Insomnia The Causes and Solutions

Insomnia The Causes and Solutions
Learn All About Insomnia. Plus Discover How
Ganoderma lucidum May be An Insomnia Solution For You

Does this sound familiar?

You did not sleep a wink last night. You just put in a grueling day at work. Struggle through dinner and then the kids homework.

Finally you can go to bed and get some much needed rest, but...

Disaster!

You can't fall asleep! No matter how hard you try, sleep does not come.

Toss and turn, toss and turn. See every minute pass buy on the clock and grow more and more frustrated asking yourself. "WHY CAN'T I FALL ASLEEP?"

If the above scenario sounds familiar to you and you have tried most everything without success. Keep reading. As this article may just provide the insomnia solution you are looking for.

Some Interesting Insomnia Statistics

Here are just a few of the insomnia statistics out there that I found interesting.

Before the invention of the light bulb, people slept an average of 10 hours a night. Today Americans average 6.9 hours of sleep on weeknights and 7.5 hours per night on weekends.

70 million people in the United States are affected by some sort of insomnia. About 40 million Americans suffer from chronic sleep disorders, and an additional 20-30 million are affected by intermittent sleep-related problems.

Sleep deprivation and sleep disorders are estimated to cost Americans over $100 billion annually in lost productivity, medical expenses, sick leave, and property and environmental damage.

While many Americans enjoy the benefits of sufficient sleep (feeling rested and alert upon waking), as many as 47 million adults may be putting themselves at risk for injury, health and behavior problems because they aren’t meeting their minimum sleep need in order to be fully alert the next day.

Fatigue contributes to more than 100,000 police-reported highway crashes, causing 71,000 injuries and 1,500 deaths each year in the United States alone.

What Is Insomnia?

Insomnia is generally characterized as:

Difficulty in falling asleep.

Waking during the night and not being able to fall back to sleep.

Waking too early in the morning.

Not feeling refreshed upon waking.

Types and Causes of Insomnia

If you can find out what type you have and the underlying cause of insomnia, you may be able to find an insomnia solution yourself by treating the underlying cause.

A person can have primary or secondary insomnia.

Primary insomnia means that a person is having sleep problems that are not directly associated with any other health condition or problem.

Secondary insomnia means that a person is having sleep problems because of something else, such as a health condition (depression, heartburn, allergies , cancer etc), pain, medication they are taking, or a substance they are using (like alcohol or drugs).

Insomnia can vary in how long it lasts and how often it occurs.

Insomnia can be short-term (called acute insomnia) or last a long time (called chronic insomnia). It can also come and go (or be intermittent), with periods of time when a person has no sleep problems. Acute (short-term) insomnia can last from one night to a few weeks. It is often caused by emotional or physical discomfort, and can be related to a single specific event. Causes of acute insomnia can include:

1) Significant life stress (job loss or change, death of a loved one, moving)
2) Illness
3) Environmental factors like noise, light, or extreme temperatures (hot or cold) that interfere with sleep
4) Things that throw off a normal sleep schedule (like jet lag or switching from a day to night shift).

Get rid of or manage the event and you have your insomnia solution.

Chronic (long term) insomnia is when a person has insomnia at least 3 nights a week for 1 month or longer. It can be caused by many things and often occurs along with other health problems. Common causes of chronic insomnia are depression, chronic stress, and pain or discomfort at night.

Insomnia Tips That May Provide An Insomnia Solution

Here are some insomnia tips that may help provide you with an insomnia solution.

1) Try to go to sleep at the same time each night and get up at the same time each morning. Try not to take naps during the day because naps may make you less sleepy at night.

2) Avoid caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol late in the day. Caffeine and nicotine are stimulants and can keep you from falling asleep. Alcohol can cause waking in the night and interferes with sleep quality.

3) Get regular exercise. Try not to exercise close to bedtime because it may stimulate you and make it hard to fall asleep. Experts suggest not exercising for 3 hours before the time you go to sleep.

4) Don't eat a heavy meal late in the day. A light snack before bedtime, however, may help you sleep.

5) Make your sleeping place comfortable. Be sure that it is dark, quiet, and not too warm or too cold. If light is a problem, try a sleeping mask. If noise is a problem, try earplugs, a fan, or a "white noise" machine to cover up the sounds.

6) Follow a routine to help relax and wind down before sleep, such as reading a book , listening to music, or taking a bath. Following a routine provided an insomnia solution that worked well for our daughter when she was young and had problems falling a sleep.

7) Avoid using your bed for anything other than sleep or sex.

8) If you can't fall asleep and don't feel drowsy, get up and read or do something that is not overly stimulating until you feel sleepy.

9) If you have trouble lying awake worrying about things, try making a to-do list before you go to bed. This may help you to "let go" of those worries overnight and like magic, an insomnia solution.

Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi) May Be The Best Insomnia Solution Of All!