What is Chronic Insomnia and what to do if have you Chronic Insomnia
Chronic insomnia is when a person experiences continual sleeplessness several nights a week for at least a month. People with chronic insomnia often have trouble falling asleep or waking up several times during the night and not being able to fall back asleep. They are also have trouble with waking too early in the morning or not feeling rested in the morning. Sometimes people with insomnia have no idea why they are so tired in the morning and are not aware of their tossing and turning during the night or cannot remember waking up several times during the night. A recent study done by the National Sleep Foundation shows that at least 40% of the population admit to feeling sleep deprived to the point that they have trouble functioning during the day. This is a very dangerous symptom of insomnia as it can impair driving abilities- which about 1 in 4 car wrecks are usually caused by sleep deprived drivers. Sleep Disorders Institute also reported that “in most cases Stress is the most common of all the causes of insomnia”.
Chronic Insomnia can also be an indicator of a medical problem, poor eating or sleeping habits, and or drug interference. If you are experiencing “continual” or chronic insomnia you should seek the advice of a medical professional. The occasional sleepless night is not a concern for those who experience them but if you find you are experiencing sleepless nights more often than not in about a 2 month time period then you may need to consider getting that looked at. This can be a huge disruption in a person’s everyday life as anxiety, irritability, impaired judgment, medical problems and other risk factors can impair work or personal relationships. Thus, sleep is a huge part of the overall health, productivity, and enjoyment of a person’s life.
If insomnia is severe or long-lasting, a thorough evaluation is needed to uncover coexisting medical, neurologic, or psychiatric illness for insomnia help. For example: some symptoms of insomnia may be due to another cause such as anemia, magnesium deficiency insomnia, or another underlying medical condition or nutrient deficiency. Treatment without the use of medication is usually recommended first. One should seek a health care professional- which kind of health-care professional is a personal choice. Alternative or holistic doctors will look for physical underlying causes while therapists or sleep disorder centers can help identify emotional or stress related cuases. Medical doctors are trained to mainly treat symptoms and prescribe drugs but if you want to really solve the problem you need to try to find the underlying cause. Sometimes therapy that teaches the patient good sleep habits and exercise can be very helpful. Therapy that includes cognitive behavior therapy, stimulus control, sleep restriction therapy, and exercise have proven to be very effective.
