by jaybob

Created on: February 10, 2009   Last Updated: February 20, 2009

Insomnia can be a serious problem. Like other sleep disorders, insomnia can have a severe impact on a sufferer's relationships, productivity, and overall quality of life during their waking hours. It's for this reason that a person suffering from what they believe to be insomnia to seek help before they fall into a spiral of either unhealthy sleeping patters or, even worse, chemical dependency.

Across various sleep study surveys, approximately 30% of respondents reported significant sleep-related problems (Anch et al., 1988). These sleep disorder sufferers would have had persistent problems with either: falling asleep; getting quality sleep while they were asleep; waking up in the night and not being able to get back to sleep; and/or suffering from the drowsiness and fatigue characteristic of insomnia. What makes all these respondents who reported sleep-related problems so interesting is the fact that many people who seek help for insomnia actually have very normal sleep patterns in laboratory sleep tests. In fact, three of the largest causes of non-medical insomnia are irregular sleeping hours, oversleeping, and the chemical dependency one can get from the overuse of sleeping aids. It's for reasons like these that counseling can help a great deal in fending off insomnia and getting back on track to quality sleep sooner.

Irregular Sleeping Hours

"Sleep hygiene" is the first line of defense against non-medical sleep disorders. By sticking to a set pattern of regularly going to bed at a certain time and waking up at another, a person can have a huge impact on the quality of sleep they get. If you are prone to staying up to odd hours of the night, sleeping in, or have irregular work hours that keep you actively awake at night, your sleep patterns (circadian rhythm) will find themselves thrown out of sync. By keeping a sleep schedule and sticking to it, your body will fall back into its regular sleep cycle and you will be able to fall asleep sooner and your quality of sleep will increase significantly. By consulting a sleep specialist you will be better able to plan the ideal times for your own sleep schedule.

Oversleeping

As was the case of many respondents in the Anch et al. survey, many people suffering from insomnia actually get (for them) very normal amounts of sleep: a number of hours that can fall anywhere between six and ten. The problem was that these sleep disorder sufferers where actually getting the normal six hours of sleep their particular bodies

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>