Sleeping Problems In Adult Life - Insomnia

Sometimes we may feel that we are not getting enough sleep or rest in the night when we should. There are many everyday reasons for not sleeping well.

Sometimes, sleeping problems could be due to the bedroom being too noisy, too hot or too cold. Or the bed may be uncomfortable or too small. Our partner may have a different pattern of sleep from us do affect our sleep too. Without a regular routine, or not be getting enough exercise will also cause sleepless nights. Changes in temperature in the bedroom may also affect our sleep.

Having too much food or going to bed hungry can make it difficult to get off to sleep or causing us to wake too early

Cigarettes, alcohol and drinks containing caffeine, such as tea and coffee are not advisable.
Some more serious causes include emotional problems, difficulties at work, anxiety and worry, depression, thinking over and over about day to day problems etc. Having such problems may result in waking up very early in the morning and not being able to get back to sleep.

Can medication help?

People have been using sleeping tablets for many years, but we now know that they don't work for very long. Such medication may cause us to feel tired and irritable the next day. They lose their effect quite quickly, so we have to take more and more to get the same effect. Some people become addicted to them. The longer we take sleeping tablets, the more likely we are to become physically or psychologically dependent on them.

Sleeping tablets should only be used for short periods (less than 2 weeks), and only advisable if we are so distressed that we cannot sleep at all. If we have been on sleeping tablets for a long time, it is best to cut down the dose slowly after discussing it with the doctor. In some cases, antidepressant tablets may be helpful.

How much sleep do we need?

The hours of sleep we need depends mainly on how old we are. Babies sleep for about 17 hours each day while older children only need 9 to 10 hours a night. Most adults need around 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night. Older people need the same amount of sleep, but will often only have one period of deep sleep during the night, usually in the first 3 or 4 hours, after which they wake more easily. We also tend to dream less as we get older.

There are also differences between people of the same age. Most of us need 7 to 8 hours a night, but some people can get by with only 3 hours a night. It is not helpful to regularly sleep more than 7 to 8 hours each night. The short periods of being awake feel much longer than they really are. So it is easy to feel that we are not sleeping as much as we actually are.

What if I don't sleep?

It is easy to worry when we can't sleep. The occasional night without sleep will make us feel tired the next day, but it will not harm our physical or mental health.

However, after several sleepless nights, we may start to find that we are tired all the time, difficult to concentrate, hard to make decisions and sometimes start to feel depressed.

This can be very dangerous if we are driving or operating heavy machinery. Many deaths each year are due to people falling asleep while driving. Lack of sleep for a prolonged period of time may also make us more vulnerable to high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes.