Sleep can be disrupted easily for many of us as it requires
progressive relaxation in order to take place. Therefore anything that
raises our adrenaline levels, or causes us to worry, can interfere with
the natural process of sleep. Some people seem to be able to 'switch off'
the day's worries and can sleep in any environment. For others, sleep
seems to be much more delicate.
Sleeping pills - a real 'Insomnia Cure'?
When you haven't slept for days, the thought of 'sweet oblivion' is
extremely attractive, and who can blame those of us who choose a fail-safe
option like a sleeping pill? In the long run however, they can lead to
more problems. Sleeping pills impair quality of sleep and often have other
side-effects such as anxiety and disorientation.
So what can be done about insomnia in the long-term?
When a person has chronic insomnia it is almost as if they have 'forgotten'
how to sleep properly, or that they have become
conditioned to responding to the sleep situation (i.e. bedtime) with anxiety
or irritation instead of relaxation. What often needs to happen in these
circumstances is a 're-training' of the mind and body in achieving the
state necessary for sleep to occur.
The difficulty with sleep is that the harder you try to sleep, the less
likely it is to happen. This means we need to approach it in a different
way. Rather than going directly for the goal, we need to 'set the scene'
so that natural sleep processes can take place by themselves.
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