What Is Insomnia?
Insomnia is a sleep condition that involves difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep. Almost everyone goes through bouts of sleeplessness from time to time. But if someone struggles to fall asleep or wakes up at night or early in the morning and finds it difficult to fall back asleep, and this happens at least three times a week for a few months, that person is likely suffering from chronic insomnia.

Short-acting sleeping pills may improve sleep and next-day alertness, but the best way to handle a bout of insomnia is to do nothing; the body’s sleep mechanism tends to right itself if given the chance. The most effective treatments for chronic insomnia are behavioral techniques that eliminate sleep anxiety and allow the body’s own sleep cycle to kick in.

Insomnia may cause daytime fatigue and reduced energy levels. People with insomnia may also experience weakened coping skills, difficulty paying attention and concentrating, memory problems, and trouble performing even routine tasks. But most of all, insomnia affects mood. The chronic sleep disruption of insomnia appears to be a major trigger for depression and irritability.

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What Causes Insomnia?
Stress is the primary cause of insomnia, but there are also physical conditions and other factors that can bring it on. A doctor should rule these out first. They include sleep apnea, overactive thyroid, certain medications, and gastrointestinal problems, such as gastroesophageal reflux.

Lack of sufficient physical activity during the day can interfere with the body’s drive for sleep. Substance abuse can also be a major sleep disruptor. Insomnia is often related to how people handle a bad night or a few bad nights of sleep. One may try to compensate for a brief sleepless period by sleeping later, napping in the afternoon, having a few drinks before bed, or going to bed early. But those actions may only impair the body’s natural sleep drive or cause more early wakefulness.

Some people are at risk of insomnia due to environmental factors such as shift work and jet lag. People who do not get enough exposure to sunlight during the day can also have trouble sleeping. And such factors as drinking too much caffeine or overheating a bedroom can also interfere with sleep.

Advice and tips
Wake up at the same time each day. It is tempting to sleep late on weekends, especially if you have had poor sleep during the week. However, if you suffer from insomnia you should get up at the same time every day in order to train your body to wake at a consistent time.

Eliminate alcohol and stimulants like nicotine and caffeine. The effects of caffeine can last for several hours, perhaps up to 24 hours, so the chances of it affecting sleep are significant. Caffeine may not only cause difficulty initiating sleep, but may also cause frequent awakenings. Alcohol may have a sedative effect for the first few hours following consumption, but it can then lead to frequent arousals and a non-restful night’s sleep. If you are on medications that act as stimulants, such as decongestants or asthma inhalers, ask your doctor when they should best be taken to help minimize any affect on sleep.

Limit naps. While napping seems like a proper way to catch up on missed sleep, it is not always so. It is important to establish and maintain a regular sleep pattern and train oneself to associate sleep with cues like darkness and a consistent bedtime. Napping can affect the quality of nighttime sleep.

Exercise regularly. Regular exercise can improve sleep quality and duration. However, exercising immediately before bedtime can have a stimulant effect on the body and should be avoided. Try to finish exercising at least three hours before you plan to retire for the night.

Limit activities in bed. The bed is for sleeping and having sex and that’s it. If you suffer from insomnia, do not balance the checkbook, study, or make phone calls, for example, while in bed or even in the bedroom, and avoid watching television or listening to the radio. All these activities can increase alertness and make it difficult to fall asleep.

Do not eat or drink right before going to bed. Eating a late dinner or snacking before going to bed can activate the digestive system and keep you up. If you suffer from gastroesophageal reflux (GERD) or heartburn, it is even more important to avoid eating and drinking right before bed since this can make your symptoms worse. In addition, drinking a lot of fluids prior to bed can overwhelm the bladder, requiring frequent visits to the bathroom that disturb your sleep.

Make your sleeping environment comfortable. Temperature, lighting, and noise should be controlled to make the bedroom conducive to falling (and staying) asleep. Your bed should feel comfortable and if you have a pet that sleeps in the room with you, consider having the pet sleep somewhere else if it tends to make noise in the night.

Get all your worrying over with before you go to bed. If you find you lay in bed thinking about tomorrow, consider setting aside a period of time — perhaps after dinner — to review the day and to make plans for the next day. The goal is to avoid doing these things while trying to fall asleep. It is also useful to make a list of, say, work-related tasks for the next day before leaving work. That, at least, eliminates one set of concerns.

Reduce stress. There are a number of relaxation therapies and stress reduction methods you may want to try to relax the mind and the body before going to bed. Examples include progressive muscle relaxation (perhaps with audio tapes), deep breathing techniques, imagery, meditation, and biofeedback.

Consider professional help. Cognitive therapy helps some people with insomnia identify and correct inappropriate thoughts and beliefs that may contribute to insomnia. In addition, cognitive therapy can give you the proper information about sleep norms, age-related sleep changes, and help set reasonable sleep goals, among other things.