Hello Everyone,
I hope this week has treated you well. I would like to talk about Insomnia this week, a common problem that many people complain to me about and one that causes significant strain on our good mental health. Everyone has problems sleeping at times but how can we know when we need help?
Insomnia is a sleep disorder that causes difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. It can be both short or long- term.
Sleep is necessary for one’s good health and well-being- both mental and physical. Everyone has different sleep needs but it is recommended that one gets 8 hours of sleep per night.
Sleep helps us in ways that we do not think about on a daily basis. Yes, it refreshes us but it also is the main ingredient in our energy and concentration levels, mood and overall every day functioning.

What causes insomnia?
It can be caused by a multitude of factors that range from biological to environmental such as:
1. Sleep disorders such as narcolepsy or night terrors
2. Medical disorders such as heart condition or asthma
3. Psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety and mood disorders
4. Stress
5. Hormonal, joint or muscle problems.
6. Long term physical pain
7. Childbirth
8. Some prescription or over the counter medications (as a side effect.)

What can insomnia cause?
What happens to our bodies and mind if we do not get enough sleep?
1. Functional impairment the next day. Tiredness reduces your ability to cope with every day stressors- this can also lead to low self- esteem.
2. This fatigue can lead to social isolation which subsequently leads to loneliness.
3. Memory problems
4. Stress and negative thoughts. Tiredness can affect your ability to rationalise.
5. Irritability and overall low mood.
6. Increased risk of heart disease
7. Ineffective decision making and inability to multi- task.
8. Slowed speech
9. Road traffic accidents.
10. Hallucinations and double visions (in severe cases)
It has also been found that teenagers with poor sleep habits are twice as likely to use drugs, tobacco or alcohol.

Who is at risk for insomnia?
Insomnia can happen at any age but it is particularly common among the elder populations (those over 60). Individuals with a history of depression and anxiety, emotional stress, travels a lot through different time zones and work occasional night time shifts are also at risk for insomnia.
Other triggers include the abuse of drugs/ alcohol, familial or marriage issues and a death in the family.

Do you have insomnia?
Are you unsure? Here’s how to tell
1. Do you have difficulty falling asleep?
2. Do you wake up often throughout the night?
3. Is it hard for you to go back to sleep after waking up?
4. Is it difficult to get up in the morning?
5. Do you feel tired and irritable throughout the day?
If you’ve answered yes to the majority of questions, you may have or be at risk for insomnia

How do we treat insomnia?
In my field of work, prevention is always better than cure. Here are some tips that could help to avoid insomnia.
1. Have a fixed sleep schedule. This means going to bed and waking up at the same time every day. This helps to body to maintain a steady pattern.
2. Avoid drinking caffeinated or alcoholic beverages for a few hours before sleep.
3. Avoid nicotine (cigarettes) for a few hours before sleep.
4. Avoid eating heavy meals for a few hours before sleep.
5. Avoid heavy exercise for a few hours before sleep.
6. Avoid activities such as hobbies or eating in bed- the bed is for sleep alone!
7. Keep your sleep environment quiet and dark right before bed.
8. Avoid napping during the day time.

If you feel you already have insomnia, kindly see a physician to determine the cause of it. From there, you may be recommended cognitive behavioural therapy or prescription sleeping pills which need to be regulated by a physician as this can result to a dependency on the substance. This means the individual feels they can no longer sleep without it, which can cause further difficulties in the future.
Breathing techniques have also been beneficial. Below is an example of a breathing technique called the 4-7-8 exercise.

1. Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound.
2. Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of four.
3. Hold your breath for a count of seven.
4. Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of eight.
5. This is one breath. Now inhale again and repeat the cycle three more times for a total of four breaths.

Additionally, researchers believe that sleep is important for memory storage in the brain as sleeping reorganizes and restructures your thoughts. Practise is perfect when you are trying to learn something, yes but you will always perform better after sleeping.
Finally, there is a whole field of work dedicated to determine the importance of dreams and some researchers believe that dreams can be signs of disorders. For example, if you have very vivid of crazy dreams, it is a sign of heavy stress and a required break.
Overall, sleep benefits your heart, mind, weight and more. It is associated with a longer life span, higher levels of creativity, higher performance and endurance for athletes, higher attention span, higher levels of weight loss and lower levels of stress, irritability and depression.
It’s not just to get rid of those bags under our eyes so please get as much sleep as you can. Please come in to GPHC and see a physician if you’re not getting enough sleep.
Thank you all for reading and please do write in to caitlinvieira@gmail.com and let me know what you would like to talk about.
Say Yes to Life and No to Drugs! Always!