Effect On Total Sleep example essay topic

"Insomnia is the inability to obtain adequate amount or quality of sleep. The difficulty can be with falling asleep, remaining asleep, or both" ("Insomnia Encyclopedia"). Sleeping is a major point in physically and mentally restoring yourself for the tasks ahead. Most people say that about eight hours of sleep is an adequate amount, however it differs from person to person depending on their sex, age, and health conditions. An estimated one-third of the population suffers from some form of insomnia.

"In recent studies, a survey reported that 30% of American women and 20% of American men took medication to help them sleep during the course of a year" ("Insomnia"). The medications these people took are called hypnotics. The causes of insomnia vary for different situations. "Transient insomnia can be caused by temporary situations like arguments, medical illness and jet lag. On the other hand chronic insomnia has many causes. Sleep apnea, over use of caffeine, anxiety disorders, stress and several other factors.

The symptoms of insomnia can be noticed right in the morning. When you wake up and are not feeling refreshed from a nights sleep. A person may have difficulty sleeping, toss and turn for hours or fall asleep easily but are awakened very early in the morning. To diagnose a person with insomnia, a patient may keep a record for two weeks of their sleeping patterns, food intake, exercise, etc., and then a physician can base their diagnosis by the reported signs and symptoms.

If an insomnia patient does not respond to treatments then they may have a sleeping disorder that requires a specialist" ("Insomnia Encyclopedia"). Before insomnia even occurs, there are ways that a person can prevent or lessen the effects of it. Exercising regularly would be something a person should do, but not close to bedtime because exercising stimulates arousal. Avoiding caffeine and nicotine, such as coffee, tea, or soda, also helps to prevent insomnia. Going out into the late afternoon sun helps release the melatonin that helps regulate circadian rhythm. Circadian rhythm is a daily cycle of activity that is performed.

For example, going to the gym, school, and then work, is a daily cycle, whereas sitting on the couch all day and occasionally driving to the store and back is not. It is doing something with your body, but not over doing it. Stress reduction techniques such as yoga and meditation helps to release energy. And treating insomnia in its early stages helps prevent psychiatric disorders such as depression.

The longer you wait to try to cure insomnia the longer and harder it is going to be. According to different resources, there are many different kinds of treatments for insomnia. The first is a change in behavior. This therapy is used to re-establish healthy sleep patterns by helping an individual deal with his / her sleep problem.

For this method a physician is not needed. A patient can try this on his / her own. The first step is a change in daily routine. Only go to bed when sleepy and use the bedroom for sleep only.

Snacking, watching television and reading should be done in another part of the house. Watching the television before going to sleep should be avoided because it has an arousing effect on the body. Another thing that should be avoided is napping. This interferes with your sleeping pattern at night ("Insomnia Encyclopedia"). More than half of insomnia patients improve from the behavioral approach.

There are several behavioral remedies for insomnia. Avoiding stimulants before sleep can help prepare a person for going to bed. Also something as simple as writing down worries or concerns before sleep can help alleviate stress. For example, some people like to keep a diary or journal.

Doing this allows the person to write down all the things from their day that were both good and bad, let them all out, and then the person can focus on something else, such as sleep. They no longer have those stressful thoughts running through their head. Before insomnia has the chance to disrupt your sleep, there are "seven steps to getting a good night's sleep" (Morin 62). To get started you have to keep a log and set realistic goals for oneself. Next, change poor sleep habits that a patient might have such as maintain a consistent sleep-wake rhythm and reduce the time spent in bed. Third, is to think your way out of sleeplessness.

Another is managing daytime stress in everyday life. Fifth is the basics of sleep hygiene. Do not over consume food or beverages that contain caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol. Next is if a patient has already been on sleeping pills is to get rid of the habit of taking those pills. And last is to maintain progress over time to prevent from relapses and to deal with setbacks (Morin 62). According to Charles M. Morin, PH.D., there are also eight effective strategies for beating insomnia.

Another name for theses strategies is called sleep hygiene measures. The first step is to allow one hour before bedtime to unwind. Second is to develop a pre-sleep ritual. Third is to go to bed only when you are sleepy.

Fourth, if you can not sleep, leave the bedroom. Fifth is to maintain a regular awakening time in the morning. Sixth, reserve the bed for sleep and sexual intercourse only. Seventh is to not nap during the day. And eighth, restrict the amount of time you spend in bed to the estimated sleep time (Morin 69). The next treatment is drug therapy.

Sleeping medications are generally prescribed for transient and short-term insomnia. The three main types of medications that doctors will prescribe are "sedatives, tranquilizers, and ant anxiety drugs" ("Insomnia Encyclopedia"). "Long acting hypnotics include Dal mane, Klonopin, and Doral. Some medium acting prescription drugs are Halcion, Ativan, Xanax, and R estoril" ("Insomnia"). "There are also short-acting nonbenzodianzepine hypnotics called Sonata and Ambien. These types are still sleep inducing but with less side effects then the long and medium acting benzodiazepines" ("Insomnia").

Although drug therapy can be effective, there are several risks and side effects to this type of treatment. As with the long and medium acting hypnotics, the prescription can become habit-forming and reduces your alertness during the day. The drugs may increase depression, which may have been the cause of a person's insomnia in the first place. In some case studies, memory loss and sleepwalking have occurred after taking Halcion. In other cases due to dependency, overdoses have been fatal. So if a patient is using drug therapy, he / she will need to pay close attention to anything that may seem abnormal due to the medication.

