Archive for November, 2009
If you’re suffering from insomnia, you’re not alone. About one out of every three adults will experience insomnia at some time in their lives. In addition, between 10 and 15 percent of adults are afflicted by chronic insomnia. While insomnia is classified as a symptom rather than a sleep disorder, it can be serious enough to undesirably affect your alertness, energy level and mental acuity.
Insomnia is characterized by an inability to either fall asleep or remain asleep throughout the night. Experts say that if insomnia persists for more than three or four weeks, you should probably seek medical attention. But if you haven’t yet reached that point, there are several steps you can take to improve your chances of getting a good night’s sleep.
Relaxation Techniques
The first option you can attempt is “proactive relaxation.” This method involves taking an active role in preparing yourself to get restful sleep instead of just hoping you’ll be tired when bedtime rolls around. Practicing proactive relaxation may be a simple as listening to soothing music, taking a warm bath, or engaging in prayer or meditation before bedtime.
In addition, there are various breathing exercises you can perform while in bed right before or just after you turn out the light. Such a regimen can lower your blood pressure and heart rate, which will enable your body to relax. You can also try progressive muscle relaxation, which involves alternating between flexing and relaxing individual muscles and then focusing on the release of tension. This helps your body get rid of any physical stress or strain in preparation for slumber.
You can also use your mind to relax your body through cognitive therapy. This approach utilizes techniques such as visualization or meditation to achieve mental relaxation. Cognitive therapy can be learned through face-to-face counseling or in a group session. If you want to manage your whole body in an effort to relax, consider biofeedback training to control your parasympathetic nervous system. This practice involves using medical instruments to measure various bodily processes and then employing proactive relaxation or cognitive therapy. Those who are skilled in biofeedback can actually alter their bodies’ internal functions in order to achieve restful sleep.
Lifestyle Changes
There are also certain lifestyle changes you can make to manage insomnia. Getting regular exercise can help train your body to differentiate between active and restful time periods within a given day. About 20 to 30 minutes of daily exercise is recommended, but it should not be completed close to bedtime.
Another strategy is to avoid eating large meals right before it is time to go to sleep. Your body’s natural digestive procedures may keep it in “work” mode instead of letting it sink into “rest” mode. You should also try to minimize or avoid alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine – especially in the afternoon and evening hours. These substances can wreak havoc on a variety of bodily processes and have a significant effect on your ability to fall asleep.
Alternate Methods
If you want to try a different method, you might be able to “trick” yourself into becoming sleepy. One way to do this is to temporarily “succumb” to insomnia and actually restrict your sleep schedule. If you stay up later or wake up earlier than usual for a day or two, your body may naturally yearn for the sleep that you are making it go without. Ideally, when you return to your regular sleep schedule, your sleep-deprived body will permit you to fall asleep easily.
Another so-called trick is known as “light therapy.” Because our bodies are naturally trained to be active during daylight, you may want to go outside in the evenings for about a half hour before it gets dark. This may help your body distinguish between the times when it should be awake and asleep. Light therapy can also be practiced with a medical-grade light box.
Insomnia Medication
If your insomnia persists despite your best efforts to banish it, you might find relief from certain medications. Various over-the-counter drugs, as well as prescription medications such as Ambien, Lunesta, Ativan, and Halcion, are designed to make you feel sleepy; but physicians generally discourage their use for longer than a few weeks. Some doctors have found longer-term success in treating insomnia by prescribing melatonin, Rozerem, or antidepressants.
Before opting for pills, be sure that you do not have any allergic reactions to these medicines, or that any other drugs you are taking will adversely react with the sleep medications and cause illness or other health problems.
Insomnia can be annoying and frustrating, but you don’t have to resolve yourself to a lifetime of sleepless nights. You should make an effort to address the underlying causes of your insomnia and work toward regaining a good night’s rest. Because if you don’t get your seven or eight hours of sleep per night, it can have an adverse effect on your mood, productivity, health, and interpersonal relationships. So stop ignoring insomnia before it gets out of hand.
About the Author
Chris Martin is a freelance writer who writes about self improvement and insomnia help.
Article Source: Content for Reprint
I was watching television the other day and was surprised by an advertisement for a supplement which was intended as an adjunct to anti-depressant drugs. I wish I had noted what was said but a statistic was stated about the number of anti-depressants which don’t affect the required cure for depression. The percentage was really very high.
It is always difficult to trace the root cause of depression. Is it a chemical imbalance which results in depression, or is it a pattern of thought which results in a change in chemical balance? In reality, an interaction is constantly at play between mind and body which has a cyclical effect.
Anti-depressant drugs inevitably provide an intervention from a chemical angle, but cannot treat the way in which you think or tap into your habitual thought processes. The ideal treatment for depression would in fact include approaches from both angles. Unfortunately due to the cost of professional time, it is easier and cheaper to purely prescribe drugs to help overcome depression and overlook methods of treatment which involve modifying the way in which you think.
We all know that the way in which we think automatically triggers an emotional reaction. If you think about your favorite movie a smile will probably cross your face; it automatically lifts your mood. If you contemplate a horror movie you will associate with the heart pumping, tight chest, sitting on the edge of your chair (or head underneath a pillow!) response it elicits. Thoughts create emotions and their associated chemical effects throughout your physiology.
One aspect of depression which is extremely frustrating is the helplessness experienced; you feel out of control. It is therefore important to do everything you can to regain a sense that you are once more in the driving seat in your day to day life. Taking a tablet makes you feel that you are doing something which will hopefully cure depression, but is there not more that you could be doing as well?
The placebo response in drug trials is normally seen to be at around 30%, which tells us that just by thinking that a treatment will work places you in the position that your treatment for depression is 30% more likely to be successful. You could use hypnosis to access your subconscious mind and make suggestions to create a positive expectation of successful treatment of depression. In this way you can feel far more in control, and work on your depression from the mental perspective as well as from a chemical angle.
