The term ‘Insomnia’ is a common word used in today’s world. In this busy world, we all face many problems every day. The busy lives led to no time for ourselves because of work and family. The time that we all should sleep is at night time, but we all make some sleeping time changes. Some used to stay awake all night and sleep in the morning, and it is not at all good for your body.
By doing this, you change the rhythms of your body’s working, which may harm you. Lack of enough sleep can cause many health problems, which will make your body unstable in an unhealthy manner. Insomnia is a condition that leads to having issues falling asleep. It can lead you to many significant problems, so it is better to identify a cure early. It is even better to take precautionary measures so that it would not affect you.
About Insomnia
Insomnia leads to sleeping difficulty or trouble in the sleeping process. It may affect your daily life, so it is better to get rid of this problem. It may be short-termed or longed termed, like lasting for one or two nights to a few weeks. It becomes a chronic disorder when it occurs for three nights a week for a few months.
There are mainly two types of insomnia known, which are Primary insomnia and secondary insomnia. Primary insomnia can happen to you as sleep problems in a typical case like it is not related to your health problems. Secondary insomnia will cause difficulties for you in sleeping, which is related to your health condition, which may be cancer, arthritis, asthma, etc., or maybe because of some medications.
Causes of insomnia
The causes of primary insomnia are:
- The things around you which may disturb you at the time of sleeping like light, sound, etc.
- Stress or strain related events happening in your life like work pressure, problems in a relationship, losing contact with close ones, etc.
- Lack of sleep due to work, like night shifts, or picking new bad habits may lead to primary insomnia.
The causes of secondary insomnia are:
- The medications you take for asthma, allergies, cold, etc may lead to these problems because of the dose of chemicals in them that lag your sleep.
- Having some other disorders related to sleep like restless legs syndrome, sleep apnea, etc.
- If you exceed the use of products like caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, etc. may contain substances that make you awake most of them even though you feel tired.
- Some health issues related to the mind, like depression and stress, may affect your sleep at night.
- Endocrine related problems or hyperthyroidism can also be the reason for secondary insomnia.
- Pain or some uncomfortable things happening at night may affect your sleep as well.
Symptoms of insomnia
The most commonly seen symptoms of insomnia are:
- Waking up at night time during sleep due to some distractions.
- Feeling sleepy and tired at day time due to lack of sleep at night time.
- Difficulty in falling asleep at night because of thinking too many things.
- Depression, anxiety, etc., due to lack of sleep and feeling irritated and angry.
- Early awakening in the morning as you cannot feel asleep at all.
- Difficulty in focusing or concentrating in classes or other tasks at the workplace.
- Not having a feel of getting enough rest due to this kind of sleep and worrying all time about this.
Risk factors included in insomnia
Insomnia is becoming quite common nowadays because of our change in lifestyles. But some of the factors that we have may make us prone to this disorder, which is the risk factors. The risk factors of insomnia include:
- Women are somewhat prone to this disorder because of the hormonal changes in their bodies due to menstruation and menopause. The sweaty and irritable times during menopause can disrupt sleep, which is also a typical case for pregnant women.
- Age also matters. As you age more, the hormones and the enzymatic reactions in your body gradually change. So, there can be disruption in sleep during the night time because of the changes in health and lifestyle when you are over 60 years of age.
- A lot of stress that arises from work pressure, problems in relationships, etc. can affect your mind and health, resulting in a few sleepless nights. Some are short while few others are long term insomnia.
- The health condition of yours also matters; if you have physical or mental health-related disorders or problems, it can also make you prone to insomnia.
- The lack of having a regular schedule for your work can make you affect insomnia. The change of shifts from morning to night may badly affect your health, pushing you under the risk factor of insomnia.
Is there a need to visit a doctor to cure insomnia?
It is a proper and right way to consult a doctor to solve the problems that you face due to insomnia. Sometimes, insomnia can cause many difficulties, which may create problems for you.
So, it is better to pay a visit to the concerned doctor to identify the causes of the problem and properly treat you. You might be referred to a particular test at any sleep center to treat and know more about the sleep disorder.
How to prevent insomnia from affecting us?
- Avoid using products that contain caffeine, alcohol, or nicotine at late night before bed because the substances in it contain stimulants that make you awake and prevent you from sleeping. It can make you wake up in the middle of sleep, and the alcohol content in your body will indeed affect your sleep quality time.
- Try setting a particular time for waking up and going to bed. You have to fix a time and continue doing it every day and do not go to sleep at day time because it may become a reason not to sleep at night time.
- Avoid mobile phone usage or any other electronic devices before bed, as its screen light may make your eyes harder to fall asleep.
- Try to avoid eating heavy meals at the late hour before sleeping, prefer eating something light that can be digested easily by our body.
- Working out just before bed is not advised as it makes it harder to fall asleep; try doing it at least four hours before bed.
- If you have trouble sleeping in your rooms with lights or something, you can make it darker or use eye masks to get a comfortable sleep.
- If you are not feeling to sleep at the time you have fixed, try doing something calm like listening to music or reading books, which will make your mind relax and go to sleep peacefully.
Is insomnia a dangerous condition?
- It is not that serious if it is just acute insomnia, as it may only stay for some days. It’s a scientific fact seep. It is necessary for both our mind and health, as with sleepless nights, we may feel tired and exhausted throughout the day, which affects our body both mentally and physically.
- It is vital to resolve the sleepless state of mind, so it is worth visiting the health specialist and taking medications if necessary before things become dangerous. Many complications may happen due to insomnia.
- The complications may include the risk of getting affected by diseases like blood pressure, heart-related disease to losing concentration in studies, or the work you are doing. Treating it will surely help you get things clear for you.
Conclusion
Insomnia is a sleep disorder now commonly seen in people of all ages, mostly in older people. The effects that we get is something irritating and disturbing, so we must visit a doctor and find medications as soon as you find them.
Even if they do not have it, it is always better to take precautions. It is also necessary to find that you have insomnia and not any other problems. So you should check your symptoms, and if it matches insomnia, you should pay a visit to the doctor and confirm the problem so that you can take the necessary medications.
The lack of sleep may affect the whole rhythm of routine you have badly, affecting your health. So, be careful and take the necessary measures to get rid of it.