnia affects more than half our adult population. It refers to difficulties in falling or remaining asleep. Insomnia can be temporary or persistent depending on the cause. Almost every adult may occasionally experience a sleepless night, and that is quite normal. However, when it becomes frequent, it poses as a health concern.
Natural Treatments For Insomnia – Causes of Insomnia
Occasional or Temporary Insomnia
Here are some of the most common reasons for temporary insomnia. Such difficulties in sleep are likely short term and may disappear once the condition which in the first place triggers the insomnia is resolved. Natural treatments for insomnia can readily treat insomnia linked to these.
1. Alcohol and Caffeine
Excessive alcohol can result in severe dehydration and insomnia. Caffeinated beverages such as coffee and tea easily interrupt with sleep.
2. Smoking and Drug Abuse
Smoking keeps one awake and alert. Drug abuse such as cocaine or heroin can lead to sleep disruption.
3. Over-the-counter (OTC) and Prescription Medicines
Some medicines contain substance that either makes us alert or disrupt our sleep. For instance, cough syrups may contain caffeine.
4. Working Environment and Conditions
Working on shifts can turn our biological clocks upside-down. Our bodies may take some time to adjust, resulting in sleep deprivation. Overworking can also affect our sleep. Medical studies also revealed that more people who work in the IT industry dealing with computers have poorer sleep.
5. Jet Lag
Flying across different time zones may affect our bodies. It normally takes about a day to recover normal sleep patterns.
6. Environment
About 1 out of 5 adults who suffer from insomnia attributed their condition to environmental factors like noise in the background, surrounding temperature, humidity and light. Our biological circadian clocks are sensitive to sunlight and perhaps this is why most of us can only sleep in complete darkness. So if your house is near a railway line or has airplanes flying over, it can be rather disturbing.
Long-term Insomnia
Patients suffering from long term insomnia often have deeper root causes. They can still be cured but require more time and understanding how to cope and work towards complete healing. Counseling sessions with professional counselors and psychiatrists could help, though there are also some effective natural treatments for insomnia as well.
1. Snoring Partner
Having a snoring partner is one reason for sleep disruptions especially for light sleepers. You may have heard in the news that the snoring problem among couples can be so bad to the point that marriages break up.
2. Psychological and Emotional Stress
By this, we mean a nagging situation that would not be away for a long time such as relationship problems, illness of a loved one, unfulfilling career, trauma from accidents and depression. Counseling and psychiatric sessions would be needed even though natural treatments for insomnia may be of some assistance. Insomnia in such scenarios is merely a symptom. It has been observed that for some people, once their problems are resolved, they are able to sleep well almost instantaneously.
3. Learned Insomnia
It may sound funny but we can insomnia is a condition that can be learnt. If you are a more worrisome person by nature, you may be anxious about not sleeping well and hence not performing the next day. The more you attempt to sleep, the more stress you add onto yourself, resulting in loss of sleep. Students sometimes find themselves in these situations right before their exams. However, when this becomes habitual, our bodies would respond to a familiar sleep setting such as activities we do before bed like brushing our teeth, changing into pyjamas and the environment and automatically trigger insomnia. It is possible to unlearn this by rearranging your sleeping patterns and environment.
4. Medical and Health
Illnesses can aggravate insomnia. Migraine, heartburn, arthritis, sleep apnea and leg cramps could jolt one from sleep. Sleep apnea is a chronic condition characterized by episodes of loud snoring and pauses in breathing. This is a sleep disorder as victims are often awoken up throughout the night by up to hundreds of times for severe cases.
5. Hormonal Disorders
Hormone levels fluctuate during menstruation, menopause and pregnancy for women. This would set off an imbalance in the production of progesterone which encourages sleep. Aging also effects changes in the levels of hormones that can affect sleep.
So if you are suffering from insomnia or simply want to sleep better, pick up and apply some of the natural treatments for insomnia we will share in my next post to achieve a good night’s sleep.
