11 Tips to Help You Deal with Insomnia
What’s keeping you up at night? Insomnia is a broad term that can refer to several different sleep disorders with many different causes. Most people who deal with insomnia feel frustrated when sleep is the most desired goal and most difficult to achieve.
Oftentimes, a cyclical pattern can evolve when someone is struggling with insomnia. Illustrated in the graphic below, the cycle gains momentum through heightened emotions that activate the nervous system, making it extremely difficult to achieve restorative sleep.
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The symptoms can include struggling to fall asleep or stay asleep. You may also feel tired and irritable throughout the day and have trouble thinking clearly. Sleep is required for the body and brain to fully restore from the day's activities. Without it, you’ll notice that it requires a great amount of effort to focus and feel energized.
It’s important to understand the reason behind your insomnia, so you can figure out what to do about it. While symptoms may be similar, the underlying causes often vary depending on the person. It may be tied to your lifestyle, underlying health conditions, or thought patterns. In some cases, insomnia may linger after other medical issues have been resolved. This is when it is beneficial to additionally look into lifestyle habits.
Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder, but many can benefit from simple remedies. Try these strategies to help you enjoy more restful sleep.
Lifestyle Changes for Dealing with Insomnia
Your sleep habits and other daily activities could be undermining the quantity and quality of your sleep. Small changes could make a big difference.
Try these tips:
1. Teach your body and mind to feel relaxed.Our fast paced lifestyles make it challenging to experience feelings of relaxation regularly. Daily stress, ongoing task lists, and disruptive thought patterns can interfere with sleep. You may not be able to carve out much time and that’s okay. Any effort placed towards relaxation can greatly impact your well-being if done regularly. It’ll be helpful to find relaxation practices that work for you, such as listening to music, practicing deep breathing exercises, getting a massage, doing yoga, or meditating.
2. Create an environment conducive to sleep.It’s highly advantageous to establish boundaries for your bedroom. This room should only be a place of sleep and relaxing activities. Work and other activities that involve critical thinking or may induce stress should take place outside of the bedroom. In addition, it’s helpful to make your space feel comforting and undisturbed by outside interruptions. You’ll want to be mindful of the senses (hearing, seeing, smelling, and feeling). The messages we receive through these senses can impact how we feel and how we respond to sleep.
Sound: To assist with noise, you may want to use a white noise machine, fan, or the sound of rainfall (through an app or machine). This not only helps drown out noises of traffic or lively neighbors, but can also help with focus when thoughts feel loud.
Sight: You’ll want minimal if any lighting. Hanging blackout curtains may help darken a bedroom. Any visible lights should be soft and with a red hue. Avoid any blue lights as they stimulate the brain and reduce melatonin production.
Scent: You can diffuse lavender oil or a relaxing scent in your room prior to going to bed.
Feel: Lastly, make sure your place of sleep is comfortable. If you need an easy extra fix, you can always wrap up in a soft throw blanket to increase feelings of security and comfort.
3. Limit alcohol and caffeine.Substances can interfere with the body’s ability to regulate and understand normal rhythms of sleep and wake cycles. With caffeine being a stimulant, it’s advantageous to stop drinking coffee by the afternoon. Caffeine may be hidden in certain foods and beverages that you aren’t aware of. Check labels for caffeine in other products like chocolate and carbonated beverages. If consuming alcohol, it can be helpful to reduce your intake by amount and frequency. Alcohol has been shown to interrupt sleep quality by reducing REM sleep cycles and increasing likelihood of insomnia. With disruptions in sleep, this can often lead to a cycle of consuming more caffeine during the day and later utilizing alcohol as a sedative prior to sleep. The mind and body can greatly benefit from returning to natural rhythms unaffected by substances.
4. Avoid going to bed hungry or overly full. With sleep being the priority, distractions from hunger or a hard-working digestive system are not ideal. It’s important to tune into your body in order to listen to your hunger and satiation cues. This means slowing down and fueling your body when needed. If it’s late and you’re feeling hungry, try finding a snack that will satisfy your hunger without creating too much work for your body to digest.
