Insomnia Myths & Facts

Some people are so good at sleeping, they can sleep instantly with their eyes closed, zzz... they are off to their dream land. While others are not, those who suffer from insomnia, sleeping is a struggle for them. Here are some myths and facts about insomnia.

#Myth 1- Insomnia means you have difficulty in falling asleep.

Fact: Difficulty in falling asleep is actually just one of the symptoms of insomnia. Other symptoms such as difficulty staying asleep (waking up during the night and having trouble returning to sleep), waking up too early in the morning and unrefreshing sleep  also known as non-restorative sleep. These symptoms should be discussed with physician or health care professional if they occur a few times a week and disrupts normal functioning routine (National Sleep Foundation, 2016). 

#Myth 2- A drink (alcohol) will help in sleeping. 

Fact: Couldn't sleep? Thinking to have an alcoholic drink to offer relief? Alcohol does help in falling asleep quicker, but it does not improve overall sleep quality. as well as causes disrupted and restless sleep. This is because once the alcohol level in the blood starts to fall, it will result in waking up and unable to return to sleep again. It may even make you an early riser. 

#Myth 3- Exercise can improve sleep. 

Fact: It is true that regular exercise can help to improve sleep. However, avoid working out too late or too vigorously before bedtime because it may disturb your sleep. This is due to the reason that vigorous exercise can make you more alert and the body-heating effects of exercise triggers the body temperature to increase, which may stay elevated for up to six hours. Try to complete the exercise two to three hours before bedtime. 

#Myth 4- Napping does not have any effect on night time sleeping.

Fact: Napping can have different effects on every person. A 20-30 minutes napping may get some people feel refreshed, whereas for those who suffer from insomnia, it may decrease their sleep drive at night. This will make them even more difficult to sleep at night, thus they should avoid daytime napping.

#Myth 5- Everyone needs an eight-hour sleeping time. 

Fact: We all know that we should sleep for 8 hours everyday. In fact, rather than one-size-fits-all approach, everyone is unique and they may need different amount of sleep. For example, infants and teens need 9-11 hours per day while adults need 7-8 hours per day. However, it all depends on each individual. Some may feel better on 4-5 hours of sleep, while others may need 10. The amount of sleep that any person needs can vary, depending on the person's lifestyle, state of mind and beliefs about sleep (Katherine, 1996). 

#Myth 6- If you can't sleep, just stay in bed and try to sleep.

Fact: People who find difficulty in falling asleep or waking up in the middle of night but are unable to get back to sleep again within 15-20 minutes, it is recommended to get out of the bed as tossing and turning on the bed would not help. This is because it may cause negative associations between bed and sleep such as the urge to check the clock and frustration. Find some relaxing activities, such as listening to relaxing music, reading or meditating to distract oneself and they may induce sleep. Go to bed when you start to feel sleepy. 

To wrap up, learning about the myths and facts about insomnia can be helpful. 

REFERENCES

Katherine, A.A. (1996). Get a good night's sleep. New York: Simon & Schuster.

National Sleep Foundation (2016). How does exercise help those with chronic insomnia? Retrieved October 12, 2016, from https://sleepfoundation.org/ask-the-expert/how-does-exercise-help-those-chronic-insomnia 

Risk factors of insomnia

Nowadays, there are many people facing insomnia problem as they getting the stress for life event, daily hazard or health conditions and more. These problems that they facing everyday will lead them to insomnia and cannot have a good sleep nearly every night. The chances of getting sleeping problems are almost equally in everyone no matters you are an elderly, a young adults or a students. However, here are some risk factors that will lead to insomnia that we need to know so that we can avoid it.

If you are a woman, unfortunately, the rate of getting insomnia is higher compared to others. This is because woman will experience menstrual cycle and menopause in their life. The hormonal shift during these two cycles play a role in their sleeping schedule. When a woman is experiencing menopause, she will be facing the night sweats and hot flashes when she is sleeping. These conditions will disrupt her sleeping quality and usually cannot get a well sleep over a period.

