Nancy Ho asked:


Insomnia

Individuals will normally vary in their need for and the satisfaction they derive from sleep. Insomnia may cause problems during the day, such as tiredness, a lack of energy, difficulty in concentration and irritability.

Insomnia can be classified as transient (short term), where a person has not been able to get any sleep from the last few days or weeks, intermittent (on and off) or acute.

Transient insomnia lasts anywhere from a single night to a few weeks. If episodes of transient insomnia occur from time to time, insomnia is said to be intermittent.

A person with acute insomnia will either not be able to sleep properly, or will have difficulty sleeping for about 3 weeks to six months. Insomnia is considered to be chronic if it occurs on most nights and lasts for a month or more.

The Causes of Insomnia

Individuals with certain physiological and psychological conditions are more likely to be affected by insomnia. The following are some examples:

Advanced age (insomnia occurs more frequently in those age 60) Female gender A history of depression or having a negative mindset Other conditions (such as stress, anxiety, a medical problem, or the use of certain medications) including the above conditions, insomnia is likely to happen on the individual.

There are many causes of insomnia. Transient and acute/intermittent insomnia usually occur in people who are temporarily experiencing one or more of the following:

Reaction to Stress Environmental noise Extreme temperatures, too old or too warm Change in the surrounding environment i.e bedrooms Sleep/wake schedule problems such as those due to jet lag The side effects of medication Treating Insomnia

Many people with insomnia believe that they need medication to treat it. However, there is no guarantee that these will have long-lasting effects, and even then medication may have undesirable side-effects such as addiction to sleeping pills. There are alternative treatments to medication.

In general, the available treatments for chronic or acute insomnia may consist of:

First, diagnosing and treating the underlying medical or psychological problems Identifying behaviors that may worsen insomnia and stopping (or reducing) them Possibly using sleeping pills, although the long-term use of sleeping pills for chronic insomnia does not solve the problem and there may be health-damaging side effects, such as addiction Trying behavioral techniques to improve sleep, such as relaxation therapy, sleep restriction therapy, reconditioning or hypnotherapy

Hypnotherapy is by far the most effective tool as it targets the hidden roots of the problems that cause insomnia, especially acute and chronic insomnia.

Relaxation Therapy

There are specific and effective techniques that can reduce or eliminate anxiety and body tension. As a result, the person’s mind is able to stop “racing,” the muscles can relax, and restful sleep can occur. It usually takes much practice to learn these techniques and to achieve effective relaxation.

Sleep Restriction

Some people suffering from insomnia spend too much time in bed unsuccessfully trying to sleep. They may benefit from a sleep restriction program that at first allows only a few hours of sleep during the night. Gradually the time is increased until a more normal night’s sleep is achieved.

Reconditioning

Another treatment that may help some people with insomnia is to recondition them to associate the bed and bedtime with sleep. For most people, this means not using their beds for any activities other than sleep and ***.

As part of the reconditioning process, the person is usually advised to go to bed only when sleepy. If unable to fall asleep, the person is told to get up, stay up until sleepy, and then return to bed.

Throughout this process, the person should avoid naps and wake up and go to bed at the same time each day. Eventually the person’s body will be conditioned to associate the bed and bedtime with sleep.

Hypnotherapy as a treatment for Insomnia

Hypnotherapy can be a rapid technique to break the debilitating habit of sleep deprivation. Using hypnotherapy (usually in two or three sessions) can make getting to sleep easier, getting back to sleep after waking up easy, giving a better quality of life.

In the hypnosis session, we use several techniques, besides relaxing you deeply, which is exactly what you need for your body and mind to ‘tip over’ into sleep. We are also able to reprogram the mind to get normal natural sleep. In some of the chronic cases, we will get to the source of the insomnia and thus freeing you from sleeplessness.

Additionally, hypnosis is excellent for stopping the ‘chattering mind’ that plagues so many insomniacs.

We also teach our clients to use Self-Hypnosis. The following is a quick review of what we do:

How to use Self-Hypnosis to get to sleep Hypnotizing yourself Guided Self-Hypnosis for Insomnia

Here’s a short script for a guided self-hypnosis. Find yourself a quiet and comfortable place where you won’t be disturbed. Make sure that you take of all your accessories, switch off your handphone before you begin so that you won’t be disturbed.

