PT Health Life – Insomnia is a common sleep disorder that makes it difficult for us to fall asleep, have difficulty staying asleep, or wake up too early and not be able to fall back asleep.
Insomnia not only ruins your energy levels and mood, but also affects your health, work performance, and quality of life.
1. Common cause of long-term insomnia
1.1 There are 2 types of insomnia:
- Acute insomnia : Occurs at certain times, many people experience short-term insomnia (acute insomnia) due to stress or traumatic events. This insomnia can last for days or weeks.
- Chronic insomnia: Some people have long-term insomnia, lasting at least a month. The cause of prolonged insomnia may be due to the insomnia problem itself or may be related to some form of illness or medication you are taking.
Circadian rhythms act as internal clocks, guiding the body’s sleep-wake cycle, metabolism, and body temperature. If the body’s circadian rhythm is disrupted at any stage, it can lead to insomnia.
- Due to stress: Maybe you are facing difficulties at work, school, health, finances or have difficult family problems, causing your mind to operate continuously at night, leading to difficulty sleeping.
- Due to poor sleep habits: Irregular sleeping hours, taking too many naps, uncomfortable sleeping environment, using the bed to work, eat or drink or watch TV, play video games, check the phone before going to bed.
- Due to medical conditions: Using certain medications or having a certain disease will lead to difficulty sleeping. Some medications can cause difficulty sleeping, such as antidepressants , asthma and blood pressure medications. Weight loss products contain caffeine and other stimulants that can disrupt sleep. Some diseases that cause insomnia include chronic pain, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, asthma, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), overactive thyroid, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.
- Due to age: Insomnia becomes more common with age. Older people feel tired earlier in the evening and wake up earlier in the morning, but generally still need the same amount of sleep as younger people.
1.2 How many hours of sleep a day is enough?
The amount of sleep you need will vary depending on each person, but most adults need 7 – 8 hours each night.
1.3 Symptoms of insomnia are:
- Difficulty sleeping at night.
- Wake overnight.
- Get up too early.
- The feeling of not having slept a night.
- Tired and sleepy during the day.
- Irritability, depression or anxiety.
- If you don’t concentrate, accidents can easily happen.
If there are signs of insomnia, you need to go to a medical facility to determine the cause for treatment. Don’t let insomnia become chronic, it will be more difficult to treat. Treatment sometimes requires additional psychologists to consult and coordinate with other specialists to address chronic diseases and other medications that cause insomnia without your knowledge.
2. Physician advice
In fact sleep is as important to your health as a healthy diet and regular physical activity. Regardless of the reason for insomnia, insomnia can affect both the mind and body. People with insomnia report a lower quality of life than people who are sleeping well.
To prevent insomnia, keep your bedtime and wake time consistent every day, including weekends.
Increase exercise to promote good sleep. Check your medications to see if they may be contributing to insomnia. Avoid or limit napping. Avoid or limit caffeine and alcohol, do not use nicotine. Avoid large meals and drinks before bed. The bedroom must be comfortable for sleep. Relax before bed, such as reading a book or listening to soft music.
