Insomnia

Ever had trouble falling sleep? Lay awake all night, your head just ticking over, not being able to shut off? Keep waking up at night with no obvious reason? Never feel refreshed after sleep? Well these are some of the symptoms of insomnia. Insomnia is the lack of (or interrupted) sleep, or difficulty in falling asleep.

There are three different types of insomnia:

1. Transient is when a person suffers from insomnia for a short period of time, up to about 2 weeks. this can range from having jet-lag, to exam stress.
2. Acute or short term insomnia last from around three weeks to around six months, when a good nights sleep doesn't come to you consistently for any length of time, however after a period of time, normal sleeping patterns will return.
3. Chronic or long term insomnia is where the suffer lacks sleep almost every single night and for a long length of time.

People who suffer from insomnia usually experience one or more of the following:

• Difficulty in falling asleep at night
• Waking up early and not being able to get back to sleep
• Interrupted sleep, waking up many times during the night
• Having slept all night though not feeling refreshed in the morning

There are many, non-medical ways of trying to help get a good nights sleep. Not all of them work for everybody and you may have to try each to find something that works for you. People have found that the following can work:

• Maintaining a regular sleep pattern as this helps you body clock to know when its time to go to sleep
• Have a healthy diet, as well as this some people find not eating carbs and reducing caffeine intake in the evening helps them to fall asleep easier. However, some foods and beverages, such as turkey, warm milk and cocoa are known to help induce sleep
• Meditation can relax you and help to clear your head, but take medical advice first
• Listen to music, but make sure its something calming and soothing!
• Ear plugs - if even the littlest of noises keep you awake at night, earplugs may be the answer!
• Winding down, doing anything very active like sport can keep you awake at night if you do it late in the day, it may make your body tired, but it can keep your mind ticking over!
• Reading is a nice way to relax, you could try doing it for half an hour or so before turning your light out
• If you're too hot or cold at night this could stop you from sleeping. A hot water bottle is great for this and can work both ways - you can either put hot or cold water in it depending on how you feel
• Keep a sleep diary, see what times you sleep from, it may just be your body just doesn't need that much sleep, or you might notice a pattern before going to bed that helps you to get to sleep.
• If you can't get sleep, don't lay in bed. Get up and do something, read for a bit longer or watch the TV. If you're laying in bed worrying about not sleeping it will stop you from sleeping so do something to take your mind off it.

If none of these work you may want to consult your doctor. There are a great number of things they can do to help you, from sleeping tablets, to referring you to therapy, or possibly even something like acupuncture! It's whatever is best for you and you feel most comfortable with.