Besides a woman, someone with mental health disorder will normally getting insomnia as well. These disorders such as depression, anxiety, bi-polar disorder and others will lead someone to insomnia as well. These kinds of disorders will disrupt the sleeping schedule and ruin the sleeping quality of one's. For an example, the early-wakening is one of  the symptoms of depression which normally making one's cannot get enough sleep at night.

For someone who always travels a long distance or having night-shift jobs, they will easily facing insomnia problem. Working at night-shift or irregular working schedule will mess up one's sleeping schedule. After a long period, these people will get insomnia. For those who always travelling far will facing jetlag problem as they always be in different time zone making them cannot used to it. Therefore, their sleeping schedule will get disrupt.

Sleep is very important to everyone. It can boost up our immune system and maintain our health. Get a good sleep everyone Sleep tight and Sweet dreams!

REFERENCES

Health (2008). Common Risk Factors for Insomnia, Sleep Apnea, and Other Sleep Disorders. Retrieved October 11, 2016, from http://www.health.com/health/condition-article/0,,20187963,00.html 

Mayo Clinic (2014). Insomnia Risk factors. Retrieved October 11, 2016, from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/insomnia/basics/risk-factors/con-20024293

Causes of insomnia

Insomnia can be caused by psychiatric and medical conditions, unhealthy sleep habits, specific substances (nicotine, caffeine, etc.), and certain biological factors. Our brain has a sleep cycle and a wake cycle which they function alternatively which when one is turned on, another will be turned off. Insomnia connected to either part of this two cycle. besides that, in the recent research, researches have started to think that about insomnia as a problem of our brain being unable to stop being awake. therefore, it is very important to know what causes insomnia in you so that can find the efficient treatment to get rid of insomnia.

What will cause insomnia? There are many causes will caused insomnia that disturb our sleeping schedule. The first is the medical conditions. Sometimes, the medical condition itself will cause insomnia, but in other cases, the symptoms of the medical condition which produce discomfort for a person to sleep. Examples of medical conditions that lead to insomnia such as arthritic, asthma, gastrointestinal problems, endocrine problem and more.

Stress and anxiety will lead to insomnia as well. Stressful event such as bereavement, workplace problems, family issues, relationship issues or financial difficulties and others will develop insomnia in one's as well. Even the event has over or passed, this insomnia problem will continue long because they start to associate going to bed with being awake. In such point, anxiety is developed because of sleep itself. The general worries will always keep one awake at night because they keep thinking about it and cannot sleep well. Moreover, when someone is worried about he or she cannot sleep well, condition will be worsen that the person cannot fall asleep at all.

Poor sleep habits and sleeping environment will contribute to insomnia as well. Inconsistent sleeping schedule, irregular working schedule or nap too much during the day will make someone struggle to get a good night's sleep. Poor sleeping environment contribute to insomnia as well, for instance, an uncomfortable bed or noisy environment or the weather is too cold or too hot and more.

Insomnia can be related to foods that one's take in daily as well. Certain substances in foods and eating patterns can lead to insomnia. Even though alcohol can help ones to fall asleep initially, but it will disrupt the sleeping quality later in night that makes one cannot have a deep sleep. Besides, caffeine is the most common substances that bring insomnia to someone. Caffeine is a stimulant and will stay in the body system up to eight hours, so the effect is long lasting. Therefore, do not consume foods or beverages that contain caffeine too close to sleep times.

It is important to know what causes that lead you to insomnia so that can avoid the activities that lead to insomnia. Go away, insomnia!

REFERENCES

Mayo Clinic (2014). Insomnia Causes. Retrieved October 11, 2016, from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/insomnia/basics/causes/con-20024293

National Sleep Foundation (2016). What Causes Insomnia?. Retrieved October 11, 2016, from https://sleepfoundation.org/insomnia/content/what-causes-insomnia

Living with Insomnia

*lights out*

*go to bed*

*eyes closed*

tic toc tic toc tic toc tic toc......

*eyes opened*

*silent night*

*staring at the wall*

*checking the clock*

*wondering "why am I still awake?"*

*turn and toss on the bed*

*eyes closed with the hope of falling asleep*

tic toc tic toc tic toc tic toc......

