Do you suffer from insomnia?
If you suffer from insomnia, please seek professional help because (1) sleep deprivation can have very dangerous effects on your health, safety and performance, especially in the elderly, and (2) there are effective treatments.
The infographic below, from an article by CogniTune, features natural sleep aids and supplements like Melatonin. But before you use either prescription or natural sleep aids, I want you to try non-chemical treatments such as Blue Light Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for insomnia (CBTi), and some of these 70 Tips for Improving Sleep, which focus on the bedroom environment, what you eat, and your behavior and habits. I learned a lot about these various treatments while working with Dr. Bruce Wayne Meleski at Intelligent Sleep (now Body Logic Institute, a sleep & brain health center in Austin, TX).
Don’t try too hard
We all have times when we just can’t turn off our thoughts and just fall asleep. It may be some family issue or worries about an important exam or meeting tomorrow, where you play everything over and over in your head and can’t let it go. As a technologist working with Bruce, I explored different smartphone apps and even ordered a smart mattress cover from EightSleep with the idea of tracking every movement, body temperature, respiration, and heart beat. But new research seems to show that that can be counter-productive and cause anxiety. Sleep should not be like a competition. That’s one of the things you learn in cognitive behavioral therapy.
Don’t Try Too Hard
An often ignored but common cause of insomnia, which happens
A good night’s sleep is the best way to culminate a stressful and tiring day.
Your body needs rest that only a good and sound sleep can provide. But if you
are one of those people who have been having difficulty falling asleep or
staying asleep, then you may consider taking Zolpidem. The drug
is easily available and can be safely purchased without prescription.
Try to reprogram your life if you want to cure insomnia, like forming a new habit and be aware of something that keeps you awake at night.