Are you one of the 83.5 million North Americans who suffer from sleep deprivation?
What is Insomnia?
it is a sleep disorder in which there is an inability to fall asleep or obtain an adequate amount/quality of sleep
According to Consumer Reports on Health, nearly one-third of U.S. adults feel drowsy or even doze off during daytime activities like driving, talking, reading, or working, in a 2010 survey of 8,900 people. Sleep deprivation is often the root cause of many chronic health conditions, diseases, and overall poor cognitive performance. In the 2003 Archives of Internal Medicine, it showed that women who slept less than five hours a night were 45% more susceptible to having heart problems than those who slept eight hours. Insufficient restful sleep often results in adverse health conditions affecting hormones, stress, weight, and mood.
Symptoms of Insomnia
Sleeping is a natural mechanism that restores energy exhausted during the day, it also replenishes and rejuvenates the immune, nervous, skeletal and muscular systems. Sleep keeps the brain working and is thereby vital to healthy brain function, physical health and emotional well-being.
Sleep deprivation can cause:
- low levels of energy
- hormonal imbalance
- increased stress levels
- loss of concentration or focus
- unsteady mood such as being angry, sad, depressed, impatient, etc…
- hindrance in cognitive performance creating an inability to make decisions, solve problems, control emotions and behaviors, cope with change
- health conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, obesity
Causes of Insomnia
Both external and internal factors contribute to one’s inability to have restful sleep. External factors include eating habits such as over consumption of caffeine, nicotine, tea, soft drinks, and alcohol. Unhealthy habits such as these can be reversed to promote healthy sleep.
Natural tips to better sleep.
There are numerous changes we can make in our daily routine that will promote better sleep.
Exercise regularly: exercising reduces stress and lengthens slow-wave (the deepest) sleep
Cut out unhealthy eating habits: limit alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine
Maintain a regular sleeping schedule: help set your body’s internal clock. Commit to a regular bedtime and wakeup time
Melatonin supplement: with age the level of this hormone drops which is detrimental to sleep as it is heavily involved within the sleep cycle
Vitamin B6: this helps produce serotonin which aids in smoothing muscles as well as relaxing them
Vitamin B1/Thiamine: this critical vitamin is required for every cell in the body to formulate the fuel that the body runs on
Keep the bedroom cool, dark, and quiet: make your room a sanctuary for sleep and relaxation
Conversely, insomnia can also be caused by internal, emotional issues such as anxiety, fears, grief, sadness, guilt, anger and/or mental stress. In cases where sleep disorders are emotion-based, altering daily habits and behaviours will most likely not be effective in alleviating insomnia.
Seeking Professional Help for Sleep Deprivation
Sleep specialists and therapists such as Consulting Hypnotists offer effective treatments and techniques that control negative or distorted thoughts that can fuel insomnia.
Hypnosis is a safe and effective treatment method for all types of sleep disorders. Consulting Hypnotists can reverse negative sleep patterns by determining what the root cause of the sleep deprivation is; then using a combination of techniques that can clear all events connected to the root cause.
Click the link below to read Toronto’s Master Hypnotist, Debbie Papadaki’s article “Exploring the Subconscious to Alleviate Insomnia” published in the NGH Hypno-Gram 2013.
READ ARTICLE HERE:
Exploring the Subconscious to Alleviate Insomnia by Debbie Papadakis, BCH, CI, OB
1.888.758.3223 
