Insomnia causes a person to be unable to fall asleep and to sleep through the night. As a result, that person becomes tired, irritable and stressed about falling asleep the next night. Short-term insomnia can be cured with sleeping aids, but long-term insomnia can actually be worsened if aids are used because they can become addicting and will ruin a person's natural sleeping ability. If this sounds like something you're experiencing, consider these steps to treating insomnia without sleep aids.
Instructions
1. Listen to an audiotape that not only helps you to fall asleep to soothing sounds but that also retrains your brain neurons to fall into a deep sleep. Your brainwaves act differently while you are in a deep sleep, and tapes can help your brain to know when to change into a deep sleep mode. These tapes train your brain, so you can stop using them after a month. Tapes are available to purchase online and from sleep clinics.
2. Contact your physician or psychologist for information on cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). This therapy includes keeping a sleep diary, discussing your sleep patterns with your physician or psychologist and working toward relieving the problem, whether it is controlling your significant other's snoring problem or re-establishing your bedroom as only a place to relax and unwind.
3. Exercise early in the morning rather than late at night. This allows your body to unwind as the day carries on. For evening workouts, try yoga or meditation that soothes your mind and relaxes you.
4. Creating a routine can help your body know when it's time to fall asleep, according to the American Sleep Foundation. At night, use the bedroom only for sleep and sex. Establish a regular time to go to bed and to wake up, and make the room dark, cool and cozy. Use earplugs or a fan to drown out other noises.
5. During the day, don't consume caffeine late in the day, stop eating or drinking an hour before bedtime, avoid alcohol and nicotine that can mess with your sleeping pattern and avoid taking naps.
Related posts
IntroductionSurvive on Little Sleep. Another sleepless night has passed. Maybe you had insomnia or the baby kept you up all night or you stayed up too late playing catch-up with work. Whatever the...
Get a good night's sleep after stopping cigarette use.There are several health benefits to kicking the cigarette habit. Quitting smoking lowers your risk of heart disease and can reduce your likel...
A messed up sleep cycle will mess up your day.If your sleep patterns are lousy, you are never going to feel rested and will be operating at far less than 100 percent during the daytime hours. Take...
Nearly 90 percent of Americans consume caffeine every day. Morning lines in popular coffee shops, stops at quick service and fast food shops for giant size sodas, and the popularity of energy drin...
Sleep and Work the Late ShiftMany who work the late shift have difficulty sleeping in the daytime while the rest of the world is awake. Because working late shifts changes your normal sleep/wake c...
