Insomnia is simply being awake when you want to be asleep. It can
be defined as the following occurring three or more times per week
on a regular basis:
» Taking more than 30 minutes to fall asleep despite being
tired – known as Sleep Latency Insomnia or Onset Insomnia
» Waking up frequently during the night and not getting back
to sleep easily – known as Sleep Interruption Insomnia, Sleep
Maintenance Insomnia or Middle Insomnia
» Waking up in the early hours and finding it difficult to get
back to sleep – known as Terminal Insomnia
And in addition:
» Relying on sleeping pills or alcohol to fall asleep
» Waking up feeling tired and un-rested from the night’s sleep
All of the above can result in daytime drowsiness, fatigue, or
irritability
Don’t be too bothered by interrupted sleep
Often we perceive a good night’s sleep to be seven or eight hours
of uninterrupted sleep, waking in the morning refreshed, rested,
and ready to face the day. However there’s a growing body of
evidence, from recent study and historical evidence, that shows that
it can be perfectly natural to sleep for around four hours, wake
for an hour or two, then go back to sleep. Historian Roger Ekirch
published numerous papers and a book called At Night’s Close,
drawn from 16 years of research, in which he revealed a wealth
of evidence that we used to sleep in two distinct chunks: a first
sleep which began about two hours after dusk, followed by waking
period of one or two hours and then a second sleep. During the
gap, we would get up, use the toilet, visit neighbours, read, pray
or make love.
Many sleeping problems may have their roots in the human body’s
natural preference for segmented sleep, and this could be the linked
to sleep interruption insomnia, where people wake during the night
and have trouble getting back to sleep, or terminal insomnia, when
they wake in the early hours and cannot get back to sleep.
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So if we do wake during the night it’s important that we don’t
become anxious, worried that we won’t get back to sleep and will
If you’re having difficulty sleeping one of the first things to look at
is your bedroom. You need the right environment to get a good
night’s sleep and that means a bedroom that’s pleasant, inviting
and welcoming.
Keep it dark
One of the most important features of your bedroom that’s conducive
to a good night’s sleep is that it should be dark. This is because the allimportant
sleep-inducing hormone melatonin is extremely light-sensitive,
and may not be produced optimally unless it’s completely dark.
City dwellers in particular have become accustomed to light
pollution, and are often unaware that health issues can arise from
bright lights inside and outside the home late at night. Electric lights
have contributed to disrupting the body clock as bright lights signal
to the brain that it’s time for wakefulness and activity. Even the
smallest amount of light in your bedroom whilst you’re trying to
sleep can have an adverse effect on the ability of the pineal gland
to produce melatonin, causing difficulty sleeping.
One way to discover if there’s too much light in your bedroom is to
perform a simple light audit:
1. Turn out all the lights in your bedroom at night
2. Allow your eyes to adjust for a few minutes
3. Check to see if you can identify objects and check for ‘light