![]() Why am I having trouble sleeping at night? Chances are if you’re dealing with insomnia when you should be sleeping, your daytime functioning is impaired, too. In other words, it’s the type of tossing and turning that leaves you groggy in the morning. It can include waking up too early, and not being able to get back to bed or a lack of restorative sleep. Insomnia is a sleep disorder that is characterized by difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. Chances are you’ve experienced some level of coronavirus anxiety, but can the stress of a pandemic increase your chances of laying awake at night? What is insomnia? Right now the entire world has one common source of worry: a global pandemic. Insomnia, especially when caused by anxiety, can be a vicious cycle. Having trouble sleeping can lead to all kinds of stress, and stress can make it harder to get any shuteye. But, when slumber feels impossible-and no number of sheep will lull you into a peaceful sleep-it’s the stuff of nightmares. What is insomnia? | Causes of insomnia | Coronavirus anxiety | How sleep problems affect your health | Sleep remediesĪhhh, that feeling of drifting off to sleep shortly after your head hits the pillow. I’m sure you’ve already heard some things about it.Share on Facebook Facebook Logo Share on Twitter Twitter Logo Share on LinkedIn LinkedIn Logo Copy URL to clipboard Share Icon URL copied to clipboard But I can talk to you about sleep hygiene. As a psychologist and not a medical doctor, it’s not my place to talk in-depth about medications. That’s because most doctors’ go-to for treating insomnia are Ambien (and other prescription sleep medications) and sleep hygiene. In my own clinic, the average patient has had chronic insomnia for 15 years before finding their way to me because they didn’t know there were treatment options other than Ambien and sleep hygiene. But if you ask everyone visiting a primary care doctor, one in three will have it. About one in ten adults have chronic insomnia by the strictest diagnostic criteria. If you don’t have chronic insomnia yourself, I bet you know someone who does. It puts a damper over your everyday mood and turns sleep into a chore instead of a relief. Chronic insomnia can really disrupt your life. If you’re having a really hard time falling or staying asleep a few times per week, and this has been going on for a few months, then we’re dealing with a different animal. ![]() All you have to do is ride it out, knowing you'll be back to your normal sleep routine soon.īut for many people, insomnia becomes chronic. They just mean you're excited about something, or you have had one too many cups of coffee, or some other fluke stars aligned to make you unable to shut down for a night or two. And these occasional sleepless nights are totally fine. Even though I’m a sleep expert (and I was lucky enough to be born with good sleep genes), I still sometimes toss and turn all night. It can really drive a person crazy!Įveryone has insomnia sometimes. ![]() ![]() You stare up at the ceiling (or worse, at the red numbers on a clock), mind buzzing with random thoughts, tossing and turning while everyone else snores away blissfully. Insomnia is one of the most frustrating experiences in our modern existence.
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