About overcoming insomnia

There are many tips to help overcome insomnia.

There are 80 different sleep disorders of which the most common is insomnia.  Insomnia may mean you have a hard time going to sleep or that you have a hard time staying asleep. Usually, you will know if you are experiencing insomnia because you will remember tossing and turning or being awake at night.

The following habits and conditions are risk factors for developing insomnia:

• Poor sleep environment (e.g., too noisy, too brightly lit, too hot, or too cold)
• Excessive use of caffeine, alcohol, or certain medications and drugs
• Smoking or chewing tobacco
• Illness
• Obesity
• Anxiety, depression, or another mood disorder
• Stress, such as the death of a loved one or job pressure
• Unhealthy or irregular sleep routine
• Early or late-night bedtimes
• Traveling between time zones
• Daytime napping
• Shift work with a rotating schedule

Insomnia is a sleep disorder characterized by an inability to sleep and/or inability to remain asleep for a reasonable period. Insomniacs typically complain of being unable to close their eyes or “rest their mind” for more than a few minutes at a time.

Insomnia can be caused by fear, stress, anxiety, medications, herbs, caffeine, depression, or other mental conditions and sometimes occurs for no apparent reason. An overactive mind or physical pain may also be causes. Finding the underlying cause of insomnia is usually necessary to cure it. But there are tips for helping with insomnia while you are working on curing it.

Behavioral Treatments for Insomnia:
Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) - This relaxation technique is practiced by tensing certain muscle groups and then totally relaxing them.

Autogenic training - A relaxation method that calls for an individual to repeat a set of visualizations to induce a state of relaxation.

Meditation - Concentration on an object of thought or awareness that can calm and relax the body and mind.

Stress management - Being aware of and managing the amount of stress in your life can allow you to more easily relax at night when it’s time to sleep.

Stimulus control - Stimulus Control therapy reassociates the bed and bedroom with sleeping by limiting the amount of time spent in the bedroom for non-sleep activities.

Diet management - Reducing the use of stimulants and depressants and avoiding big meals just before bed can help reduce the risk of insomnia episodes.

Acupuncture, acupressure, and massage - These alternative treatments can have an extremely calming effect on your nervous system.

Medicinal Treatments for Insomnia:
Benzodiazepines - The most commonly-used class of drugs prescribed for insomnia includes drugs such as temazepam, diazepam, lorazepam, and midazolam.

Non-benzodiazepine prescription drugs - New drugs such as Ambien and Lunesta. These drugs have a cleaner side effect profile than benzodiazepines but do appear to cause psychological dependence and physical dependence.

Melatonin - A hormone that has proved effective for some insomniacs in regulating the sleep/waking cycle.

Over-the-counter sleep aids - Many of these sleep aids use the antihistamine diphenhydramine. The effectiveness of these aids often decreases over time and next-day sedation is common.

These methods will only help with insomnia while you and your medical professional are working on finding the primary problems so as to find a cure.