Causes Of Insomnia

When no Known Causes of Insomnia are the Problem

Doctors and sleep specialists have forever told us that insomnia always comes with a cause, for a reason – an underlying condition that affects the body, the mind or the brain. While that is for the most part still true, researchers are seeing something else now. In some patients, when all the regular known causes of insomnia are eliminated one by one, the insomnia can still persist – even if the patient does benefit in overall health in leaving all the diseases behind. Doctors are beginning to find out now that insomnia can sometimes occur for no reason – when all causes of insomnia have been removed.

The doctors are clear – good sleep hygiene will only benefit people who have intermittent sleep problems. For people with unexplained and long-standing insomnia, there is going to have to be something new. At a sleep specialist’s (where you can land up if you put in a request with your primary care physician) Cognitive Behavior Therapy is beginning to gain popularity now. For people with chronic insomnia who are just sick of taking an antihistamine or an antianxiety drug every time they can’t sleep, CBT could be just the ticket. They can either come in or have you come in to study you to see what you could be doing with the way you handle your day that could be getting in the way of a good night’s sleep. They then find out your immediate causes of insomnia, and try to educate you about any bad habits youe might have that might be getting in the way – watching TV shortly before going to sleep, thinking about your problems to pass the time before sleep comes and so on. They also use their research into your behavior to design the best sleep times for you – customized.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is considered to be the best first line in the fight against insomnia – if you have primary insomnia, sleep problems that come from pain, depression, anxiety, or just plain old age. And very consistently, you get results that are much more dependable than with sleeping drugs. And the effects can carry on long after therapy has ended – which is more than you can say for any drug. The problem with using CBT for insomnia is that it isn’t just something the doctor does for your causes of insomnia while you just lie there and relax. It requires active participation from the patient, and it’s a lot of hard work.

For instance, lots of people know that they had better get a good several hours of sleep if they are to do well at that meeting the next day. They go to bed determined to get that recommended length of shuteye. At CBT, they will learn that determination is hardly a feeling that engenders sleep. You learn relaxation techniques – yoga, biofeedback and deep breathing among them – to clear your mind and actually get yourself ready to sleep. The best thing about CBT is that it works without drugs. And researchers know that worrying about the effects of long-term drug use is one of the things that keep people awake.