Insomnia is a public health issue that affects millions of people on a daily basis. The CDC reports that nearly 50 to 70 million Americans have sleeping disorders like insomnia and sleep apnea. A report from the National Sleep Foundation found that roughly 30 percent of all US women use sleeping aids like as Lunesta and Ambien to fall asleep. Most people do not consider sleep to be that important, but not getting enough sleep can cause poor concentration, memory problems, and even lead to more serious health issues like high blood pressure and diabetes. Clearly, something is wrong with this picture, but it does not have to this way because there are natural solutions that can be even more effective than medication.
“Insomnia can be different things for different people”, explained Dr. Nerina Garcia-Arcement, a licensed clinical psychologist and assistant professor at the New York University School of Medicine.
“A technical definition would be people experiencing disturbed sleep to the point that it impacts their health and functioning.” The causes of insomnia can be related to poor sleeping habits, health problems such as sleep apnea, or related to hormonal issues such as pregnancy or menopause. People that are actually dealing with health issues do have justifiable cause to take sleeping medications, but a lot of people have poor sleeping habits that do not need medication.
Sleeping aids are not bad in and of themselves as long as they have been prescribed by a doctor, but the labels recommend that people only take them for several weeks to implement a health sleep schedule. The problem is that some people start to become dependent on these drugs for months or even years to help them get to sleep. As with all medications, there are both long and short term side effects such as developing a physical or psychological dependence, heart problems, and liver damage. A lot of sleeping problems are due to poor sleeping habits such as late night eating of sugary foods, exposure to bright lights like television sets and computers, and irregular hours.
The best way to resolve sleeping problems is to change your behavior. “If you change the behavior, it takes longer, but it has a longer lasting effect than taking a pill”, said Dr. Garcia-Arcement. By changing the behavior, you will train the body to rest at certain time every day. Avoid late night eating, sugary foods, stressful conversations, bright lights from television and computer screens. Prepare to go to bed at the same time every night and start doing relaxing activities toward bed time like reading or taking a hot shower. Regular exercise in the morning or afternoon is healthy for the body and it will also cause you to sleep better because it tires out the body, but avoid doing exercise at night.
The first thing you should do is go about your regular schedule and take note of all of the things you do 2 hours before bed. If you have some unhealthy sleeping habits, then implement some new habits for 2-3 weeks and see if you notice a difference. If the sleeping problems persist after improving your sleeping habits, then it may mean that you should see a doctor.
Finding yourself unable to sleep in the evening is normal sometimes, but there is no instant method to go to sleep. If you happen to wake up during the night for some reason, Dr. Garcia-Arcement suggested “Get up and go to another room and maybe read something that is calming and relaxing and then after 30 minutes try to go back to sleep.”
She went on to say “That is the appeal of the drug, if you take a pill, it will help you fall asleep within an hour, but all of these other behavioral problems are things that you have to train the body for and they take longer, but last longer.”
Helpful Tips for Women Dealing with Insomnia
– Focus on better self-care: Women are dealing with a lot of stress due to work and family issues, but they should take time to take care of themselves and ask for help.
– Take a hot shower or bubble bath before bed – The heat of the water in a shower or bath can make the body feel tired and ready for bed.
– Create a strict family sleep schedule – Everyone in the family should have specific sleeping schedules, so try to put the family on one schedule and stick to it.
– Exercise daily- Daily makes you feel tired at the end of the day.
– Do something relaxing before bed like reading, writing, or painting – Pursuing a hobby can help you relax before bed.