The Most Common Causes of Sleeplessness

Name three reasons you miss sleep. Here’s a check list. Pick your faves: 1) too much to do, 2) got to bed late, 3) ate too much dinner, 4) awakened in the night thinking about work and couldn’t go back to sleep, 5) noises outside, 6) had to set the alarm early to prepare for something…Sound familiar?

Worry is one of the big reported causes of sleeplessness. Many people prefer to call it “thinking.” Worry falls into three timeframes: 1) either people lie awake unable to fall asleep, 2) or they fall asleep but awaken in the night because of a noise or to take a bio break, then can’t resume sleep; or 3) they awaken too early in the morning and can’t fall back asleep. Less frequent is having two or three of these conditions (except under extreme stress).

Typically, worry would not be characterized as a sleep disorder, but rather a sleep disruption.

Sleep disorders, per se¸ have a medical or physiological tie-in. To get a handle on sleep disorders, think of them as falling into two categories: internally stimulated or externally stimulated. Internally provoked causes sleeplessness cover everything from run-away thinking to a full bladder.

Externally provoked wakefulness during sleep times covers things like loud noises, interruptions, bright lights, etc.

You immediately see from this simple breakdown there are a few things about getting a good night’s sleep that are fairly easy to control under most circumstances. For the most part, stimuli causing wakefulness that you can prevent or control without medication would fall under experiential insomnia, not sleep disorders.

Internally triggered sleeplessness, however, is more complex than pulling dark shades or plugging in your white noise machine. Internal causes are further broken down into voluntary and involuntary, for lack of better terms. For example, we could make a case that worrying all night is voluntary. Of course, you feel like it isn’t, especially at the time. But you could choose to think about butterflies and balmy lake breezes rather than how you are going to get 17 non-productive people in the department you just took over to start performing up to par. Neurological disorders, on the other hand, would clearly be involuntary—and a disorder, not merely insomnia.

For a clearer breakdown of internal causes of sleep disruption, think of them as non-physically triggered and physically triggered. Among physical triggers are sleep-robbing medications, menopause and other hormonal swings (such as pregnancy), injuries, illness, etc. Sleep terrors, sleep walking and REM sleep behavior disorder can be among the most serious disorders, because a person moving while sleeping can be a danger to both themselves and to others.

These latter conditions fall under the domain of sleep disorders. In other words, lying awake at night thinking about work is uncomfortable, but it is not a sleep disorder. Insomnia is a nuisance, but it is not a sleep disorder—it is a problem. Sleep apnea is a disorder.

Sleeplessness itself is most-commonly associated with tension, anxiety, depression, and worries about work or finances. Even a less-than-favorable sex life can lead to night-time restlessness.

Indigestion from overeating, or eating foods less compatible with one’s biological type shortly before going to sleep can trigger discomfort and eventual wakefulness. Certain substances, like alcohol for example, have a rebound effect of first sedating, then stimulating.

Whether insomnia is invited over after a nasty bit of cheese steak or by a genetic predisposition, it is important to pay attention to it, ascertain the cause or causes in your case and make every resolve to get uninterrupted, quality sleep. Daytime tiredness can cause injuries, accidents and even death, in addition to the dangers posed by what may occur during physiological sleep disorders themselves.

Treatments are accessible and in most cases fairly inexpensive. The problem is, whether you have too much wine before going to bed or awaken with night terrors, either way, your life and the lives of those you love are at risk.

Get some sleep!

If you feel you have a sleep disorder, then consult with a physician. If you suffer from too much worry, then I highly recommend a program called “Totally Tranquil” from Holothink. It helps to bring your brain into a more calm state that enables relaxation. You can try a free demo at The HoloThink Web site.

Holothink has also released a set of programs that can help with a variety of sleep related issues called Digital Sandman – if you need a quick refresher nap, need help relaxing into sleep, or you want help staying asleep, they have the bases covered for you with programs that address each. To learn more visit: The Digital Sandman Web site.