These are some normal routines for those who are insomnia. Sleep has become a luxury to them, while in fact it is a necessity for all of us. Most of the insomniac will probably hear some of these advices:

"You can try to drink a cup of warm milk before bed, it will makes you fall asleep easily."

"Take a hot shower, it'll relax."

"Exercise, it does help."

"Yes, we do know all these tips. It's not like we have not try it before. They just don't work!" say insomniacs.

People who are living with insomnia, first of all, they feel tired and sleepy most of the time and they may nod off easily at the slightest opportunity in normal routine such as sitting, standing or waiting for a bus. Insomnia can severely impair our body's and mind's ability to function 100 % on daily basis. Due to sleep deprivation, they may be forgetful, clumsy and may not be able to concentrate; normal tasks seem more difficult to them.

As mentioned above, those tips that were supposed to help falling asleep easily were not working on insomniacs and this will make them experience a range of feelings. For example:

"Everything's good and you are going to sleep. 
Soon, two hours has past but you have not fallen asleep yet. It's okay, I will fall asleep soon. 

But still your eyes are wide open and urging to check the clock to see how many hours do you left to sleep. 

You start to get annoyed. Maybe sleeping on my left would feel better.

So you turn, convince yourself that you are sleepy and start the counting sheep. 1,2,3,4,.... at some point, you have lost count and a voice appeared: This is no use. It is not working. 

Panic kicks in and you wonder how many more hours do you get to sleep. 

Counting sheep starts all over again but it lost count anyway. 

You wanted to cry. I JUST WANTED TO SLEEP, why can't I?"

Eventually, they may manage to fall asleep but they would not feel refreshed at all as they feel that they have not sleep enough. Besides, insomniacs also experience emotions ranging from anger to despair because they have tried everything, literally everything, but nothing works! They will physically and mentally tired and this will eventually stress them out.

As anyone who has insomnia will tell you, the very act of lying awake while the rest of the house are sleeping can feel very lonely and frustrating (National Sleep Foundation, 2016). It does feel isolating to be staring at the ceiling while you know that others are sleeping peacefully. It will become a source of tension and worry over time causing negative effects on their mental health. They are at risk of depression, anxiety and mood problems. This is because a lack of sleep warps the parts of the brain linked to emotion (Ben, 2016).

In addition, insomniacs will also experience sleep anxiety which refers to the negative and worrisome thoughts about sleep that can keep them awake. They will ask "If I'm so tired, then why can't I sleep?". Somehow, this anxiety about their exhaustion becomes part of the problem and wakes them up, which will only makes them more tired.

As a conclusion, people experience insomnia because they develop a pattern of behavior that interferes with good sleeping habits. Sleeping difficulties are often connected to underlying problems such as stress, depression or anxiety (American Psychological Association, 2016). Thus, for those who are living with insomnia, it is recommended to consult or seek advice from a physician, medical professional or even a psychologist.

REFERENCES

American Psychological Association (2016). Getting a good night's sleep: how psychologists help    with insomnia. Retrieved October 11, 2016, from http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/sleep-disorders.aspx

Ben Spencer (2016). Why insomnia makes you feel like a depressed zombie: Lack of sleep 'rewires' the parts of the brain linked to emotion. Retrieved October 11, 2016, from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3523146/Why-insomnia-makes-feel-like-depressed-zombie-Lack-sleep-wires-parts-brain-linked-emotion.html

National Sleep Foundation (2015). Insomnia & You. Retrieved October 11, 2016, from     https://sleepfoundation.org/insomnia/content/insomnia-you

What is insomnia?

Insomnia is a sleeping disorder that happened when a person finds it hard to fall asleep when he or she has the chance to do so. Insomnia is a persistent disorder that can cause you usually awaken with the feelings of unrefreshed or unrested which could affect your daily function (Clinic, 2014). Insomnia will cause you lack of energy and concentration,  health problems, your work performance, and more. According to research, more than 30 percent of the population experience insomnia which means 1 in 3 people suffers insomnia (Sowder, 2016). Insomnia can be seen at any age but mostly in adult females than males. That is because women have some biological conditions that are different from men, like the menstrual cycle, pregnancy and menopause. The developing of hormones like estrogen and progesterone will impact the sleeping quality of women (M.A., 2015).

