Treating Sleep Disorder

How to deal with Sleep Disorder?

Most people don’t recognize the potential adverse effects on personal health and public safety. They struggle through the day, unaware that sleeping more might erase their persistent fatigue and malaise. It doesn’t help that relatively few doctors ask their patients about the quality and quantity of their sleep.

Many people also cling to the myth that they can train themselves to get by on less sleep or to work at night and sleep by day. Not so. The brain tightly orchestrates our sleep-wake cycle, as well as other daily, or circadian, rhythms. Humans are diurnal. Light syncs our nervous and hormonal systems. Few of us can fully adapt to working the night shift. The perils of sleep deprivation are serious and include the following:

1.                Excessive daytime sleepiness (your main warning sign you’re not getting enough sleep)

2.                Impaired mental function—spotty attention, concentration, memory, and alertness

3.                Impaired physical function—clumsiness, diminished reaction times, and diminished agility

4.                Accidents—due to impaired mental and physical function and falling asleep during a task

5.                Inability to deal with stress and a sleep deprivation- induced rise in stress hormones

6.                More pain, including tension headaches

7.                More inflammation, which can aggravate inflammatory conditions, such as asthma and arthritis

8.                Flagging social skills

9.                Irritability

10.          Increased risk of work burnout, depression, and anxiety

11.          Reduced alcohol tolerance (plus, sleep deprivation can impair your skills on par with alcohol intoxication)

12.          Weight gain (due to hormonal shifts and changes in behaviour)

13.          Poor blood sugar control; increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease

14.          Diminished quality of life what can you do to feel more rested?

Make sure you allow plenty of time to sleep. Keep in mind that it often takes 15 to 30 minutes to fall asleep. If you need 8 hours of sleep to feel good, allow yourself at least 8.5 hours in bed. Otherwise adopt what’s known as good “sleep hygiene.” This sort of housekeeping entails the following practices:

a.                      Establish regular hours to go to bed and wake up—seven days a week.

b.                     Keep naptimes short (no more than 30 minutes) and limit them to once a day.

c.                      Exercise daily, but avoid vigorous late-night exercise (stretching is fine).

d.                     Eat a light dinner, but consider a bedtime snack if you notice low blood sugar jolts you awake in the night.

e.                      Avoid excessive amounts of alcohol and stop drinking entirely within a few hours of bedtime. (Alcohol may make it easier to fall asleep, but disrupts sleep later in the night.)

f.                       Skip caffeine in the late afternoon and evening. (It takes an average of five hours to clear half of the caffeine from the blood.)

g.                     Nix the nicotine. (It’s a central nervous system stimulant.)

h.                     Use your bed only for sleep and sex (no working, bill-paying, or arguing).

i.                       Create a cosy sleep environment—quiet room, comfortable mattress, good pillows, enough covers to keep you warm but not sweaty, shades to block street lights and dark cloths over digital clocks, charging electronic devices, LED lights.

j.                       Establish a soothing bedtime routine (a warm bath, candlelight, music, pleasure reading, stretching, breathing exercises, meditation, or prayer).

If you feel irresistibly sleepy during the day, close your eyes. Research shows that power naps improve productivity. If you can’t, exercise briefly. A brisk walk outdoors can temporarily refresh you. Inhale a plant essential oil that’s associated with brain alertness, such as peppermint, eucalyptus, lemon, or rosemary. Caffeine definitely increases alertness. Choose beverages that naturally contain caffeine (green tea, black tea, or coffee), rather than sodas or energy drinks. To avoid insomnia, resist consuming them in the late afternoon or evening and also refrain from adding sugar to them. More sensitive people have to curtail caffeine intake after lunch.