Falling asleep and sleeping through the night is no longer possible

About every fifth person has a difficult phase with falling asleep or to sleep through, now and again. In many cases, sleep problems have quite banal causes:

Chronic pains keep many people up every night. Pain patients often do not think of this cause. They also tell her doctor nothing about it because they are of the opinion that nothing can be done about it anyhow. Too many experiments with painkillers were fruitless or had to be broken off because of side effects. But in most cases, pain can be blocked to a point so that at least the daily life and even more important, the nights are tolerable with it. Those who suffer in spite of treatment from chronic pains should ask his/her family doctor to recommend a specialist for pain therapy. They have far more possibilities at their disposal than only pills and drops.

At night heart illnesses or respiratory ailments can cause dyspnea, coughing, chest pains and other complaints. Here the family doctor can examine and treat and, if necessary, refer to a suitable specialist.

Those who must get up often to urinate at night have, of course, no quiet sleep. Here is also valid: question your family doctor. He can identify whether you suffer from a problem with the prostate gland, bladder or kidneys, or what is lat east as often a cause, myocardium infirmity.

The fact that external effects like noise, heat, cold or an uncomfortable bed interferes with the sleep is probably evident to everybody. Nevertheless, not enough attention is given to these factors. Some think “My mattress has provided me during 20 years of good service, so it still feels good to me”. An uncomfortable mattress leads to muscle strain and tension and can thereby affect the sleep unnoticed or lead to an unwanted awakening. You spend about one third of your life in bed. This is why one should think to him/herself every now and then, as to whether one should not afford a new comfortable mattress and a light and airy blanket and pillow. It’s not by chance that one says “As one beds himself down, so does one rest”.

But it can also come to sleep disorders, without such external influence. Disturbed sleep phases can sometimes come in certain life situations. Then, however, it can happen that the sleep disorder grows, so to speak, independent and just continues without a trigger. One starts having longer periods of not being able to sleep. Now the bed isn’t the place in which one calmly lies down in the evening and wakes up refreshed in the morning, not one of which one thinks upon with joy, anymore.

The body has learnt that one is angry about his insomnia, worries about his health, and has doubt about getting through the next day with full physical and spiritual achievement. Just thinking about the next night, the sleep-disturbed already comes down with an unpleasant feeling during the day, knowing he/she will once again fall asleep tense and awake unrefreshed the next morning.

Now is the time to turn this learning process around and replace it with a healthier one. One must gradually show his body that, nevertheless, one can sleep. The long awake phases that are loaded with unwelcome feelings need to be reduced to a minimum.

To that end contribute different rules of behavior. Studies shows that one can remove sleep disorders with about one third of the affected persons, and with another third, improve their sleep behaviour, at least to the point to where they are fairly content again.

So, don’t be discouraged, but try to stay on track, even if it usually takes several weeks of consequent implementation until an improvement sets in.