Insomnia can be separated into 3 main types:

1.       Transient insomnia – Symptoms continuing for a few days to a week (e.g. jet lag and environment noise).

2.       Acute insomnia (also known as short-term insomnia) – Symptoms continuing for several weeks.

3.       Chronic insomnia – Symptoms persist for at least months to years. 

Biopsychosocial theory or model

                

Biopsychosocial theory or model is a model that has been used for identifying the links of a disease between biological, psychological, and social factors. By using this model, we can identify the cause of a disease under its perspective.

Transient insomnia and acute insomnia (biological, psychological, and social factors)

SHORT-TERM

Biological factors

Illness-  Sickness and illness can affect a person’s quality of sleep. For instance, Liwen is having fever since 3 days ago and she couldn’t sleep well these nights because she keeps having headache. She recovered after a few days of time and able to sleep well again.

Caffeine-  In order to get rid of tiredness, a lot of people choose caffeine and it’s the most common way to them. When you take the proper amount of caffeine is fine, but if when you take over than 500 to 600 mg per day it will cause us a lot of side effects include insomnia. That is because caffeine will keep us awake and raise our alertness to block sleep-inducing in our brain and increase our adrenaline levels which will make us more energized. So, take the right amount of caffeine a day and do not have any caffeine intake before you go to bed.

Menstruation - For women, menstruation will affect their quality of sleep as they keep waking up every 2 or 3 hours. That is because the changing levels of hormones like estrogen and progesterone will increase the temperature of your body hence preventing REM sleep in you and you tend to be more sensitive and moody about things. So, you will tend to have negative feelings and thinking at night. Besides that, if the level of progesterone isn’t high enough to make you drowsy, your need to sleep will be disturbed.

Psychological factors

Anxiety – the feelings of worry will affect your quality of sleep. For example, you are having an interview tomorrow and you scared that you will fail to impress in the interview. The nervousness will cause you couldn’t have a good nigh sleep.

 Stress – Insomnia can easily link to stress because stress causes hyperarousal, which will imbalanced the needs to fall asleep and wakefulness. For example, an assignment deadline is coming and you haven’t finish it, you will tend to put stress on you and it will affect your quality of sleep. Although stress is just temporary, but it can become a long-term disorder, depression.

Social factors

Jet lag –  When we travel to a different country with different time zone, we tend to have the higher risk of getting insomnia. The reason is our internal biological clock is mismatch with the external environment. In other words, our internal clock is desynchronizing between the new time zone schedule and the time that we should sleep. For example, Debbie travels from Malaysia to United Kingdom and her internal clock says that she should sleep now during the daytime at there and should stay awake during nighttime since the time zone has changed.

Environment conditions- Noise, light, or room temperature can disturb your sleeping quality. For example, a dog keeps barking outside out of your house and the sound of barking keep waking you up thus causing you insomnia.  

Chronic insomnia (biological, psychological, and social factors)

LONG-TERM

Biological factors

Long-term health problems-  Sometimes our health problems could affect the quality of our sleep, like arthritic, headache disorder, asthma, restless legs syndrome, chronic pain and more.

Smoking- Insomnia can be found easily in smokers especially a chain smoker. The nicotine that cigarettes contained will cause a person decreased in sleep efficiency and affect sleep fragmentation.

Alcohol -  A lot of people think that drink a little bit of alcohol before bed will improve their sleeping quality because it makes them drowsy, which is not exactly true. Yes, alcohol makes you feel drowsy, but when your body metabolizes the alcohol, this process will disrupt your sleep and you may suddenly wakeup in the middle of the night.  

