Self Help

Most people have experienced the problem of insomnia at one point or another in their life. And many men and women have learned to live with it by ignoring the underlying problem and just living with their stress related symptoms.

While this practice of “just dealing with it” may allow people to temporarily forget about their tress, in time this habit will only lead down to a road of greater health problems. This is because by not dealing directly with your stress problems your body will respond in a negative way and produce even more stress due to lack of not sleeping and not supplying the body the rest it needs.

In basic terms, insomnia can be described as tossing and turning in bed, not able to sleep, while our minds are carrying on a constant dialog about all of our problems and fears experienced during the day. Often times severe guilt felt by a person for some event that has happened in their lives causes insomnia.

For others, and myself included in the past, the insomnia was brought on because of making major changes in life. Even if these changes are positive ones, like getting a new job, starting your own business, or moving to a new town.

These kinds of insomnia are often relieved if and when we have faced our problems and taken care of whatever it is that we are feeling guilt for, have worry about, or something we fear. But for far too many insomniacs, their lives are filled with high levels of stress that is due mostly because of running their systems non-stop without getting the required sleep needed for ideal mind and body function.

Is insomnia itself a disorder? Actually, insomnia is not a disorder but rather a symptom of some underlying problem in your life. And these problems do not have to be guilt related or fear based, as discussed above, but also can be contributed by physical pain that keeps you awake.

For example, men and women with arthritis experience long periods of pain that keeps them up at night. And then when they have to wake up and go to work or take care of family, their lives take on deeper levels of stress due to fatigue.

If your insomnia is not caused by a physical ailment, then you can take simple steps to avoid having your sleep disturbed and your life stressed. Such steps include getting plenty of exercise, avoiding heavy fatty foods late at night, getting on a normal sleeping schedule, and avoiding napping late in the day.