Insomnia, in a nutshell, is disturbed sleep, often leading to sustained periods of sleeplessness.
However, some people use culture as an excuse for their insomnia.
“It is in the Arab culture. Nights are made to enjoy, not wasted on sleep,” according to Shanaya Atif. “The pressure at work is hectic and the only time you can relax is when you get home at night. I won’t have a social life let alone time for myself if I just go home to sleep. Now it’s a habit and even if I want to, I can’t sleep. I don’t know what to do.”
Step one, listen to yourself. Fight your inner child, and you already know who is right. Machines can’t work 24/7, and your body is no different. It needs rest, and re-fueling.
Real factors that relate to lack of sleep are predominantly work, household responsibilities and child care. Yes, children owe a lot of sleeping hours to their parents. New mothers usually suffer throughout the night taking care of their child.
Emotional factors include illness, layoffs, relationship issues, heartbreak, unexpected challenges such as financial worries and a void of quality sleep may be even more difficult to fill.
Depression is a very common cause of secondary insomnia. It is usually the symptom that drives depressed individuals to seek medical help.
Najran based Dr. Shami Hayat, a general physician, recommended insomniacs to be willing to acknowledge the problem and adopt habits to ease their suffering.
She suggested that motorists should be careful about driving with a lack of sleep to avoid major accidents.
“People should take a break and follow steps that can relieve them of insomnia.” She also recommended six to eight hours of sleep every day, depending on age and health.
“For some, four hours is enough, for others such as the younger generation, up to 11 hours is sufficient.” Mayo Clinic in the USA has investigated this problem further and found that insomniacs find it hard to fall asleep is because they think too much about trying to fall into a slumber into the first place.
If you witness difficulty falling asleep on most nights, or feel tired during the day and that is the only time you can fall asleep, or you keep waking up several times during sleep, these are all signs of primary insomnia. You tend to keep thinking about getting enough sleep. And when you fail to, there is a greater sense of frustration and distress, making it worse for you to rest.
Mediate, and try following these steps before you pop some sleeping pills “because there is no other way,” because there is. It may be easier said than done. But consider natural herbal remedies. It might help you achieve that elusive good night’s sleep.
