What is insomnia?
Insomnia means a person can’t get enough good quality sleep to let them feel rested and alert the next day.
Insomnia comes in several forms. Some people have trouble getting to asleep, but eventually they sleep soundly. Other people are able to get to sleep, but their sleep is restless or they keep waking up during the night. Still others wake up too early and then can’t get back to sleep. Each of these is a type of insomnia.
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What is the best cure for insomnia?
The best cure for insomnia is to treat the cause of insomnia. Sleep medications (“sleeping pills”) will remedy sleeplessness temporarily, but a lasting insomnia cure usually requires that we deal with the cause.
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What causes insomnia?
Many factors can cause insomnia -- factors outside ourselves and factors within ourselves too. Often several factors combine to give us chronic insomnia. Chapters 5-16 describe the most common insomnia causes.
Because chronic insomnia is sometimes caused by medical illness, people should ask their doctor to check if they have a medical condition that requires treatment. (See chapter 2.)
However, the most common cause of insomnia is a combination of high stress levels, dietary factors, smoking & other toxins, physical inactivity, and a lack of balance in daily life.
Many of life’s problems can cause high stress levels that interfere with sleep. For example, self-defeating habits of thought or attitude can increase stress. Feelings of boredom or general dissatisfaction also raise stress levels. (See the suggestions of chapters 14-16.)
Sometimes people worsen their sleep problems because they don’t understand basic facts about sleep and what’s normal or healthy for them. (See chapter 17.)
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How can self-help cure insomnia?
To cure insomnia, we first figure out why we have it. (Remember: insomnia often has several causes.) When we understand our insomnia, we can eliminate or lessen whatever interferes with sleep, and we can add or strengthen whatever helps sleep. This way, we support our “sleep-wake cycle” -- the biological rhythm of our body that awakens us every morning and returns us to sleep at night.
The self-help way is to care for ourselves over time -- much as we might cultivate a garden, or care for the natural world in a sustainable way. By paying attention to ourselves, we learn how to support our natural ability to sleep. If we’re willing to make necessary changes, healthy sleep returns.
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What’s the best way to cope with sleeplessness?
Sometimes when people have trouble sleeping, they get upset or frustrated, and try to force themselves to sleep. Usually this just makes insomnia worse.
A more helpful attitude is to look for ways to relax and relieve stress when we can’t sleep. Psychologists call this an attitude of “skillful coping” -- accepting and working with ourselves as we are, instead of fighting with ourselves and adding to our frustration.
Chapters 18-20 describe several methods of “skillful coping” with sleeplessness. For example, the Sleep Meditation CD guides listeners in a stress reduction technique for sleeplessness. By practicing stress reduction in this way, people can often fall asleep without forcing it.
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How to use “Better Sleep Tips”
Read the following tips to find what’s relevant to you and your situation. Note those ideas that seem most useful so you can follow up with them. (Because this is general information, you’ll find that some tips don’t apply to you.)
Sometimes one tip is all you need for better sleep -- but if you have chronic insomnia, don’t be surprised if you have to follow up several tips over time.
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How long before I get better sleep?
Better sleep could come quickly if you have insomnia caused by just one factor & you are able to correct that factor easily. For example, you might decrease your caffeine intake today, and get better sleep tonight.
However, an insomnia cure could take several weeks or even months. Often we need time to figure out all the factors that cause chronic insomnia. We also need time to change our habits and attitude. As well, our body needs time to readjust into a healthier sleep-wake cycle.
The good news is that patients often say that they learn a lot about themselves while solving their insomnia. This can be personally rewarding.
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