are you sleeping?

Based on the title of this post, it looks like I'm going to discuss the song Frere Jacques, but I will spare you that ditty of history.  Instead let's talk a little about a subject that plagues almost fifty percent (50%) of the world's population: INSOMNIA.  Did you know there are  different types of insomnia?  They are:

  Acute insomnia is a brief episode of difficulty sleeping. 
Acute insomnia is usually caused by a life event, examples are: a stressful change in a person's job, receiving bad news, or travel.  Often times, acute insomnia resolves without any treatment or intervention.

  Chronic insomnia is a long term pattern of difficulty sleeping.
Insomnia is chronic if a person has trouble falling asleep or staying asleep at least three (3) night a week for three (3) months or longer.  Some folks with this type of insomnia have a long standing history of difficulty sleeping, and it has many causes.

  Comorbid insomnia is a type that occurs with another condition.
Psychiatric symptoms - such as anxiety and depression - are known to be associated with changes in sleep.  Certain medical conditions can either cause insomnia or make a person uncomfortable at night; as in the case of arthritis or back pain, which make it hard to sleep.

  Onset insomnia is difficulty falling asleep at the beginning of the night.

  Maintenance insomnia is the inability to stay asleep.
People with maintenance insomnia wake up during the night and have difficulty falling back to sleep.

Approximately 30 percent of American adults experience some kind of disrupted sleep.  Insomnia is more prevalent than realized.   We all dread that ill-fated night of tossing and turning when sleep just doesn't seem to want to arrive.  Does this sound familiar?   Have you wondered if you have a case of insomnia, a condition triggered by a wide range of medical, biological or psychological factors.  This word, insomnia, is frequently misused to describe a sleepless night or two, but symptoms go well beyond having trouble sleeping.  A larger than realized percentage of adults show symptoms and it leaves them functionally impaired during the day.  If you have one or more of the symptoms below, seek the advice of a medical professional and a trained, certified hypnotist who has worked with the condition before.  The symptoms are:

Difficulty Sleeping
The sufferer has trouble falling asleep or staying asleep which are most common markers of insomnia.  If you frequently wake up at night and can't get back to your dreamland, or if you wake up too early in the morning and are unable to go back to sleep, you may be dealing with insomnia.

Fatigue and Low Energy
Feeling lethargic and tired are hallmarks of this condition.  Even if you don't recall waking up during the night, you may get up in the morning lacking energy.  This is an insomnia marker known as non-restorative sleep.   

Moodiness
If you have insomnia, you often and unexplainably are in a bad mood, feel out of sorts, or feel irritable.  You could also experience aggression, impulsiveness, or anxiety without enough nighttime, restorative rest. 
(Note to all you non-sleepers: Am I potentially describing you?  If so, try not to despair because a qualified, trained, certified Hypnotist can usually help with insomnia symptoms and insomnia.)

Relationship Trouble
Finding it tough to focus when you're on the job or having trouble with other coworkers are insomnia related symptoms.  Also, struggling with family members at home or friends at school could be signs of this disorder; many times it's not you "just being a teenager".  People faced with insomnia may struggle with their workload, make mistakes, miss deadlines, and forget to follow up on some critical tasks.  

A Recurring Event
Frequency is a major factor in determining whether or not you suffer from insomnia.  If you've been having trouble sleeping for at least three (3) nights a week over the course of three (3) months or more, you are advised to seek out assistance. 

According to two (2) University of Rochester Sleep and Neurophysiology Research Laboratory studies, insomnia may pave the way for depression rather than occur as a symptom of the disorder.  (Who wouldn't feel depressed after experiencing some or all of the aforementioned effects of insomnia?)  These studies solidify that insomnia
is a risk for recurrent and new onset major depressive disorder.  The lead researcher in the study  stated, "We need to think of insomnia as both a symptom and a primary disorder.  Too many people think that insomnia is insomnia is insomnia...and the evidence to date is that the story is more complicated."  Following is their discovery.

Some adults with persistent insomnia were "six (6) times more likely to develop first episode major depression" than non-suffers of the same age group.  It was strongest from suffers of the particular insomnia pattern of waking several times per night.  Also they discovered that those with insomnia were eight (8) to twelve (12) times more likely to remain ill and also develop another depressive episode.  Lead researcher M. L. Perlis, PhD also thinks insomnia may precede depression because both conditions activate feelings of hopelessness and lack of control, both resulting from the depressive schema.  Perlis also stated, "It is increasingly clear that you can't hope that chronic insomnia will just go away of its own accord or with treatment for the 'parent disorder'. You have to treat it with interventions that specifically target insomnia... ."  Two such interventions for insomnia are cognitive-behavioral therapy and hypnosis.  Well folks, there you have it.
 
Today's writing was inspired by a new friend I had the pleasure of meeting this Sunday; a beautiful, young soul was she.

The next post may discuss something about the fact that more than half of our country's children (52%) do not get enough sleep.  Other future articles will include subjects such as smoking cessation, weight management, motivation, possibly behaviors and so forth.  Until then, remember to:

Breath  -  Relax  -  Heal