In general, insomnia treatments are not necessary because temporary insomnia goes away when the underlying trigger is removed or corrected. Most people seek medical insomnia treatments when their insomnia becomes chronic. The main focus of insomnia treatments should be directed towards finding the cause. Once the cause is identified, it's important to manage and control the underlying problem, since this alone will probably eliminate the insomnia all together. Treating the symptoms of insomnia without addressing the main cause just won't work.
Most of the time, chronic insomnia can be cured if its medical or psychiatric causes are evaluated and insomnia treatments are implemented properly.
The following treatments may be used in conjunction with therapies directed towards the underlying medical or psychiatric cause.
Treatment of insomnia includes both non-medical and medical aspects. It's best to tailor insomnia treatment for each individual patient based on the cause. Studies have shown that combining medical and non-medical treatments are usually much more successful in treating insomnia than using one alone.
Non-medical therapies are sleep hygiene, relaxation therapy, stimulus control and sleep restriction. These are called cognitive behavioral therapies.
Insomnia Treatments
Sleep hygiene is one of the components of behavioral therapy for insomnia. Several simple steps can be taken to improve a patient's sleep quality. They include:
Sleep as much as you need to feel rested, but don't oversleep.
Exercise regularly at least 20 minutes a day, ideally 4-5 hours before you go to bed.
Don't try to force yourself to sleep.
Keep a regular sleep schedule.
Don't drink caffeinated beverages later than 2 0r 3 PM in the afternoon (tea, coffee, soft drinks etc.)
Don't drink alcoholic beverages prior to going to bed.
Don't smoke, especially in the evening.
Don't go to bed hungry.
Adjust the lights, temperature and noise levels, etc.
Don't go to bed with worries on your mind, try to resolve them before going to bed.
Relaxation therapy involves things like meditation, muscle relaxation or dimming the lights and playing soothing music before you go to bed.
Stimulus control insomnia treatments include a few simple steps that may help you with chronic insomnia.
Go to bed when you feel sleepy.
Don't watch TV, read, eat, or lay awake worrying in bed. Your bed should be used only for sleep and sexual activity.
If you don't fall asleep in 30 minutes after going to bed, get up and go to another room and just relax.
Set your alarm clock to get up at a certain time every morning, even on weekends.
Avoid taking long naps during the day.
Restricting your time in bed, only to sleep may help you.
This is called sleep restriction. Rigid bedtime and awake time are set, and the patient is forced to get up at the awake time, even if they feel sleepy. This may even help the patient sleep better the next night because of the sleep deprivation from the previous night. Sleep limiting has been helpful in some cases.
Other simple insomnia treatments that can be helpful to treat insomnia include:
Avoid large meals and too many fluids before bedtime
Control your environment
Lights, noises, and uncomfortable room temperature can disrupt sleep. People who work nights and grave yard shifts, especially must address these factors. Dimming the lights in the bedroom, relaxation, limiting the noise, and avoiding stressful tasks before going to bed will be a huge benefit.
Avoid doing work in the bedroom that may make you relate stressful situations to sleep. In other words, don't work or operate your business from your bedroom and avoid watching TV, reading books, and eating in your bed.
A person's biological clock is particularly sensitive to light. Parents who need to sleep during the day, due to the work schedule they maintain, may have to make child care arrangements to allow them to sleep. Insomnia treatments work best when you attack the root cause and avoid those outside influences from robbing your peaceful rest.