5. Move your body during the day. Most jobs today involve a lot of sitting. While this is often a necessity, it’s also important to move your body around. A survey by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine found that adults who are physically active are one third less likely to report sleep problems and half as likely to report daytime tiredness. This movement can be in the form of an exercise routine, going for walks, dancing around your house, or playing an active game. It’s best to figure out what rhythms are most enjoyable and work best for you so that you can have that consistent release of energy.
6. Create bedtime rituals. It’s extremely difficult to go from a stimulating environment to restful sleep. Take some time to ease into sleep by calming the body and mind. You may want to dim the lights, put electronics out of sight, take a bath/shower, read a book or engage in a quiet hobby. Think of your room and your bed as a sanctuary and allow yourself to enter into this space while leaving your stress elsewhere.
7. Help your mind out.Many times, the quiet and stillness that happens prior to falling asleep leaves room for stress and racing thoughts to surface. While it can be highly beneficial to process stress, it’s not a good time to think things through as you’re trying to fall asleep. Instead, you can utilize some tools to help the mind relax and disrupt the cyclical thought patterns that are keeping you up. If those thoughts come up, gently let them know that now is not the time. You will come back to them later. Next, it’ll be important to engage the mind in a calming, yet focused practice. Here are some options:
Gratitude ABCs: In your mind, go through the alphabet and identify one thing you’re grateful for with each letter. This can be as simple as showing gratitude for a pen, a piece of fruit, or an article of clothing. As you begin to recognize all that you’re grateful for, your mind will have a harder time holding onto stress and an easier time feeling relaxed.
Take the pressure off by telling yourself that you have no desire to sleep. This may feel silly or counterproductive, but it can work. Many times the pressure to fall asleep creates a great deal of stress and can prevent sleep from actually occurring. The more we desire control over something, the more stress it can create. Letting go of this control and taking pressure off can actually create space for you to achieve what you do want..
Shift your focus to envision yourself already well rested. You’ve woken up the next morning after getting a full night of sleep and feel both optimistic and energized about your day. Allow yourself to feel hope for this possibility.
If you find yourself getting lost in your fears and envisioning worst case scenarios, it’ll be important to stop that thought cycle. Gently remind yourself that the thought is not helpful to you right now. Next, change sleeping positions to help with redirection. Lastly, begin to place focus on a fond memory or positive dream.
Medical Treatments and Alternative Therapies for Dealing with Insomnia
About 30% of adults experience insomnia occasionally, while another 10% have chronic conditions that can last for several months or more, according to the American Sleep Association. If insomnia is disrupting your life, it’s important to reach out for help.
Here are some options to explore:
1. Get examined. A physical examination can help you receive appropriate treatment as soon as possible. Use a sleep journal to track your symptoms and write down questions you want to share with your doctor.
2. Go for counseling. Depression and anxiety can contribute to insomnia. The way you think, behave and feel all contribute to your health and well-being. Counseling can help you address underlying fears and assist you in building ways to feel more at ease with yourself and your surroundings.
3. Consider medications. Talk with your doctor before taking any over-the-counter sleep products. A doctor can work with you individually to figure out what medication can best support your needs and help you achieve quality sleep.
4. Relieve pain. Physical discomfort makes it difficult to sleep, and lack of sleep can make you more sensitive to pain. If physical pain is interrupting your sleep, it’s important to address and find ways to reduce or eliminate the pain. Your doctor could help you identify pain reducing strategies or refer you to practitioners that could help. You can also search the internet or ask around for recommendations in pain management. This can include physical therapy, chiropractic care, and/or massage therapy.
Quality sleep is a restorative process that everyone benefits from. If you are experiencing challenges in getting quality sleep, you are not alone. You also don’t need to continue suffering. Many cases of insomnia can be corrected with home remedies and your doctor can advise you if you need further assistance. You deserve the time and attention required to regain healthy sleep patterns. If you notice that your thought patterns seem to be running the show, schedule a free session and lets figure it out together.
To Your Health,
