Anxiety = (Equals) Insomnia
Anxiety and Insomnia are very closely related to each other. In fact, you can assume the two conditions entwined so grossly that they complement each other. In today’s high tech world and competitive environment anxiety is one thing which we all have in common. The world is suffering from an epidemic of anxiety and the resulting insomnia. Our high speed and high tech lives have made us lose contact with our bodies’ natural rhythms.
Anxiety Insomnia is a modern day curse. If you happen to ask all the people known to you (friends, colleagues, acquaintances et al), I bet every second person you speak to would readily tell you about his or her insomnia. Of course, the level of the sleep deprivation could vary from person to person.
Where from the Anxiety Comes From??
The anxiety could be about anything. But in today’s times the one which is predominantly witnessed is performance anxiety. Now, this kind of anxiety does not affect a fixed age group and it can be witnessed in all ages from 12 – 60.
Anxiety about your exams / tests; going for a job interview; giving a speech or a presentation; joining a new school or college or even a new job; and many such other simple reasons we as human beings face on day – to – day basis. The anxiety due to such reasons usually hits us the night before the event, but sometimes it can even arrive several nights before.
All this anxiety and the stress upon our minds and bodies results in a stress – anxiety – insomnia reaction greatly disturbing our sleeping pattern. We find ourselves in a situation where it becomes very difficult for us to sleep, or we wake up too frequently and even find going back to sleep very hard for ourselves.
Anxiety, Why???
So, as we see here that the main cause behind Anxiety Insomnia is our anxiety. The connection is a strong but at the same time sometimes it might even remain hidden from your mind. Now, the question that arises here is why anxiety even happens to us at the very first place?
To find this answer I would like to mention here what the renowned British Psychoanalyst and author Darian Leader has underlined in one of his works related to Insomnia (The New Black: Mourning, Melancholia and Depression). Darian says that humans do not know how to express, and their (the humans’) understanding of emotions and relationships is quite awry. Anxiety arises when we are not able to process our emotions properly. The brain goes into a hyper mode to find all the answers and this whole process results in our disturbed sleep. If we process our emotions in a better manner during the day, we might sleep better at night. In Darian’s view, Insomnia seldom exists in isolation. He says, “I have never met someone with insomnia as a unique symptom“. He also believes that insomnia should not be dismissed with sleeping pills, but interpreted.
The simple point which Darian is trying to make is that it is important to look for the reasons that generated the anxiety than to simply pop up the pills. Anxiety comes in many forms and at times the symptoms for the same could be quite vague too. Hence to identify and to really get to the root cause of anxiety, a little soul searching and introspection is required on your part
The Solution
Sleep is something you can’t buy with money (although you can always try the same; the US sleeplessness industry has a $20 bn turnover is a good indication to that). However, research shows that over sixty percent of the people using medication / sedatives / tranquilizers suffer adverse side – effects as also withdrawal symptoms due to tolerance or addiction. It is for this very reason that you should follow the non – pharmacological line of treatment and also try to bring in positive changes to your daily routine and your lifestyle.
You should also acknowledge the fact that the sleep does not comes to us from the outside, rather it is contained within yourself. It is for you to take positive measures to arouse it properly.
Some Easy Steps
So, if you are the one who’s suffering from sleepless nights on account of your anxiety, you should take up any one or all or a mix of the following activities to take the stress off your mind and find your sleep back. At least you should try before simply heading to the sleep specialist for some medication.
- Make a determined effort to combat anxiety insomnia and focus your actions for the same.
- Do not expect the efforts to yield the desired results instantly. Give it some more sincere tries.
- Go to your bed with a mind minus the stress.
- Do not think about anything unnecessarily. You will increase the stress unknowingly.
- Do not lie in your bed idle trying to get some sleep if you are not feeling sleepy during your bedtime. Get of your bed and indulge in some other activity like reading, listening to soft music.
- Chatting with your friends on the other side of the Atlantic could also be fruitful for you. And I am not joking on this one. So certainly try it if you have someone on the other side of the planet.
- You can even try the age old tried and tested tactic of counting sheep. This particular thing is also mentioned by Nicholson Baker in his novel The Mezzanine, wherein he even gives the faceless animals a name. You too can try variations of different sorts as per your own liking and let the miracle happen.
- Regular exercising, even of the lighter kind, will relieve you of the stress to a great extent and also help in regularizing your sleep pattern.
- Our bodies have a natural relaxation response system too, which is just the opposite of the response it gives out on facing stress. Certain relaxation techniques like deep breathing, meditation and yoga can help you quiet your mind and relieve you of your tensions. These techniques at the same time also help you in falling asleep faster and get back to sleep more quickly if you wake up in the night for any reason, whatsoever.
- Although it takes regular practice on your part to learn these techniques so as to fully harness the stress relieving power of these techniques, they are capable of bringing in huge benefits. You should make these techniques an integral part of your bedtime routine, as and when you prepare to go to bed and even when you wake up in the night.
In this high paced life always try to find some time for yourself too. Going a little slowly about your daily chores will remarkably help you get rid of the stress.
That there can be no worse agony than sleeplessness, is a bitter fact. Anxiety, which is formed within our bodies (our mind in particular), is hugely responsible for the loss of sleep. So, in order to correct this phenomenon, it is very important for you to replace your negative thought patterns with positive thinking, and soon you would find yourself sleeping merrily.
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