Firstly make sure that your body is relaxed. Relaxation occurs when your body is free from tension in the muscles. A good technique to accomplish this is to want to relax all the muscles in the different areas of your body.

Starting with the area of the feet up through the knees, next relax your thighs then abdomen, back, shoulders arms and hands, all the way to your fingertips, move to your chest, throat, ****** muscle, mouth and jaw areas. All this time feel a wave of calm relaxation flowing through those body parts.

Continue by taking gradual deep breaths through your nose, and then slowly exhale out through your mouth (The brain and body require more oxygen to enter hypnosis). Next, roll your eyes up (eyelids closed, looking up into the forehead). This causes the eyelids to “flutter”, replicating the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) of sleep.

Now concentrate on your breathing and, only on the exhale, mentally repeat “Relax, calm, peaceful, restful, sleep” or “Beautiful, deep, restful, sleep”. You will find yourself drifting off to sleep.

By now, indeed, you have hypnotized yourself, and that state of mind will draw you into unconscious sleep. During a one-on-one session with a Hypnotherapist you will be coached how to correctly do all this, and the success rate is 95%. For more information: http://hypnosisoneonone.com/oneonone/category/insomnia/

Kamran Chy asked:


Insomnia is a very irritable condition. Insomnia causes a lot of problem in a person’s life. And yet, a huge number of people are suffering from it. It gives a feeling of daytime fatigue and decreases productivity drastically. Since it affects productivity, it also affects the county economy. Therefore, it is extremely important to address this issue and find a solution to it as soon as possible. People with insomnia cannot go to sleep even if they are exhausted and when they finally do go to sleep they do not have a peaceful sleep and often the sleep leaves than more tired than before.

Common symptoms include frequent headaches, inability to concentrate, always feeling irritated, sleeping better when they are not at home, taking a long time to fall asleep after lying down in the bed, not feeling refreshed after sleep, disturbed sleep by waking every few intervals, inability to go back to sleep if woken for some reason earlier than they intended to wake up, only being able to sleep after taking sleeping pills.

The cause of insomnia could be a lot of things but primarily it is believed in the medical world that insomnia is caused by stress and hypertension. This is one of the reasons why such a huge number of people suffer from insomnia. The world today has become very stress filled. Everyone is work oriented and always running after deadlines and missed tasks.

There are several types of insomnia. One type of insomnia is called transient insomnia and it lasts for a few days. Another type of insomnia is called short-term insomnia and it last for maximum up to three weeks. The last type of insomnia is called chronic insomnia. This type of insomnia is characterized by the person having atleast three sleepless nights in a week for more than a month. Usually, it causes several consequences in his work.

It is therefore important to first identify if you have the symptoms of insomnia, which are actually very obvious and people suffering from insomnia usually do not have to go through a symptoms list as they already know from their sleepless nights that they suffer from insomnia. The next thing that has to be done is to identify which type of insomnia you have. Once this is done, you can seek professional help if it is the last category. If you are suffering from transient or short-term insomnia, you will be surprised to know that it can almost be eliminated if you remove stress from your life.

Dee Braun asked:


Insomnia is more common in women as opposed to men. Experts say that every woman will experience a certain degree of insomnia at least once in her life due to certain hormonal imbalances. This usually happens during perimenopausal stages while younger women suffer from insomnia caused by premenstrual syndrome. Insomnia, however, must not be mistaken for getting insufficient sleep as women differ when it comes to the amount of sleep they need. There is this big difference between needing less sleep and not being able to sleep whenever you need it.

To cure insomnia in women, you have to alleviate the causes of sleeping disorders. It is easy to blame it on hormones, but more often than not, it is not the sole culprit. Chronic stress, for example, is a huge contributor to insomnia in women. Stress causes adrenal exhaustion of the DHEA hormone which is an essential sleep regulator. Too much consumption of alcohol, caffeine and carbohydrates especially right before bedtime causes unnecessary alertness that keeps you from sleeping. Unresolved conflicts and anxieties also lead to lack of sleep which makes women prone to insomnia.

