Insomnia

Useful Information

• 100  Million Americans do not routinely get a good night's sleep. The sleep deprived get at least one hour less sleep than they need, often because of demanding jobs and busy lives.

• Sleep replenishes the physical and psychic energy spent during the day. It helps you remember new information and sort through emotional material. Lose sleep and you're dull, depressed and irritable.

• Sleep disturbances exist at every age, but generally grow increasingly common after middle age. Older adults need the same amount of sleep they did when they were younger. But lighter sleep, medical problems and daytime naps conspire to make nights shorter and more fragmented.

• Insomnia- the feeling that your sleep isn't refreshing or long enough. If you lie awake half an hour or more before nodding off, if you wake in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep, you have insomnia.

• Insomnia may be a temporary response to emotional stress lasting a few days to a few weeks. Usually normal sleep returns when the stress eases. Sometimes though, insomnia develops a life of its own. 

• Insomnia can be triggered by anything that throws your internal clock out of sync.

• Considering how many situations can set off a cycle of sleeplessness, it's more accurate to speak of "the insomnia's," according to sleep specialists. Adding complexity is the fact that whether a person in a situation will develop insomnia depends on age, personality, reaction to stress and other complicated factors.

• "Skimping on sleep affects performance and mood" according to a Cornell psychiatrist. Memory, learning, problem-solving, reaction time and speaking and writing skills are impaired and mood is depressed.

• Sleep deprivation has often had deadly consequences. Fatigue is the main cause of an estimated 1,000,000 auto accidents each year, also contributing to bus and rail accidents. 

What To Do

• To repay your sleep debt, try taking a 20 minute nap in the afternoon instead of a caffeine break.
• Go to bed 30 minutes earlier than usual for a week and see how alert you are.
• If occasionally, you need to cheat on sleep to finish a project, go to bed at your normal time but get up earlier. The most restorative sleep is concentrated at the beginning of the night. 
• For mild insomnia, homegrown remedies that relax you may do the trick: these range from reading, to aspirin, to warm baths.
• One of the most successful sleep inducers is sex.
• Sleeping pills may be successful only on a short term basis. (Never more than 2 weeks.) Relying on them may require ever increasing amounts.
• All sleeping pills can produce withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety and muscle cramps.
• Over-the-counter sleep aids such as Excedrin P.M. and Nytol use antihistamines to induce sleep but have inherent disadvantages such as next day drowsiness and a tendency to develop tolerance.
• These days, the most talked about remedy is melatonin, a hormone secreted at night by the brain's pineal gland. But recent reviews of published research on melatonin urges skepticism. Scientists found that many studies were poorly controlled or failed to use objective measures to evaluate test results. Early reports suggest melatonin may constrict blood vessels and inhibit fertility. 
• People with chronic, severe insomnia have to look beyond short term remedies. The secret is to identify attitudes and actions that contribute to hard core sleep problems- and confront them head on. 

Remedies To Work On

• Change your attitude. Identifying your beliefs and challenging them allow you to de-emphasize your sleep problems and reduce sleep defeating anxiety.
• Don't try too hard. Go to bed only when your sleepy. If sleep doesn't come, get up and do something relaxing. 
• Cut back on time spent in bed. If your in bed for 8 hours but sleep only 6, go to bed two hours later than usual.
• Practice good sleep hygiene. Avoid caffeine in the late afternoon and evening. Avoid alcohol in the evening. Exercise regularly but at least 3 hours before bedtime.
• Reduce caffeine from coffee, tea, sodas, and chocolate. Avoid alcohol and smoking in the evening. 
• Make sure your bedroom is quiet, dark and cool.
• Create a relaxing atmosphere in the bedroom, free from stress and tension.
• A hot bath and stretching before can promote good sleep habits.
• If your mind is focused on work worries, try writing them down on "worry cards," put them on your bedside table and deal with them in the morning. 
• Read for pleasure before retiring.
• If behavioral techniques don't work, seek professional attention. Your health is at stake.

The following information about sleep patterns of Americans was extracted from Consumers Reports, March 1997 and Reducing Insomnia from "Executives Wake Up!", 1994. Dr. James B. Maas, 210 Uris Hall, Cornell University, Ithica, NY 14853.