It seems like every article I have ever read about insomnia has said that if you just resolve the problem that is causing the insomnia like anxiety, pain or stress that you should be able to return to a normal sleeping schedule. I have seen even more articles claiming that, even if there is some underlying condition causing the sleeplessness, simply using good sleep hygiene should rectify the problem. Now for anyone who has ever suffered from insomnia…just because you can’t sleep…rest easy knowing that doctors are now discovering that the inability to sleep may be just that…an inability to sleep.
Even when an underlying medical or psychiatric disorder, such as depression, is successfully treated, resolution of the underlying condition doesn’t guarantee the sleep disturbances will go away. Continuing sleep trouble suggests that the insomnia exists as a separate disorder and is not simply a symptom of another condition.
The situation is often made worse because, over time, people who can’t sleep often develop strategies to help them either get more sleep at night or cope during the day with sleep loss. Such strategies might include increased use of caffeine, prescription or over-the-counter medications, alcohol, napping, sleeping in or going to bed early, calling in sick to work, putting extra pressure on oneself to sleep, and so on. These behaviors, which may help at first, actually serve to make the insomnia worse in the long run.
I know personally that I gave so many remedies a shot. I tried melatonin, 5htp, valerian root, white noise, hot baths, warm milk, progressive muscle relaxation, counting sheep, nightcaps, sleeping pills, and then some more sleeping pills. Nothing worked. My body was just not going to cooperate.
The NY Times reports however that what might do the trick is a combination of prescription medicine and cognitive behavioral therapy. So I guess the point of all of this is that if you can not sleep, you really need to see a physician and develop some sort of plan to at least try to treat the problem. I know that being sleep deprived can feel like hell on Earth and noone should have to needlessly suffer through it if they don’t have to.
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I had insomnia when I was going through the worst of my nervous breakdown. And it is torture. And even now, almost 5 years later, when I have occasional and mild bouts of insomnia, I freak out that this could get bad again. There are few things as awful as not being able to sleep and not knowing how to get to sleep or stay asleep.
It’s almost 3am & I’m still up…I prefer to think of myself as a night owl, but really, I just don’t sleep a lot! Takes me forever to “shut down” & get to sleep! But the best point you’ve made is the “vicious cycle” we can get ourselves in to, “good sleep habits” are important & we almost have to train ourselves, just like teaching a baby to sleep thru the night! Great post!
BTW, got something for ya over in Crazy Town Sugar Doll!! Cause I love ya so!!
Insomnia, like many medical conditions, takes time to grow into a problem. They do not just occur overnight. Our impatience in treating it magnifies the problem; throwing our bodies and minds into tail spins running from one “cure” to another. We just distort the problem and con-volute it even more. Systematic , regular meditation has and continues to be a “cure” for many people. This is like bodybuilding…not something you “try” but something you work with over protracted time…unlearning and re-learning as it may be. Meditation does “replace” some sleep and therefor aids the overall sleep deficit that one accrues over time from insomnia.
30 years of meditation and 17 years of psychiatric nursing taught me this.
Solving a problem that is internal with something external is ludicrous and only puts money into the pocket of those that prey on those desperate for relief.