Getting a good and restorative sleep is very important for maintaining optimal health and well-being. But it has become one of the biggest challenges to get quality sleep. Almost every one of us faces issues with sleep over time in our lives and it is completely normal. But if these issues become frequent then, it is not normal. Continuous and frequent sleep issues may lead to insomnia, a common sleep disorder. Insomnia does not only affect your sleep but your physical and mental health as well. So, treating insomnia is as important as treating other health issues.
This article will give a brief overview of insomnia, and its effects on your life. Along with that, you will also get to know a few methods to treat insomnia and get a sound sleep.
Introduction to insomnia and why is treating insomnia important?
You must have faced issues with falling asleep or staying asleep for long at night. Sometimes it happens that even after sleeping late at night you still wake up very early in the morning. If all these things are happening to you and that too for a long time, you may have insomnia.
Insomnia is a sleep disorder that makes it difficult for you to fall asleep or stay asleep throughout the night. It affects both the quantity and quality of sleep. According to some studies, 7-8 hours of sleep is essential for healthy adults. However, the quantity of sleep may vary from person to person depending on several factors.
Quality of sleep is more important than the quantity of sleep. Because sometimes you may feel refreshed just sleeping for a few hours. And, sometimes you feel frustrated and groggy even after sleeping 6-7 hours. So, it is the quality of sleep that matters more than the duration of sleep.
Insomnia not only affects your sleep cycle but your overall health and wellness. Because when you get poor sleep, it affects your mood and ability to focus. Poor sleep even impairs your ability to perform even your day-to-day activities. If you are getting poor sleep for a long time, it affects your memory, cognition, learning, and overall brain health.
Even one night of poor sleep makes you feel exhausted, drowsy and drained. Not only this, but poor sleep weakens your immune system and affects your ability to fight infections. Moreover, poor sleep affects your cardiovascular health and may also cause diabetes.
All these things show that poor sleep has very harmful effects on your overall health and well-being. So, it is very important to treat insomnia for better health and to live a quality life.
The most effective methods for treating insomnia
Plenty of methods are there to help you with insomnia. Treatment of insomnia includes two steps – improving sleep quality and sleep duration. Some of the relaxation methods that help in treating insomnia are:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): It is considered the first line of treatment for insomnia. Because this method does not have the risks and side effects, unlike medications. This therapy changes your way of thinking about and dealing with anxiety. It throws away the negative thoughts from your mind and makes you feel better.
Practice relaxation techniques like meditation, mindfulness, deep breathing, and progressive muscle relaxation. Because all these activities will calm down your nerves and relieve anxiety. And, you know that anxiety is one of the major causes of insomnia.
Guided Imagery: It is a relaxation technique in which you visualize the scenario or incident when you feel very good. This could be anything like a place, spending time with a person, any activity, and many more. In this technique, you visualize all those things which gives you a pleasant and relaxing feeling.
Music Therapy: You should listen to soothing music or any podcast or sleep stories. Because the voices of the narrator or singer act as a hypnotic and are soothing which calms you down. They lower the heart rate and breathing and make you fall asleep quickly.
Aromatherapy: Aromatherapy involves the use of essential oils that reduce stress, promote relaxation, and improve sleep quality.
Warm bath or shower: Taking a warm bath or shower before going to bed promotes relaxation and improves the quality of sleep. Warm water eases sore muscles, releases muscle tension, and relieves stress. It helps your body to wind down and help you fall asleep quickly. Practice all these methods regularly to get sufficient quality Buy Sleeping Pills UK and improve insomnia.
