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Journalism of Courage
To quote Friedrich Nietzsche: 8220;Sleeping is no mean art: for its sake one must stay awake all day.8221; Yes, sleeplessness can have men philosophise. But mostly it makes for bleary-eyed, irritable, unwell people.
What is insomnia?
Types of Insomnia
Early Insomnia Initiating sleep becomes a prob-lem, and you find yourself going to sleep only af-ter one or two in the morning. This is the most common type of insomnia in urban India. Middle Insomnia Makes you get up around one in the morning, and you8217;re unable to sleep again. Late Insomnia You get up too early in the morn-ing and can8217;t go back to sleep.
Why do people lose sleep?
Insomnia is only a symptom. There can be many underlying causes for its occurrence: like stress, too much caffeine, depression, changes in work shifts, pain frommedical problems such as arthri-tis. The contributory factors can be broken up into three parts: biological, psychological and social. Biological Lifestyle, hypertension, obesity, meta-bolic disorders, indigestion and irregular eating patterns. Chronic pains both muscular or skeletal. Psychological Mood disorders, depression, anxi-ety, temperamental disturbances. Adjustment dif-ficulties with family, fears and phobias.
Social Being a misfit among family and peers.
How much sleep is enough?
Most adults need between six and eight hours of sleep every night. You know you8217;re getting enough sleep if you don8217;t feel sleepy during the day. The amount of sleep you need stays about the same throughout adulthood. However, sleep patterns may change with age. Older people may sleep less at night and take naps during the day.
How do you treat sleeplessness?
Often, when the problem that is causing the in-somnia is taken care of, the condition goes away. The key is to find the cause. Sleeping pills can help in some cases, but they are not a cure. They8217;re only a temporary form of relief and long use can cause rebound insomnia.
Some goodnight tips
8226; Spend time with people you love
8226; Have early dinner
8226; Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, including weekends, even if you didn8217;t get enough sleep
8226; Develop a bedtime routine. Try to do the same things every night before going to sleep8212;take a warmbath and then read for 10 minutes before going to bed.
8226; Use the bed only for sleeping or sex. Don8217;t eat, talk on the phone or watch TV while you8217;re in bed. Make sure your bedroom is quiet and dark. If noise is a problem, use a fan to mask the noise or use earplugs.
8226; If you8217;re still awake after trying to fall asleep for 30 minutes, get up and go to another room. Sit quietly for about 20 minutes there before going back to bed. Avoid or limit your use of caffeine coffee, tea, sodas, chocolate, decongestants, alcohol and tobacco.
8226; Exercise more often, but don8217;t exercise in the few hours before going to bed. Don8217;t lie in bed worrying about things. Don8217;t neglect your health.
Foods for Sleep
Ishi Khosla, clinical nutritionist, offers us a guide to sumptuous slumber:
Certain foods have a calming effect. Milk with some sugar releases neuro-transmitters that in-duce sleep. Avoid caffeine, high-salt food. Try eating a light snack before going to bed8212;some carbohydrate, a biscuit, crackers, light toast. Camomile tea soothes the system. Ashwagandha has been found to have a soothing and calming ef-fect. And don8217;t go to sleep on a heavy stomach.