The patient does not want to ignore the side effects because he or she could become worse. There are times when prescription drugs are not needed. Over-the-counter sleep medications are commonly used for mild insomnia. Over-the-counter sleeping pills promote sleep if insomnia occurs only occasionally. "Antihistamines are drugs that cause drowsiness to induce sleep. Ny tol, sleep-Eez, and Sominex contain, which is another type of sleep aid" ("Insomnia").

Unison also contains antihistamines. Although these medications help people to fall asleep, they leave them drowsy, dizzy, and have blurred vision the next day. The third type is alternative treatment. This incorporates relaxation into bedtime rituals to help a person sleep faster. A warm bath, massage, meditations, and lavender are a few types of methods. I personally have lavender scented candles all over my room that I burn during the day because I feel they relax me.

Alternative medicine focuses on natural remedies to help cure insomnia. "Herbal remedies such as chamomile tea and lemon balm help people to fall asleep. Melatonin is one of the best-studied natural remedies for insomnia" ("Insomnia"). "It is a natural hormone secreted by the pineal gland that is located in the center of the brain. Melatonin is activated by darkness and is suppressed by light. This helps people fall asleep faster but it has no effect on total sleep or the feeling of sleepiness and fatigue" (Chokroverty 82).

"There are no consistent dosages for Melatonin; a high dose may make some people fall asleep quickly whereas it may keep others up for hours" ("Insomnia"). As with any treatment, there are side effects that occur. For patients that take high doses of Melatonin there is mental impairment, drowsiness, severe headaches and nightmares. "In the United States it is not regulated as a prescription drug yet, it is only classified as a dietary supplement" ("Insomnia"). "Another highly effective herbal remedy is valerian. This is a sedative the improves the ability to fall sleep and the quality of sleep throughout the night" ("Insomnia").

Acupuncture and Biofeedback also are useful treatments for insomnia. Acupuncture is the process of inserting needles into specific points on the body. "It has been practiced for over 2,500 years in the East" (Kinosian 188). Through a complex series of signals to the brain, acupuncture increases the amount of certain substances in the brain, which promote relaxation and sleep. In acupuncture, "insomnia is seen as a deficient yin and an overacting yang condition. Acupuncture works by calming the central nervous system.

By inserting needles into the skin it helps unblock the "qi" [pronounced 'cheer']" (Kinosian 188). Qi is a Chinese philosophy that means circulating life energy and balancing the negative and positive forms in the body, and is essential for good health. "Although science does not know how acupuncture works, theories say it stimulates the secretion of endorphins to balance neurotransmitter levels of serotonin and norepinephrine that disturb sleeping" (Kinosian 189). Biofeedback is a technique that enables a person to gain a control over involuntary body functions, such as heart rate or blood pressure. By doing this, the person is attempting to gain voluntary control over that specific function. Insomniacs [usually sleep troubled women] with highly tensed muscles usually find biofeedback to be a good treatment to help sleep.

This treatment involves a machine that uses sound, light, or tone to give a play-by-play account of your physiological state: muscle tension, skin temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, and other bodily functions. The theory of biofeedback is that once you become conscious of occurrences that are normally unconscious, such as breathing and muscle tension, visual cues and sounds from the electronic devices help teach a patient to change their physiological state to sleep better (Kinosian 196). The biofeedback machine "trains a person to produce the same muscle relaxation techniques whether you " re in your own bed or hooked up to electrodes in a doctor's office" (Kinosian 197). Hypnotherapy is another type of insomnia treatment. "This is often used to eliminate stubborn problem behaviors that seem resistant to other therapies" (Kinosian 191). Just like acupuncture, hypnotherapy is scientifically debated but they do accept the fact that the mind has two parts to it, the conscious and subconscious.

Hypnotherapists help their patients to get into their unconscious mind and they fall into a trance like state. Hypnosis makes a patient extremely relaxed while they still feel fully alert. "In order for hypnosis to work effectively you must be willing to be hypnotized" (Kinosian 193). Another form of treatment is chiropractic care.

This relieves pain, tension, and fatigue for a less fitful sleep. "A chiropractor thinks that sickness comes from a malfunction in the spinal column. The chiropractor, using their hands to apply pressure, can adjust the malfunctioning areas of the spine back into strong working order" (Kinosian 194). When a person does something that throws the spine or neck out of adjustment their sleep is affected by it.

To treat insomnia, chiropractors aim to desensitize or numb the nerves on the spine. "Since nerves rest on the outside of the spinal cord, when the misalignment's are corrected, the nerve flow up the spinal cord is reopened and the insomnia problems lessen" (Kinosian 195). With all the different types of treatments for insomnia there is no telling which one will be the most effective. It all depends on the severity of the situation and the type of person receiving the treatment.

Most treatments have side effects and make it difficult to decide what works best. It can start by trying to handle the situation personally, like writing in a journal, practicing yoga or meditation, or drinking less caffeine. If these approaches do not apply to the patient, he / she can try over-the-counter medications, acupuncture or chiropractic help, or alternative remedies and other sources of relief. Even though insomnia has become a common illness in the world, there are several different ways to treat it.

People should not have to struggle to get a good night of sleep, it is an essential part of our lives. We should be able to go to sleep when we need to and wake up full refreshed and ready to conquer the day.

Bibliography

Chokroverty, Sudhansu. "100 Questions and Answers about Sleep and Sleep Disorders". 2003.
Google. (Dec. 14 2004).
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Insomnia". Health and Age. 2003.
Kinosian, Janet. The Well-Rested Woman: 60 Soothing Suggestions for Getting a Good Night's Sleep. Co nari Press. Morin, Charles M. Relief from Insomnia: Getting the Sleep of Your Dreams. New York: DoubleDay, 1996.