Shweta Singh

Insomnia is defined as repeated difficulty with sleep initiation, maintenance, consolidation, or quality that occurs despite adequate time and opportunity for sleep and results in some form of daytime impairment. What are the three types of insomnia? Acute insomnia Lasts up to one month Commonly referred to as adjustment insomnia Occurs due to acute situational stress such as a new job, deadline, or exams It typically resolves when the stressor is no longer present or the individual adapts to the stressor. Transient insomnia Lasts for less than one week Caused by another disorder, changes in the sleep environment, stress, or depression Chronic insomnia Lasts more than one month Insomnia is usually a transient or short-term condition. In some cases, insomnia can become chronic Associated with chronic medical and psychiatric conditions Usually occurs in patients with an underlying risk of insomnia

Insomnia is the inability to fall asleep or stay asleep at night, resulting in unrefreshing or non-restorative sleep. And it’s a very common problem, one that takes a toll on your energy, mood, and ability to function during the day. Chronic insomnia can even contribute to serious health problems. Some people struggle to get to sleep no matter how tired they are. Others wake up in the middle of the night and lie awake for hours, anxiously watching the clock. But, because different people need different amounts of sleep, insomnia is defined by the quality of your sleep and how you feel after sleeping—not the number of hours you sleep or how quickly you doze off. Even if you’re spending eight hours a night in bed, if you feel drowsy and fatigued during the day, you may be experiencing insomnia. Although insomnia is the most common sleep complaint, it is not a single sleep disorder. It’s more accurate to think of it as a symptom of another problem, whether it’s something as simple as drinking too much caffeine during the day or something more complex like feeling overloaded with stress.

Here are some tips for beating insomnia. Wake up at the same time each day. ... Eliminate alcohol and stimulants like nicotine and caffeine. ... Limit naps. ... Exercise regularly. ... Limit activities in bed. ... Do not eat or drink right before going to bed. ... Make your sleeping environment comfortable.

If you are suffering from insomnia, there are many steps you can take to change behaviors and lifestyle to help you get to sleep. Here are some tips for beating insomnia. 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 effect 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 participating in cognitive therapy. 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.

To sleep consciously, you should have no sense of body. Only if your identification with the body is completely broken, will you sleep consciously. When we are awake, we are conscious, but our energies are involved and engaged in many things. We have to sit up, we have to speak, we have to do some work, we have to do something else. But if I sleep consciously, my energies are completely consolidated, and I am still conscious – that means I am at my peak performance level. So when Shiva says, “If you are in trouble, I will sleep,” it means, “I will do the best possible thing for you,” because then he is at his best.

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a long-term illness with a wide range of symptoms. The most common symptom is extreme tiredness. CFS is also known as ME, which stands for myalgic encephalomyelitis. Many people refer to the condition as CFS/ME. CFS/ME can affect anyone, including children.

Sleep well Many people don't get the sleep they need to stay alert throughout the day. The website of the Royal College of Psychiatrists has information on sleeping well. Tips for sleeping well include: going to bed and getting up in the morning at the same time every day avoiding naps in the day taking time to relax before you go to bed Read more about how to get a good night's sleep.

When you wake up, you have something called “sleep inertia.” It can last for as long as two hours. That's why you get that groggy feeling, and if you're sleep-deprived, it's going to be worse, too. Studies also show that if you wake up while in deep sleep, you're going to have worse sleep inertia