Understanding Sleep and Insomnia

For you, insomnia may be an all-too-familiar experience.  The long, frustrating nights.  The daytime fatigue, stress, and anxiety.  The fear of things never getting better.  The difficulty of going through your day when you haven’t slept and of going to bed when you feel scared and upset.

There are multiple models of insomnia.  The factors that I find most relevant are the following:

1.) Genetics

Insomnia has a genetic component.  While there’s nothing you can do about your genetics, it may be comforting to know that insomnia isn’t all your fault.

2.) Mental Health

This is a big one.  Insomnia and mental health go together.  Insomnia is a symptom of many common disorders, including depression, anxiety, and PTSD.  At the same time, insomnia can cause changes in mood including irritability and mood swings.  As such, it is often essential to address underlying mental health issues that can cause, contribute to, or be exacerbated by insomnia.

3.) Behavior (Lifestyle and Environment)

Your body has innate rhythms that are modified by lifestyle factors such as waketime, bedtime and meal-times.  Likewise, your body responds to environmental cues. Set yourself up for success when it comes to sleep.

4.) Other Medical Conditions

Obviously, it’s hard to sleep if you can’t be comfortable, whether that’s due to pain or physical limitations.  Many medications change sleep patterns, as does age. Optimizing your physical health is important to optimize your sleep.

All the factors above are interrelated and are best addressed together.  Call for a free 15-minute consultation to start understanding your sleep today!