Hypnosis is a natural state of relaxation and you can learn to use hypnosis easily with the help of a hypnosis mp3 download. This is inexpensive (you can get a free hypnosis relaxation download from my website) and you can get started right away. With hypnosis you have easy access to your subconscious mind which is that part where habitual patterns of thought are stored. Suggestions can be made to retrain your mind to think is a different way. Remember your thoughts create your emotions and the chemical reactions which are felt within your physiology.
You can use hypnosis to regain a feeling of control, change your deep rooted patterns of thought and lift your mood.
Roseanna Leaton, specialist in hypnosis mp3 downloads for health and well-being.
About the Author
With a degree in psychology and qualifications in hypnotherapy and NLP, Roseanna Leaton is one of the leading practitioners of self-improvement. You can get a free hypnosis mp3 from http://www.RoseannaLeaton.com and find out how to treat depression naturally and cure depression.
Article Source: Content for Reprint
So you think you might be depressed. You may not know how you got this way, or why you can’t seem to shake this dark cloud that’s been hovering over you for as long as you can remember. But you’re starting to think that something isn’t the way it’s supposed to be.
But maybe you’re also a bit put off by all the depression treatments you’ve been reading about. Taking drugs? Starting therapy? Talking about your problems? Going to support groups? Exercising and eating different foods? It sure seems like a lot of drastic changes to make — and you’ve already got plenty of other obligations. And you’ve gone through much of your life without having to do any of these things — so why start now? Will these lifestyle changes really make a difference?
Yes, they will.
If you take steps to manage your depression, even one or two small steps, you can substantially improve the quality of your life. Here are some of the ways your life could be different. Imagine…
Seeing the Glass as Half Full
Right now, it’s easy to see the dark side of life. Why try dating when it’ll probably just lead to rejection and heartbreak? Why go to the concert and fight all those crowds? Why clean the baseboards in the house if they’re just going get dirty again? This may be pretty typical of the thoughts that automatically pop into your mind. But imagine how it would be if your first thoughts were something like, “Maybe I’ll call him/her. What have I got to lose?” “That sounds like a fun show – maybe I’ll go,” or “Cleaning the baseboards won’t take long – and the room will look so much better!” It may be hard to believe, but those types of positive thoughts, regardless of how small they may seem, can have a major impact on your overall state of mind.
No More Constant Fatigue or Tiredness
Maybe right now, you feel tired all the time. Or it seems like your muscles and joints are sore and you get a lot of headaches. Perhaps it’s a battle just to get out of bed in the morning. If you think back to sometime in your past, you’ll remember that you didn’t always have trouble waking up, and you didn’t feel sluggish or achy during the day either. If you seek help for depression, you could feel that way again. Eliminating or reducing the physical symptoms of depression can give you a whole new lease on life.
Free Yourself from the Inertia of Depression
You think you might have the words “stuck in a rut” tattooed on your forehead. Sometimes it takes all of your effort just to run to the grocery store or pick up your dry cleaning. You don’t ever feel like shopping for clothes or getting your car washed. And you never even consider major life changes, such as looking for a new job or taking a night class.
Remember the times when getting your daily chores done wasn’t a “chore?” When you’d jump in your car or hop on your bike to go get something on a whim? When you weren’t the least bit intimidated by making a change or trying something new? Well, depression and inertia go hand in hand, so if you get rid of one, the other will soon follow.
Not Overreacting to Little Things
Do you often wonder why you get irritated by minor criticism, a speeding driver passing you on the freeway, or even the loud laughter of someone near you in a park? You used to be able to let those trifling annoyances slide off you like water off a duck’s back, if you even noticed them at all. It’s all a matter of keeping things in perspective — and getting help for depression can make a tremendous difference in your perspective.
Not Thinking of Social Engagements as Chores
You’re pretty good at coming up with excuses when your friends call or text you and tell you to meet them somewhere. You avoid any bars, clubs, or other entertainment venues like the plague. And if you can’t get out of a party or get-together, you grumble the whole time you’re getting ready for it and you stay only as long as you have to. You may recall that there was a time that you actually liked being with your friends. You may have even enjoyed socializing with your co-workers or hanging out with your family. So what’s the big difference now between you and all the people out there having fun? It’s probably the depression.
When you find the right kind of depression help, you can enjoy spending time with the people you love and care about again. This is one of the most meaningful pleasures life has to offer.
Laughing and Enjoying Life Again
If you’re depressed, there’s a good chance you hardly laugh at all anymore (unless it’s to be polite). And you can’t remember the last time you actually did something for enjoyment’s sake. Remember when this wasn’t the case? You laughed with your friends and did things that were actually fun? And you planned social activities and looked forward to them and even laughed about them for weeks afterward? Remember, the good times are not gone forever. You are not doomed to a life of pain and dejection. You can feel good again.
Perhaps it is time to make a change for the better.
Make an appointment to see your doctor (or a nurse, counselor, or therapist) and tell him or her that you might be depressed. He or she can get you started on an appropriate treatment plan that may include therapy sessions, medications, and adjustments to your diet, exercise, or sleep regimen.
You won’t see a drastic change overnight, but after several weeks of treatment, things may start to get better. You won’t feel as run down all the time. You’ll gradually stop sweating the small stuff. You’ll stop equating daily chores and social engagements with root canals or fingernails on a chalkboard. You will even surprise yourself by smiling quite a bit more.
Best of all, you’ll reacquaint yourself with that strange feeling that you may have thought had vanished from your life forever — hope.
About the Author
Chris Martin is a freelance writer who writes about self improvement by seeking out depression help.
