The staggering effects of insomnia
It's an astonishing fact that on any given night, more than half the adults in America suffer from insomnia to some degree. Insomnia has been defined as a difficulty falling asleep, and/or staying asleep, or disturbances in sleep patterns that result in inadequate amounts or quality of sleep.
Sleep is necessary for survival. Humans spend about one third of our lives asleep. During sleep, the body takes the opportunity to cleanse and regenerate. Through the sleep cycles, the body is actively producing hormones that put humans in a growth state and allow for recovery and healing of muscles and tissues. It was once believed the brain was dormant during sleep, but researchers now know this to be untrue. While the body is at rest, the brain restructures new neuro-networks and helps solve problems. Sleep is also instrumental in reinforcing memories and in processing complex emotions.
Because of sleep's importance, insomnia presents a huge challenge and carries significant consequences. Insomnia can eventually affect every area of your life as lack of a proper night's sleep can mean difficulties with memory, logical reasoning and concentration. Sleeplessness will make you feel fatigued, irritable, forgetful and stressed.
It is estimated that lost productivity and reduced work quality due to sleep deprivation costs as much as $100 billion annually. Chronic insomnia, for whatever reason, significantly affects your health, performance, safety, and pocketbook. An increased risk of accidents is also common. Studies show that someone who has been awake for 24 hours has the same mental acuity as a person with a blood alcohol level of 0.1, which is above the legal limit for driving. The amount of sleep that a person needs to function normally depends on several factors, such as age. Infants sleep most of the day (about 16 hours); teenagers usually need about 9 hours a day; and adults need an average of 7 to 8 hours a day. Although elderly adults require about as much sleep as young adults, they usually sleep for shorter periods and spend less time in deep stages of sleep. About 50 percent of adults over the age of 65 have some type of sleep disorder, although it is not clear whether this is a normal part of aging or a result of medications that older people commonly use.
Those with insomnia typically experience:
- Sleepiness
- Fatigue
- Poor concentration
- Decreased alertness and performance
- Muscle aches
- Depression during the day and night
- An over-emotional state (tense, worried, irritable and depressed)
Many of us experience temporary insomnia from a few days to a few weeks. This kind of insomnia usually results from normal events in our lives such as:
- A stressful event
- Emotional stress
- Illness
- Temporary pain
- Disturbances in sleep hygiene (environmental factors under your control that may contribute to disturbed sleep and insomnia)
- Disruptions to circadian rhythm (the 24-hour rhythmic regulation of our body processes)
With rare exceptions, insomnia is a symptom of a problem, and not the problem itself. Good sleep is a sign of health. Poor sleep is often a sign of some malfunctioning and may signal either minor or serious medical or psychiatric disorders. Insomnia can begin at any age. And, it can last for a few days (transient insomnia), a few weeks (short-term insomnia), or indefinitely (long-term insomnia).
Many people who face the challenge of insomnia are unable to identify with any of the common. They may not be drinking coffee, working the night shift, experiencing hot flashes, taking prescription medications or suffering from a health challenge that robs them of sleep. Why then, are they still unable to get the rest they need to make it through the day with energy to spare? The answer may lie in their brain waves, in the intrusion of wakeful alpha and/or beta waves into the delta brain waves that characterize sleep. Following the path from cause to symptom, the culprit is often stress. Chronic stress is a "hormone wrecker," responsible for imbalances in the endocrine system. Out-of-balance hormones lead to insomnia, which over time causes a change in brain wave patterns, disallowing normal, restful sleep. In cases of insomnia, the hormones most apt to be imbalanced are melatonin and cortisol.
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