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Don't Let Insomnia Destroy Your Life
By Michele Robbins
Causes of Insomnia
Insomnia can be caused by a variety of factors - emotional, medical,
environmental, lifestyle and age. Here they are, discussed in detail:
EMOTIONAL FACTORS
Stress and anxiety: Stress and anxiety is a part and parcel of modern-day
life, be it at workplace or at home - demanding and nagging bosses,
deadlines about to be missed, relations with colleagues, boredom, troubled
family relationships, financial problems, etc., etc. Stress and anxiety
can even affect children who are under pressure to perform well and get
high grades in school. All this stress makes the mind go into hyperactive
mode and lead to insomnia.
MEDICAL FACTORS
Depression: Depression, a mental illness characterized by feelings of
hopelessness and loss of interest in life, can also give rise to insomnia.
Insomnia is one of the major outcomes of depression, so much so that many
times it gets diagnosed only when a patient visits a doctor for
sleeplessness. In fact, many of the other mental illnesses too are
associated with insomnia, because the production of melatonin (a
sleep-inducing hormone produced in the brain by the pineal gland) gets
invariably impaired in such illnesses.
Medical conditions: Chronic medical conditions that cause intense pain or
discomfort (for example, cancer, arthritis, fibromyalgia, asthma, sleep
apnea, heartburn, restless leg syndrome) can strongly disturb the sleep
pattern and wreck one’s sleep.
Medicines: Certain prescription drugs such as those used to treat blood
pressure or mood swings and also corticosteroids are known to cause sleep
disturbance. Even OTC (Over The Counter) drugs such as decongestants,
stimulants, pain relievers and slimming pills that contain caffeine can
cause insomnia, because caffeine is a recognized sleep-buster.
Prolonged use of sedatives: Most insomniacs get their bout of sleep from
their daily dose of sedatives. Prolonged use of sedatives habituates them
to the medicine; over a period of time the dose required to get sleep
needs to be upped steadily - if they don’t do that, insomnia results.
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
A sudden change in work routine, such as a switch from day to night shift,
can also upset the normal body clock and give rise to insomnia. Even
putting in late hours can have the same impact. The human body gets used
to a certain rhythm based on a certain daily routine, and any change in
this routine, whether work-related or otherwise, interferes with the
body’s internal clock and goes on to affect sleep patterns.
LIFESTYLE/BEHAVIORAL FACTORS
Eating habits: Eating too much of heavy-on-the-stomach oily food,
especially in the night, can make the acids from the stomach to march up
into the esophagus and cause heartburn, which makes falling asleep
difficult. Similarly, consuming excess alcohol and caffeine-laced drinks
regularly can also kill sleep.
Behavioral traits: Some people feel that watching TV makes them doze off,
so they faff around on their couch and watch TV, trying to get some sleep.
The result can be just the opposite if they manage to surf to an
interesting program that can glue them to the idiot box, thus wrecking
their sleep rather than lulling them into it. Some people worry too much
about not getting sleep, so they end up doing just that - worrying,
instead of sleeping.
THE AGE FACTOR
Research has proved that as a person ages, his sleep pattern gets more
vulnerable to a host of physical and emotional factors. His sleep is light
and not deep, and if he does not do his daily routine of exercise, he may
not get his full night’s rest.
For more information about Insomnia, Sleeping disorders and treatment
alternatives, please visit us at
http://completeinsomniaguide.com/
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