Good sleep is extremely important for one’s health. It helps keep your mind healthy. While you’re asleep, it repairs and rests your brain for the next day. It also enhances your learning skills. Good sleep also helps keep you physically fit. It helps repair your heart and blood vessels. That is why sleeping well is as important as eating healthy and exercising.
Adults need around 7-8 hours of sleep. We get in our beds, looking forward to some much-deserved rest, but we often find ourselves tossing and turning on our king size mattresses. More often than not, we give little thought to why it is that we did not sleep well. A night or two of less sleep is alright. It starts getting serious when it becomes an everyday affair. You start dreading going to bed.
Losing out on sleep can be a result of a number of factors, some of them being stress, mental health disorders, side effects of medications, and other health issues. A prolonged period of sleeplessness can have the following effect on you:
POOR HEALTH
One of the foremost effects of Insomnia is poor health. It causes your blood pressure to shoot up which increases the risk of heart conditions. Less sleep also affects the release of insulin. People with a sleep disorders have a more glucose level. Poor sleep can also cause obesity and a weaker immune system.
MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS
When you don’t sleep well, you tend to get moody, extra emotional, and easily irritable, so when you don’t get enough sleep you become anxious about not being able to sleep. This can trigger anxiety and depression.
LEADS TO FORGETFULNESS
Another side effect of insomnia is short term memory loss, which makes day to day function quite a task. This can affect your work as well as your personal life.
IMPAIRS COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING
Insomnia causes deterioration in cognitive functions. People suffering from insomnia find themselves with reduced attention span and less focus.
TREATING INSOMNIA
Though insomnia can cause you a lot of problems, it is very much treatable. These can be natural as well as medical measures or a mix of both.
SLEEP HYGIENE
Sleep hygiene is a set of habits to follow, that will help you sleep better. Some of them are
- Stick to a sleep routine. Fix a time to go to bed every night as well as a time to wake up.
- Exercise regularly for at least 30 mins.
- Fix a relaxation routine before sleeping.
- Meditate or do yoga that will help you sleep better right before bed.
- Go to bed only when you are sleepy. Don’t just lie there, tossing and turning. Get up and read, stretch, drink some chamomile tea. Go back to bed when you are ready to fall back asleep.
- Switch off your phone.
- Make sure you have enough natural light exposure in the day.
- Make sure your mattress is comfortable enough, and your room is dark enough. You can use an eye mask if your curtains don’t block enough light.
- Use apps that aid in sleeping.
MEDICAL HELP
For people who suffer from chronic insomnia simply following sleep hygiene alone might not be of help. In such cases, seeking professional help is important. Go to your general physician and explain your situation to him. Based on the severity of your insomnia he can prescribe antidepressants or sedatives. While the road to treating your insomnia is not an easy and quick one, give it enough time and you will sleep like a baby soon enough.
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Take Care & Sleep Well 🙂
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