What to Do When You Can146;t Sleep

Insomnia is defined as the inability to fall asleep or stay asleep. It is different from physiological problems such as sleep apnea and restless-leg syndrome, which also interfere with sleep but can be treated medically.

Most of the time insomnia is caused by anxiety or other mood disorders. Sometimes it is just the routine stresses of the day that keep people up at night8212;the sales meeting in the morning, the kids8217; demands for help with homework, the vacation that must be planned. Sometimes, a couple of sleepless nights can snowball into a nightmare of its own, so that the very sight of the bed sets off a lather of anxiety.

Companies that make sleep medications would like you to believe that a little pill magically summons the sandman. But sleep specialists say that pills are no more than a Band-Aid. They might work for a night or two, but after several weeks, patients report taking more and more pills and never sleeping better.

8216;8216;You shouldn8217;t be locked into a situation where you8217;re taking these pills seven days a week,8217;8217; says Dr Keith Dixon, a sleep specialist at Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford, Connecticut.

Rubman says more than half the people who seek sleep counselling at the New Britain centre are taking prescription, over-the-counter or herbal sleep remedies8212;none of which are working.

The first step for insomniacs is to forget the notion that everybody needs eight hours of sleep. 8216;8216;Most insomniacs are distressed by the fact that they are awake when everyone else is asleep,8217;8217; says Dr Anuradha Sovani, a clinical psychologist with the University of Mumbai8217;s Applied Psychology department. 8216;8216;These people are not technically insomniacs, they just need less sleep.8217;8217;

Some people function well with four to five hours of sleep, others need 10. Some experts feel that the worst way to ensure enough shut-eye is to get into bed before you are drowsy. 8216;8216;Going to bed early doesn8217;t mean you8217;re going to get more sleep,8217;8217; says Rubman. She and Dixon both advise leaving the room and performing a restful activity like knitting or light reading and returning to bed only when sleepy.

Sovani, however, thinks otherwise. 8216;8216;I suggest lying in bed and resting, even if you8217;re not actually sleeping. It takes away the emotional burden of not being able to sleep,8217;8217; she says.

For patients whose looping anxieties keep their heads spinning on the pillow, Dixon at Gaylord suggests an exercise: take a pile of index cards and on each one note down a problem that keeps you awake at night. One card could be 8216;finances8217;; another, 8216;I hate my job8217;; or 8216;What am I going to cook for dinner tomorrow?8217;

On each card write out a plan for how you plan to approach the problem today, tomorrow and next week. Keep the index cards next to the bed. When one of the worries disrupts your sleep, check the card, assure yourself that you have a plan, then go to sleep.

Patients who seek help for insomnia at a sleep session can expect to participate in weekly counselling, either individually or in groups, for about five or six weeks. Patients learn relaxation techniques and other strategies for getting a better night8217;s sleep. But as with diet and exercise, there is no such thing as an overnight miracle. It takes work and practice for people to change their sleep habits.

LAT-WP With inputs from Parizaad Khan