by Sandy aka Mom

Created on: March 24, 2007   Last Updated: November 09, 2008

I believe everyone has experienced sleeplessness at some point in their life however; there is a difference between the sleepless night and insomnia. Insomnia actually affects your thought patterns, physical reactions and can cause other health issues - and insomnia can be a symptom of another dis-ease that must be addressed. Your first stop should be your Healthcare Professional as your health isn't something to take lightly (or self diagnose).

What is unfortunate about today's medical practice is that many doctors tend to treat the symptoms, rather than the problem. You must be strong at this point and let your doctor know that you want to make sure your sleeplessness isn't causing another problem, or isn't the result of another dis-ease. If you aren't in danger your next decision is going to be; a) to relieve the symptom with medication, or b) to go a more natural route (some ideas for a natural approach are listed below) - and this is where your work BEGINS. Now you have to determine what is keeping you awake.

Start with your physical surroundings. Is your bed comfortable? Does your room promote sleep (or is it loud colored, messy or otherwise abrasive)? When my young son was having trouble sleeping I changed the decor from black, red and white race cars - to blues and greens with old time vehicles. He never had problems sleeping in that room again.

Next you'll need to look at your diet. Remove caffeine, white flour and sugar - from the afternoon on. This simple change is very powerful. In addition you can add a wonderful sleepy time tea (stores sell many brands) and, if you must sweeten the tea, use honey. People often don't realize how their diet affects their sleep. Even rich foods, at the end of the day, can cause sleeplessness as your body strains to digest them. And, by the way, make sure you're drinking enough water.

The last, and most likely the most difficult, is to look at what you are thinking about. Are issues that happen during the day plaguing you at night? Are you upset about not getting enough sleep? Are most of your thoughts actually complaints, rehashes, worries, feeling sorry for yourself or feeling helpless? Changing your thinking habits (patterns) can be one of the most difficult things a person undertakes. You can tell by the huge amount of self-help books on the market today. However, if your mind is lingering on subjects such as these - you are triggering adrenalin keeping yourself awake (now don't start blaming yourself for this - that

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