Psychological factors

Lifestyle- Lifestyle plays an important role in our needs to sleep because irregular routine you go to bed will affect your quality of sleep. Besides that, when you consuming large meals before bed, it will affect your quality of sleep by increasing the chance of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Then, people tend to drink a lot of water before bed. PLEASE DON’T DO THAT SO THAT YOU WONT HAVE TO GET OUT OF BED TO URINATE SO OFTEN.

Depression - When we are having stress for a long time, we may have depression. Depression may cause us sleeping more or less as usual thus affecting our sleeping routine. Besides, you will tend to feel more anger and rage, having a lot of negative thinking and hard to fall asleep.

Social factors

Financial stress –  The unstable economy may cause a person losing his or her job and they tend to find it hard to sleep because they keep worrying about bills and how they going to keep their income coming.

Family relationships – The loss of someone or divorcement can cause a person having insomnia That is because they tend to feel sad and missed their partner or family members that has passed away. Lack of family support and love and belongingness may affect their quality of sleep too.

 

REFERENCES

Mayo Clinic (2014). Insomnia. Retrieved October 5, 2016, from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/insomnia/basics/definition/con-20024293

Peter, C. (2015). Sleep / Sleep Disorders / Insomnia. Retrieved October 5, 2016, from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/9155.php

Sowder, J. (2016). Insomnia Statistics. Retrieved October 5, 2016, from http://www.better-sleep-better-life.com/insomnia-statistics.html

Treatment of Insomnia

Treatment

There are few ways to treat insomnia. However, if it doesn’t help, your GP may be able to recommend other treatments. A GP is called as general practitioner or generalist, means that as a physician, they are not only expertise in only one specific area of medicine but others as well. They will provide a set of health care therapy to patients and able to treat different kinds of health conditions like illness and injuries.   

Cognitive and behavioral treatments

Cognitive behavioral (CBT-I) is a technique that teach you to change your beliefs that will affect your sleep and helps you to recognize it.

Stimulus control therapy is a method that helps to make your mind to establish bedroom for your sleep or wake up pattern. For example, set a schedule for your sleeping and wake up time, avoid to nap on day, use the bed only for sleep and sex and go to bed only when you feel sleepy.

Sleep restriction therapy is a method that suggests you to limit the amount of time spent in bed to the actual amount of time spent in sleep because staying in bed when you’re awake can lead to bad habit of poor sleep. This treatment is to help reduce your time spent in bed which will create mild sleep deprivation and makes you more tired on the next day. Sleeping qualities improved as you increase your sleep time.

Relaxation training is a method that aids in calming your mind and body. This treatment includes meditation, imagery, muscle relaxation and others.

Biofeedback is a treatment that uses sensors machine helps you observe biological signs like your heart rate and muscle tension. It will show picture or sounds when you are not relaxed.

Sleep hygiene is a practice that involves changing your basic lifestyle that will influence your sleep at night. This include avoid eating heavy meals at night, smoke or drink caffeine, nap at daytime and others.

Paradoxical intention is to makes you stay awake or avoid the intention to sleep. This method is use only when you have trouble to sleep but not maintaining sleep.

Medication

Your doctor might turn to medication when lifestyle habit changes and behavior therapies does not help your insomnia. Discuss with your doctor the treatment plan that you did. However, they don’t recommend you to rely on sleeping pills for more than few weeks because it may lead to addictive. Nowadays, it is used much lesser than in the past. Doctor will only consider giving you pill when you are having severe insomnia, short-term insomnia or both lifestyle habit change and behavior therapies never help. Sleeping pills contains dangerous side effects like drowsiness in the following morning and some people might rely on this pill.

REFERENCES

NHS Choices (2015). Insomnia - Treatment. Retrieved October 7, 2016, from  http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Insomnia/Pages/Treatment.aspx

Sleep Education (2015). Insomnia - Treatment. Retrieved October 7, 2016, from http://www.sleepeducation.org/essentials-in-sleep/insomnia/treatment

Mayo Clinic (2016). Insomnia treatment: Cognitive behavioral therapy instead of sleeping pills. Retrieved October 7, 2016, from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/insomnia/in-depth/insomnia-treatment/art-20046677