A curse that can blight every aspect of your life
WE ALL know the impact of a bad night’s sleep: you toss and turn, or wake in the early hours feeling exhausted and irritable. For most of us, it is just a temporary upset. But for millions of others, it is an enduring curse that can blight every aspect of their lives.
About 15 million prescriptions for sleeping tablets are issued each year in the UK. This will fall short of the true number of people suffering in silence.
Often it can be a symptom of other conditions including stress, anxiety and depression. But it can occur in isolation.
So how do you define when insomnia has become a real problem? It’s really the personal perception. The average adult may need seven hours’ sleep; others far less. The key test is whether you wake feeling rested and refreshed.
If not, the effects can be devastating: fatigue, nausea and pain, as well as a weakening of the immune system in the longer term. Scientific evidence shows that chronic sleep deprivation may increase the risk of heart disease. Insomnia certainly has a profound impact on our mental state, causing anxiety and low moods. These problems, in turn, affect sleep and a vicious cycle develops, damaging relationships, work, family life and wellbeing. Far from being a trivial matter, it deserves proper attention and to be treated appropriately.
For decades, doctors issued sleeping tablets willy-nilly, but they are not the quick fix nor the right answer: they do not work for many people, are addictive, and they often create a quality of sleep that is not good.
GPs may still prescribe short courses to offer temporary relief, but the correct way to treat insomnia takes time and patience with the aid of a GP or a sleep specialist. The main therapies are sleep restriction and stimulus control: both use strategies to correct the time and patterns of sleep gradually over weeks.
For example, sleep restriction therapy builds on strict bedtimes and wake times, starting with a much later bedtime and gradually pulling it forwards.
These methods can be used with other measures to create the right environment for sleep.
Such methods require motivation and strong support. Without sympathy, help and understanding, the mental and physical toll for long-term insomniacs can be intolerable.