Cracking the Code of Sleepless Nights

If you suffer from insomnia, you are not alone! Insomnia is a wide-spread disorder that impacts millions of people around the world. Symptoms can include difficulty falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, and waking up too early. Insomnia is more than just the occasional restless night. It is a problem that can significantly impact your quality of life.

A previously lively and outgoing person can become irritable and less inclined to interact with others. Someone with years of experience and confidence in their work can find themself struggling with basic tasks that they used to breeze through, and projects that were previously simply challenging may feel impossible. You might be dealing with insomnia if you experience one or more of the following:

Difficulty Falling Asleep: A sense of restlessness or activation that causes difficulty falling asleep.

Frequent Waking: You may wake up multiple times throughout the night and have trouble returning to sleep.

Waking Up Too Early: Waking up earlier than you want and unable to fall back asleep. 

Unrefreshing Sleep: You might wake up feeling groggy and unrefreshed.

Daytime Fatigue: Tiredness during the day.

Mood Swings: Poor sleep can contribute to irritability, anxiety, and depression.

Brain fog: Insomnia makes it hard to concentrate, focus, and remember things. 

Reduced Performance: insomnia can lead to decreased performance at work or school.

If you recognize yourself in these symptoms, it is worth considering the potential root causes. Insomnia can stem from a variety of causes, but often it is not from “just one thing.” Some of the most common causes include:

• Stress and Anxiety: Life stressors such as job change, relationship issues, or health concerns. Anxiety disorders can also increase the likelihood of insomnia.

• Depression: Depression and insomnia often coexist. Insomnia can be both a symptom and a contributing factor.

• Lifestyle Factors: Poor sleep habits, such as irregular sleep schedules, consuming caffeine or alcohol close to bedtime, and lack of physical activity, can disrupt sleep patterns. Looking at screens before bed can also make it difficult to get to sleep.

• Medical Conditions: Chronic pain, asthma, arthritis, and other medical conditions that cause discomfort can make sleep challenging. 

• Medications: Some common medications, including antidepressants, blood pressure medications, and allergy medications, can have side effects that disrupt sleep.

• Environmental Factors: Noise, light, and extreme temperatures can create an unsuitable sleeping environment, contributing to insomnia.

• Hormonal Changes: Hormonal fluctuations during menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause can affect sleep patterns.

  
  

Understanding the symptoms and causes of insomnia is the first step towards addressing this challenging condition. If you are experiencing symptoms of insomnia, it may be beneficial to seek professional help. A clinical psychologist specializing in cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) can help identify the underlying causes and develop a tailored treatment plan. CBT-I is the gold-standard treatment and addresses the thoughts and behaviors contributing to insomnia, promoting healthier sleep patterns.

Call us today at 855-228-2289 or make an appointment for a no-charge, 15-minute meet-and-greet to see if this is the right treatment for you.