Stress,Strain and Insomnia

Insomnia, put simply put is the inability to sleep which can last for a couple of days or more. Though this may not seem like a life threatening disorder, the long term implications of this disease are can hinder a mans daily routine and push him to the limits of being miserable and depressed. Stress, which is any physical and or mental strain, has always been linked to insomnia. The presence of one invariably means the presence of the other.

Stress is said to redirect the blood circulation to the head from all the other vital organs, leading to lethargy, drowsiness, listlessness and irritation. Due to stress the body is constantly in an emergency mode of "fight or flight" or stress response.  While going to bed, the person is not able to switch off from these modes and the result is stressful light, disturbed sleep. Studies evaluating good and bad sleepers showed that poor sleepers were those who were stressed out due to some emotional backlog that had taken place in the recent past. Those with serious negative events taking place every few years were suffering from chronic insomnia.

Although serious adverse events in the personal and professional events lead to insomnia, even small stresses which have lasted over a period of time can lead to chronic insomnia. In case of acute insomnia, that lasts only a few days, the person can go back to his healthy state once the prime reason for stress is removed. Stress can lead to three types of insomnia

1. difficulty in initiating sleep
2. difficulty in maintaining sleep
3. poor quality sleep

Dealing with stress related insomnia

Since sleep is very important, it can affect our overall health. Deficiency of sleep can slow down our thought process, disturb our emotional balance and slow down our physical response. While dealing with insomnia, the person may get stressed out, leading to stress related insomnia.

Instead of depending on sleeping pills the following techniques can help to calm the mind, de-stress and enjoy a healthy night's sleep.

• Progressive muscle relaxation- This is a simple technique adopted by many patients to drift into a sound sleep. It's a simple technique of contracting all your muscles at ones and then relaxing each one of them one by one. By the time the person is done relaxing all his muscles, he usually drifts off to sleep.
• Try breathing techniques-Since stress is the root cause of insomnia, its important that we get rid of it. Different breathing techniques are said to have a calming effect on the body and relax our mind. Even while lying on the bed, just plain concentrating on your breathing distracts the mind from the problems and calms it.
• Write it down-it's been noted that if you are not getting any sleep, just writing down your problems can help de-stress. Also commonly called as "let it out technique", its shown fantastic results in many people. So if there are breaks in your sleep, just get hold of your diary and put down your thoughts.
• Exercise-It's shown that physical exertion helps to calm the mind and change the mood. Also, all the work out exhausts the muscles out so you can sleep better.
• Share your problems-sharing your problems with family and friends can help calm your mind and they can also boost your spirit, leaving you in a happier, better frame of mind.
• Accept your problems-a lot of times, lack of acceptance can such aggravate the situations. Once the acceptance sets in, it's easier to deal with stress which can also improve your sleep.