Insomnia is the condition of acute sleeplessness, and it takes a heavy toll on your mood, your energy levels, and your ability to concentrate and work during the day. Some of the most common symptoms of the condition are:

• You find it difficult to fall asleep even if you are tired
• Once you wake up in the middle of the night, you cannot get back to sleep
• You cannot work or concentrate on anything during the day
• You stay mostly fatigued, or irritated throughout the day
• You have to depend on pills or alcohol to fall asleep.
• You wake up very early in the morning, no matter how late you sleep

What could be the causes for insomnia?

Insomnia might last just a few days if it is induced by some temporary cause, like stress at your workplace, or any other personal issue you can be facing. However, when the cause is a long rooted one, insomnia might persist for a long time. There can be a mix of many causes for that to happen:

• Psychological stress or other emotional discomforts - Common psychological problems like anxiety, depression, chronic work stress, grief, and also bipolar disorder can be the causes for insomnia.
• Illness or other medical problems - There can be many medical causes or other illnesses at the root of insomnia like allergies, acute asthma, hyperthyroidism, Parkinson's disease, kidney related diseases and cancer as well.
• Medications - There can be many drugs, which might be prescribed by your doctor, but still be responsible for insomnia. These include antidepressants, corticosteroids like thyroid hormone medicines, few blood pressure medications, certain contraceptives and stimulants for ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).
• Sleep Disorders - Insomnia, though in itself is a sleep disorder, can also be the symptoms for other sleep disorders like sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, and other disorders related to jet lag or if you are working on a late night shift.

In addition to these causes, some daily lifestyle habits might act as triggers to insomnia, which include:

• Consumption of large amounts of caffeine on a regular basis
• Developing irregular sleep schedules
• Taking your smartphone to bed and ending up spending a lot of time with it in the night
• Eating late in the evening

Related Tip: Browsing on the Phone Before Sleep: Effects on Health?

Getting good sleep is important in maintaining health. There are several things that you can do to promote good sleep, and ultimately Get Better Sleep.

What is sleep hygiene?

Sleep hygiene is defined as behaviors that one can do to help promote good sleep using behavioral interventions.

Sleep hygiene tips:

Maintain a regular sleep routine

• Go to bed at the same time. Wake up at the same time. Ideally, your schedule will remain the same (+/- 20 minutes) every night of the week.

Avoid naps if possible

• Naps decrease the ‘Sleep Debt’ that is so necessary for easy sleep onset.
• Each of us needs a certain amount of sleep per 24-hour period. We need that amount, and we don’t need more than that.
• When we take naps, it decreases the amount of sleep that we need the next night – which may cause sleep fragmentation and difficulty initiating sleep, and may lead to insomnia.

Don’t stay in bed awake for more than 5-10 minutes.

• If you find your mind racing, or worrying about not being able to sleep during the middle of the night, get out of bed, and sit in a chair in the dark. Do your mind racing in the chair until you are sleepy, then return to bed. No TV or internet during these periods! That will just stimulate you more than desired.

• If this happens several times during the night, that is OK. Just maintain your regular wake time, and try to avoid naps.

Don’t watch TV or read in bed.

• When you watch TV or read in bed, you associate the bed with wakefulness.
• The bed is reserved for two things – sleep and hanky panky.

Drink caffeinated drinks with caution

• The effects of caffeine may last for several hours after ingestion. Caffeine can fragment sleep, and cause difficulty initiating sleep. If you drink caffeine, use it only before noon.
• Remember that soda and tea contain caffeine as well.

• Avoid inappropriate substances that interfere with sleep

• Cigarettes, alcohol, and over-the-counter medications may cause fragmented sleep.

• Exercise regularly

• Exercise before 2 pm every day. Exercise promotes continuous sleep.
• Avoid rigorous exercise before bedtime. Rigorous exercise circulates endorphins into the body which may cause difficulty initiating sleep
   
• Have a quiet, comfortable bedroom
• Set your bedroom thermostat at a comfortable temperature. Generally, a little cooler is better than a little warmer.
• Turn off the TV and other extraneous noise that may disrupt sleep.
• Background ‘white noise’ like a fan is OK.
• If your pets awaken you, keep them outside the bedroom.
• Your bedroom should be dark. Turn off bright lights.
• Have a comfortable mattress.

• If you are a ‘clock watcher’ at night, hide the clock.

  Have a comfortable pre-bedtime routine

• A warm bath, shower
• Meditation, or quiet time