Natural Treatments For Insomnia
Natural treatments for insomnia have restored good sleep back to the lives of many insomnia patients. Insomnia affects more than half our adult population. It refers to difficulties in falling or remaining asleep. Insomnia can be temporary or persistent depending on the cause. Almost every adult may occasionally experience a sleepless night, and that is quite normal. However, when it becomes frequent, it poses as a health concern.
Natural Treatments For Insomnia – Causes of Insomnia
Occasional or Temporary Insomnia
Here are some of the most common reasons for temporary insomnia. Such difficulties in sleep are likely short term and may disappear once the condition which in the first place triggers the insomnia is resolved. Natural treatments for insomnia can readily treat insomnia linked to these.
1. Alcohol and Caffeine
Excessive alcohol can result in severe dehydration and insomnia. Caffeinated beverages such as coffee and tea easily interrupt with sleep.
2. Smoking and Drug Abuse
Smoking keeps one awake and alert. Drug abuse such as cocaine or heroin can lead to sleep disruption.
3. Over-the-counter (OTC) and Prescription Medicines
Some medicines contain substance that either makes us alert or disrupt our sleep. For instance, cough syrups may contain caffeine.
4. Working Environment and Conditions
Working on shifts can turn our biological clocks upside-down. Our bodies may take some time to adjust, resulting in sleep deprivation. Overworking can also affect our sleep. Medical studies also revealed that more people who work in the IT industry dealing with computers have poorer sleep.
5. Jet Lag
Flying across different time zones may affect our bodies. It normally takes about a day to recover normal sleep patterns.
6. Environment
About 1 out of 5 adults who suffer from insomnia attributed their condition to environmental factors like noise in the background, surrounding temperature, humidity and light. Our biological circadian clocks are sensitive to sunlight and perhaps this is why most of us can only sleep in complete darkness. So if your house is near a railway line or has airplanes flying over, it can be rather disturbing.
Long-term Insomnia
Patients suffering from long term insomnia often have deeper root causes. They can still be cured but require more time and understanding how to cope and work towards complete healing. Counseling sessions with professional counselors and psychiatrists could help, though there are also some effective natural treatments for insomnia as well.
1. Snoring Partner
Having a snoring partner is one reason for sleep disruptions especially for light sleepers. You may have heard in the news that the snoring problem among couples can be so bad to the point that marriages break up.
2. Psychological and Emotional Stress
By this, we mean a nagging situation that would not be away for a long time such as relationship problems, illness of a loved one, unfulfilling career, trauma from accidents and depression. Counseling and psychiatric sessions would be needed even though natural treatments for insomnia may be of some assistance. Insomnia in such scenarios is merely a symptom. It has been observed that for some people, once their problems are resolved, they are able to sleep well almost instantaneously.
3. Learned Insomnia
It may sound funny but we can insomnia is a condition that can be learnt. If you are a more worrisome person by nature, you may be anxious about not sleeping well and hence not performing the next day. The more you attempt to sleep, the more stress you add onto yourself, resulting in loss of sleep. Students sometimes find themselves in these situations right before their exams. However, when this becomes habitual, our bodies would respond to a familiar sleep setting such as activities we do before bed like brushing our teeth, changing into pyjamas and the environment and automatically trigger insomnia. It is possible to unlearn this by rearranging your sleeping patterns and environment.
4. Medical and Health
Illnesses can aggravate insomnia. Migraine, heartburn, arthritis, sleep apnea and leg cramps could jolt one from sleep. Sleep apnea is a chronic condition characterized by episodes of loud snoring and pauses in breathing. This is a sleep disorder as victims are often awoken up throughout the night by up to hundreds of times for severe cases.
5. Hormonal Disorders
Hormone levels fluctuate during menstruation, menopause and pregnancy for women. This would set off an imbalance in the production of progesterone which encourages sleep. Aging also effects changes in the levels of hormones that can affect sleep.
So if you are suffering from insomnia or simply want to sleep better, pick up and apply some of the natural treatments for insomnia we will share in my next post to achieve a good night’s sleep.
Natural Treatments For Insomnia
