As we turn the corner from the longest nights of the year, sleeplessness is a common issue for many. Sleep is a basic human need and is essential for good mental and physical health. Sleep-wake disorders involve excessive sleepiness, breathing-related sleep disturbances, and abnormal experiences during sleep.
Common symptoms of insomnia and sleep-wake disorders include difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, and having trouble waking up most days.
Factors that contribute to sleep disturbances are things like anxiety, stress, depression, chronic pain, stimulants (caffeine, nicotine, and some medications), and having an irregular sleep schedule. Some groups of people are at higher risk than others such as doctors and nurses, shift workers, truck drivers, and parents with very young children.
Lack of deep sleep causes a multitude of issues such as daytime fatigue, difficulty paying attention, concentration challenges, decrease in productivity, irritability, angry outbursts, memory challenges, and an inability to multitask.
To overcome these challenges, keep track of the time you fall asleep and wake up, how long it takes you to fall asleep, how often you wake through the night, and how long it takes to fall back asleep. Bring your answers to a psychologist or doctor who specializes in sleep disorders.
Your doctor can send you to a sleep clinic to see if you have sleep obstruction (sleep apnea). Your partner or roommate may tell you how loud or how much you snore. Doctors can prescribe you short term medication to get you back on track. However, compared to medication, your psychologist can teach you drug free techniques by assessing your sleep problems, teaching you better sleep hygiene, and offering evidence-based psychotherapy, and self-care practices such as:
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
- Relaxation techniques
- Specific exercise routines
- Exploration of nicotine and caffeine use (caffeine is hidden in many foods)
- Help create consistent sleep routines
- Help you learn to limit naps
- Teach you how to create a healthy sleep environment
- Night-time brain dump
Sleep is essential to your well-being. Don’t put off seeking the help that’s available