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INSOMNIA IS MAKING YOU UGLY

I have a friend who wants to get her chin tucked — a couple of them anyway. I stumbled across an article the other day linking double chins and snoring, so I went out on a search for all the ways insomnia might result in physical characteristics many people in the West would not associate with “beauty.”

I haven’t yet found again the article on thick necks and sleep apnea. I’ve found several that say people with think necks (which would mostly be men) often snore, because as they age the ability of their muscles to keep their throat’s soft tissue from collapsing on itself during sleep is reduced. I’ve not yet read enough to find out whether snoring can also cause a think neck. Of course, snoring is not necessarily a sleep disorder, not does it necessarily accompany insomnia. To be a disorder, the person has to miss breaths. To be insomnia, the person has to be awake—which you wish they would do when they start snoring!

Obesity — There’s one that gets attention. It’s fairly well understood hormones affect sleep. For example, women progressing through menopause may experience great periods of insomnia because of the changes in their estrogen levels. After menopause, their progesterone is higher in proportion to estrogen than previously, and that’s the time many women begin to snore. They also begin to gain weight. And get thicker necks. While there are several causes for that, here’s one you may not have heard of.

Two hormones--leptin and ghrelin—may significantly affect how much we eat. One of them, leptin, tells us when we’re full: stop eating, you’re satisfied. The other one, ghrelin (which I like to call gremlin) stimulates appetite. When we miss sleep, for whatever reason, leptin (stop eating) falls while ghrelin (you’re starving) increases. Consequently, you feel hungry, unsatisfied and still munching. The ultimate result is weight gain.

This is why almost all men are thicker and have thick necks as they reach middle age and beyond. They snore; therefore, they gain weight. (It isn’t the snoring itself; it’s the “not sleeping soundly” when you’re snoring.)

This affects aging in the reverse. Older people don’t get enough really deep sleep (REM). Therefore, their hormonal systems aren’t restored and reset. They feel satisfied and not hungry. Malnutrition is a huge problem among the elderly and it begins with not getting good quality sleep!

Diabetes — OK, being diabetic may not make you ugly, but if you’re single and dating, it could raise a caution flag! Inadequate sleep can prevent the proper processing of glucose, causing high blood sugar levels. Looping back to the weight problem, excess glucose is then stored as fat, and in some people’s minds, that makes you ugly.

Stupidity — Can you just not pull up a name you know? Can’t bring it to mind? Or you say something to a colleague and it sounds like you’re drunk or on allergy medication? There are significant mental effects to sleep deprivation, including slurred speech, inabilities to problem solve, speak coherently or learn something new. In extreme instances, a person can experience hallucinations or go mad. (Remember, keeping people from sleeping and dreaming is a typical torture technique; this is why. And even if you can still function, you might be torturing your comrades!)

Emotional wreck — I may be stretching physical side effects of insomnia to include emotions, but this is one more thing that make you less attractive to others. Did you know sleep deprivation has been linked as one of the primary contributors to road rage? In other words, if you signal to a driver of a car weaving across the line ahead of you, he might pull beside you and shoot you because he’s sleepy—the same reason he was weaving!

This could also be an indicator in the glass-half-full-half-empty set. Sleep deprived people are more pessimistic. (Watch for doom and gloom amongst the thick neck set. Maybe this is why people think dads are realists and moms are optimists!)

Skin — Skin is refreshed and renewed during sleep. Did you know skin is an organ? The largest organ in the body. Without adequate sleep, your skin will look older and drier. “Beauty sleep” is called that for a reason. It gives the face (and whole body) time to relax, to let go of wrinkles. Like good sex, adequate sleep can help you emerge fresh and glowing.

If these don’t convince you you’re ugly when you don’t get enough sleep, think about how ugly you feel when you’re tired and how ugly all the rest of the world looks to you.

Now relax, and get some sleep.

Holothink offers many products designed to help you improve your mental functioning. Their Digital Sandman package (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) covers the full range of sleep issues with tracks including Power Napper, Sleep Support, Overcoming Insomnia and Digital Sandman to help you sleep better (and improve your sex life!). Visit http://www.Holothink.com to try a free demo.

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