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March 6, 2009

Insomnia and Sleep Hygiene

Ever have one of those nights where you can't get to sleep. It's a big day tomorrow and you've got to feel and look your best, and here you lay awake hour after hour. I used to have a troublesome night right before traveling, especially if I had to get up early to catch a 5:00 am flight, or something. Now I lay awake following exams turning over questions in my mind, wondering if I should have selected a different answer.

I can't begin to imagine the life of an insomniac. If I don't get my 8 hours, I'm not likely to have a good day. US News discusses insomnia. According to their article, people who experience insomnia (note the patient-centered language) are either physiologically predisposed to the condition or they have poor sleep hygiene. Sleep hygiene is defined as anything that helps maintain your health by keeping your mind and body rested and strong.

Another interesting discussion concerning sleep disorders comes from the New Scientist. Poor sleep can actually affect your mental health.

While it is common knowledge anecdotally that a poor night's sleep is likely to make you more irritable the next day, Walker and his colleagues uncovered key evidence for why this should be so. Scans revealed that in those deprived of sleep the amygdala was failing to communicate with the prefrontal lobe, which normally controls and sends inhibitory signals down to the emotional brain. A loss of communication between the amygdala and the prefrontal lobe is one way that sleep loss could create psychiatric symptoms.

It's no surprise to me. That lack of sleep makes me cranky. Not only that, I'm more likely to use poor sleep hygiene to get me through the day, such as increases in caffeine intake. After all, I'm in college again. What I should practice daily is US News' tip #6:

Create a barrier between work and sleep. You want to have some sort of break from the day's stress before sleep. Write down all the things you need to worry about on a piece of paper, and do your best to leave them behind. Whether asleep or awake, there's likely nothing you can do about them until tomorrow, anyway.

Couple that with a good pre-bedtime massage and I'll likely sleep like a baby. Now if I could just get the cat to sleep through the night.

tags: massage massagetherapy wellness massage therapy bodywork insomnia health

Posted by linda at March 6, 2009 4:32 PM