in·som·ni·a (n.) : Chronic inability to fall asleep or remain asleep for an adequate length of time.
It turns out that insomnia is not actually defined by the number of hours of sleep a person gets or how long it takes to fall asleep... rather it's the complaint (or perception) of inadequate or poor-quality sleep. People vary normally in their need for (and their satisfaction with) sleep. Insomnia may cause problems during the day, such as tiredness, a lack of energy, and/or difficulty concentrating. Some of the effects that I've experienced personally this past week:
- Difficulty falling asleep... just can't do it!
- Waking up frequently during the night with difficulty returning to sleep (in all fairness, this is perhaps a problem I've had for several years!)
- Waking up too early in the morning... always!
- Unrefreshing sleep... most of the time!
9 comments:
I soooooo know your pain. It's 3am here and I still can't sleep. I have to be at work at 7:30. Sleeping pills don't help. They just make me groggy. I can lay in bed for hours and still not be able to sleep.
I think I'm starting to get used to it. I wasn't quite as tired today (er, yesterday... all the days are kinda meshing into one in my mind) as I've been over the last several days this week.
I've also had chronic problems with insomnia...here are some tips I've learned:
1) Stay off sleeping pills. They are evil and will destroy your life.
2) Try to get a decent amount of daily exercise. I've been told that Yoga also alleviates insomnia.
3) Abstain from alcohol. Though you can sometimes knock yourself out with it, the sleep you get isn't restful.
4) If you lay awake in bed for longer than 20 minutes, get up again. Read something, play a game on the computer, etc. Then try to lay down. Apparently, laying awake in bed only makes it worse.
I hope these tips are of some help to you. :)
Yeah, I've tried all that to no avail. I'm sure I'll fall asleep sometime (before the start of 2006!)
Thanks for the advice though, I do really appreciate it! :-D
Yeah...and maybe a visit to the your MD! I'm dreading next week because T's going away to visit his parents and friend in the North, and I'm not going with him, i.e. I'm staying at home alone....and I never can fall asleep when he's not there. I always end up laying in bed all night and fall asleep first at about 6 a.m.! O.o It's bloody torture!
Dude, that's no good! You'll get through it though!
In the mean time, insomnia really isn't that bad (from Obi-Wan's "certain point of view") Think of all the extra time you get each day!
OK, I don't like posting multiple times in a day, but when I started writing a response, I realized it was a post of it's own. Hope it works for you... it does for me.
Change of latitude.
Nice post, Seeker!
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