Sleep is very important for health Sleeping adequate hours, added to a restful rest, generates both physical and psychological benefits. However, prolonged deprivation has opposite effects that soon become evident.
In this article We will see what insomnia is and how we can combat it through healthy habits to apply every day.
The problem of insomnia consists of having difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or a combination of both As a result, the person gets little or no sleep at night and is likely to feel tired at dawn, causing poor performance in the day’s activities by being sleepy, lacking energy, and irritable.
Insomnia can be acute or chronic. Acute is characterized by its short duration (days or weeks), which is generated by problems of daily life, whether work stress, family or personal conflicts, time changes when traveling, etc.
On the other hand, chronic insomnia lasts more than a month caused by an illness that the person suffers from, a side effect of some medication, as well as other substances: caffeine, nicotine, alcoholic beverages, drugs, etc.
A public health problem
Currently, around 40% of the population in Mexico suffers from insomnia, according to Dr. Marisela Durán Gutiérrez, in charge of the Sleep Clinic at the Guadalajara Civil Hospital.
In addition, it highlights the importance of treating the condition, since it can seriously affect, causing road accidents due to drowsiness and decreased reaction speed ; poor work or school performance due to attention, concentration and memory problems; emotional imbalance: stress, anxiety, depression, irritability.
On the other hand, insomnia is associated with an increased likelihood of suffering from obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome and high blood pressure, among other diseases caused by decreased defenses.
It should be noted that people who sleep less than five hours a night are four times more likely to develop type two diabetes mellitus, and 45% more likely to suffer a heart attack according to Alejandro Jiménez Genchi, coordinator of the Sleep Clinic of the National Institute of Psychiatry.
How to combat it?
To prevent insomnia from becoming a problem as much as possible, it is useful to follow the recommendations below.
1. Modify your sleeping habits
You can start by going to bed early at a set time to get used to it. It is advisable to sleep between seven or eight hours, so it is also important to establish a regular time to wake up.
Watch the weekends and Avoid excess trips because they disrupt the established schedule Once in bed, try not to be distracted by television or cell phones, as these can keep you awake and delay sleep.
2. Avoid high consumption of coffee, tobacco and alcohol
Caffeine is a strong stimulant that can alter sleep, you can find it in coffee, tea, soft drinks, among others.
For their part, with regard to tobacco, people who smoke take longer to fall asleep and wake up more frequently, compared to those who do not smoke, this due to a small withdrawal syndrome, while, with regard to tobacco, alcohol, its presence in the blood disrupts the sleep cycle and causes intermittent or early awakening according to Melgosa (2008).
A sedentary lifestyle, for obvious reasons, provides little physical fatigue. Intense or regular exercise, in addition to helping to reduce stress, will provide you with well-being and deep, continuous sleep; It also raises daytime body temperature and lowers nighttime body temperature, which induces sleep.
However, It is advisable to do the activity hours before going to bed instead of doing it immediately before, since it does not induce sleep immediately.
4. Try to have dinner early
Digestive activity from having a late dinner can cause difficulty sleeping, so it is advisable to have a small and early dinner, approximately two hours before going to bed. On the other hand, strong or spicy foods intercept the sleep process. If you find it difficult to choose a suitable low-carb dinner, You can ask a nutrition professional for advice
5. Try not to sleep
Yes, you read that right, try not to sleep. Because the more attempts you make to fall asleep, the more effort and perseverance, the harder it will be for you to achieve it.
Sleep is something natural that you cannot catch or generate yourself. It’s similar if you try to make yourself hungry or thirsty, it just doesn’t work that way. Sleep should come naturally, so if you have tried every means to fall asleep without success, better do the opposite, try not to sleep. For example, reading a good book until sleep finally and unexpectedly catches you.
6. Seek professional help
Finally, if insomnia persists due to a particular situation you are going through, it will always be an option to ask for help. The psychologist will evaluate your difficulty and will be able to tell you if it will be enough to resolve it with psychotherapy or if medical support will be needed.
Sleep is not a luxury, there is even a correlation between good sleep and longevity, according to a report published in Psychosomatic Medicine (Dew et al., 2003), so it is very important to address that need that generates insomnia. modify our sleeping habits, as well as lifestyle. Because Sleep is the cheapest way to take a step towards a full and healthy life
