Note: This article was first published in Life in the Delta in January 2009.
An important question I ask all my clients is this: “How are you sleeping?” The answer to this question provides important information about a person’s mental health as well as their physical health. Unfortunately, sleep disorders are fast becoming one of the most prevalent health concerns in our nation. A recent National Sleep Foundation poll found that 76 percent of adults reported at least one symptom of a sleep disorder at least a few nights every week or more.
Most of these people suffer insomnia, which is defined as difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or obtaining healthy, restorative sleep. Insomnia is more common in women and increases with age, medical problems, and psychiatric disorders. It’s also very common among adolescents. Compelling evidence suggests that chronic sleep loss is a critical factor in a broad range of health concerns, including an increased risk for viral infections, cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, and cancer. It can sometimes cause depression or be a symptom of depression.
Why are we having such problems sleeping? One reason is we may be too wired at night to naturally unwind. Since the invention of the light bulb, people do not downshift with the onset of night but instead do chores, watch TV, surf the Internet as well as a whole host of activities. In fact, almost anything that used to be done only in the day can now be done at night, including shopping or working. There’s no natural circadian rhythm of activity followed by rest, as our forebears experienced. In fact, light stimulates the release of serotonin, which energizes us, whereas darkness stimulates the release of melatonin, which helps us sleep. But people have trouble turning off their lights and unwinding enough at night for natural sleep to occur.
Another major reason for sleep disturbance could be the presence of anxiety and/or depression. A good way to assess for these is to distinguish when the person is experiencing insomnia. Generally, a sleep onset delay is associated with anxiety. This occurs when a person cannot fall asleep for 2-3 hours. When a person wakes up 2-3 hours early and can’t go back to sleep, this is more typical of depression. Sometimes there is a middle insomnia, where a person sleeps 2-3 hours and wakes up and tosses and turns the rest of the night. Often this is associated with the use of alcohol, which initially helps a person fall asleep but may wake him or her up later.
There are many artificial means of fighting insomnia, including prescription and over-the-counter sleep medications, but these have limited effectiveness and should only be a temporary solution. They often don’t provide a natural healthy sleep. In fact, benedryl, which is the chief component in the “PM” drugs, suppresses dreaming and light dreaming is a good sign of restorative sleep. Plus those medicines that also contain acetaminophen can lead to liver damage.
So what should we do to solve our problems with sleeplessness? First determine if you have anxiety or depression or medical problems that are sleep related and get help for those. And in general – VALUE REST! Begin to slow down and relax and learn to transition to healthy sleep. This involves turning off the lights, including TV and computer monitors, as darkness itself is a good sleep medicine. If you wish to read or write, consider using a low-wattage book light. Sometimes nighttime is the one time when you have to face yourself, and many people are uncomfortable with this. They prefer to crash to sleep, which is a sign of sleep debt, or be knocked out – only to face themselves in the middle of the night. A much better way is to drift to sleep and naturally let go of our waking consciousness.