There is a large misconception about over-the-counter sleeping pills as being the cure for insomnia. Truth is, sleeping pills are a mere short-term reliever and a dependency on them can induce further sleeping problems. What is needed, then, is to remedy the causes of insomnia in women through natural methods that maintain hormonal balance and ensure a healthy lifestyle.

One thing that works wonders with insomniacs is keeping a sleep journal at your bedside table to track down what exactly is causing your insomnia. On a notebook, simply write down the time you went to bed, the time you awakened in the middle of the night, and the time you got up in the morning.

You may also want to take note of your premenstrual and postmenstrual experience to see if it has an effect on your sleeping habits. Try to maintain the journal in about three months and reread it to find out if there is some kind of pattern. If the journal seems to show you that you are having transitory insomnia during your menstrual cycle, then your hormones might be causing it.

There are measures you can follow in order to alleviate the symptoms of hormonal insomnia. The easiest way is to drink at least one glass of water before going to sleep. Avoidance of caffeine 6 hours before bed time or anything high in sugar content 2 hours before, also prevents insomnia as these chemicals cause mental and physical alertness.

Eating food that is high in magnesium is the way to go for insomniacs. Magnesium-rich foods are soybeans, almonds, lima beans and the likes. Food rich in estrogen has to be added in your diet as well especially if you are in a premenopausal stage. Phytoestrogens are apples, carrots, green beans, and potatoes.

Regular exercise also prevents the symptoms of insomnia in women whose tasks are not quite physically demanding. At least 30 minutes a day, thrice a week will do to avoid insomnia. Indulging yourself in physical activities especially those that allow you to socialize at the same time also discourage stress and fatigue that usually leads to insomnia.

Maintaining a positive outlook in life is essential in keeping a sound mind and body. Always remember that creating lasting relationships and keeping a fair conscience is the best way to ensure a good night’s sleep.

Connie Wolf asked:


Let’s begin with the definition of insomnia. Insomnia is the difficulty of falling asleep or maintaining sleep. And insomnia is not always measured by the number of hours you sleep since everyone varies in sleep needs and practices. Since most of us know what insomnia is and how we feel the next day with one or more sleepless nights before that, not all of us seek treatment and remain unaware of the options available to treat insomnia. I have some interesting things to tell you.

Let’s start with the symptoms of insomnia. Generally there are three types of insomnia, and these are based on how long it lasts.

*Transient insomnia: lasts fewer than four weeks

*Short-term insomnia: the inability to sleep well for four to six months

*Chronic insomnia: the inability to sleep every night or most nights for more than six months

Insomnia symptoms for Transient and short-term insomnia can be caused by stress related factors such as losing a job, marital problems, personal events and just plain worrying about things.

Chronic insomnia symptoms can be caused by medical illnesses like heartburn, menopause, diabetes, and arthritis, sleep disordered breathing, like sleep apnea that cause one to stop breathing while asleep, restless leg syndrome (RLS) which is recurrent movements of the legs during sleep. “Learned” insomnia, where you go to bed worrying about going to sleep. Age, because as we age sleep becomes lighter and more fragmented. And lifestyle factors, like caffeine consumption, alcohol and drug abuse, smoking, poor sleeping habits.

Insomnia treatment can be divided into two areas: Treatment with and without medication.

When people think about insomnia treatment they tend to think about sleeping pills that can become addictive and may just bring up more medical issues. But in my research I have found that there are actually a lot of non-medical therapies and techniques out there that go a long way to help you feel sleepy at night and stay asleep.

Here are few techniques and suggestions I have found.

Develop a sleeping schedule

*Exercise during the day

*Keep a comfortable bedroom temperature

*Avoid stimulating drugs, like caffeine and nicotine right before sleep

*Avoid alcohol

*Avoid heavy meals before bedtime

*Natural remedies, including night time teas and alternative medicines

*Increase exposure to sunlight more in the morning than in the evening

*Relaxation therapy to reduce anxiety and body tension

Your next step? To take what you’ve just learned and find out more about natural cures and natural remedies for insomnia. Just a moment of your time, it may be a wise choice for you or someone you know and love that is suffering from insomnia.