Dealing with Insomnia – Symptom vs. Underlying Illness

Have you noticed that every other TV commercial either deals with low energy or trouble sleeping? Insomnia is a huge issue today, we even have a relatively field of medicine today called Sleep Specialists. Sleep to the brain is like insulin to the pancreas. We all need a good night sleep to repair our bodies, keep our hearts healthy, reduce stress, help with memory and other mental tasks. Scientists believe that sleep maintains and repairs our bodies and minds. Every night we cycle through three stages of sleep ranging from light-sleep to deep-sleep, and finally, to rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.

A complete sleep cycle takes ninety to one hundred minutes on average. While we sleep our brains are using important neuronal connections that might otherwise get worse from lack of activity. During deep-sleep, brain area that controls emotions, the decision-making processes, and social interaction stops; thus allowing us to maintain optimal emotional and social functioning when we are awake. Cellular repair and growth take place to combat the effects of stress and UV rays in this stage as well. Hence deep sleep is really beauty sleep. Sleep also strengthens our immune system and helps our bodies fight infection, this is because our immune system releases a sleep inducing chemical while fighting a flu or an infection. Click here for WebMD’s views in Dealing with insomnia

Sleep Disturbances Often Accompany Depression and Anxiety

Almost 90% of people with depression and anxiety, suffer from insomnia. Sleep helps the body conserve energy and other resources that the immune system requires to mount an effective attack. Start your insomnia treatment as soon as possible to prevent sleep deprivation.

Insomnia is not an illness but rather a symptom of something else. Many people are dealing with insomnia and treat it as an illness and never get to the underlying cause. One should get a complete physical and mental examination to rule out these factors. Diet, lack of exercise, stress, mental illness, acute crises, and physical inactivity can each be responsible for insomnia.

Best Treatment

Sleep-aids do play a significant role (temporarily) in dealing with the underlying causes of insomnia, the lack of sleep begets more sleeplessness and spirals downward from there. If you are suffering from insomnia, you need to see your doctor to learn what is causing it. Often insomnia is caused by sleep apnea which is a very serious condition yet very treatable

Here are some statistics that you might find interesting about dealing with insomnia:

  • People today are sleeping on average 20% less than they did 100 years ago
  • Over 30 million Americans suffer from insomnia (10%)
  • 20-40% of adults in the US experience insomnia in any given year
  • 51% of Americans are losing sleep due to stress and/or anxiety
  • 40% – 60% of people over 60 suffer from insomnia
  • Women are between 1.5 and 2 times more likely to suffer from insomnia than men
  • Approx 35% of insomniacs have a family history of insomnia – red flag of an underlying disorder
  • Approx 10 million people in the US use prescription sleep aids/insomnia medications to help them sleep
  • The average person needs eight hours of sleep, while infants need sixteen hours of sleep, and teenagers need about nine hours
  • People who suffer from sleep deprivation are 27% more likely to become overweight

You need your sleep for your mental hygiene and overall health. Don’t dismiss insomnia as typical of a “busy person” – get help. Struggling with insomnia is one of the most critical issues to mental hygiene today. Insomnia should be a red flag that signals a the need to change your diet, exercise, and begin some stress management; if these alone don’t work, please seek psychiatric help.

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