How to Deal with Chronic Insomnia
I’ve been an insomniac since I hit adolescence. My insomnia is the chronic kind - I find it difficult to get to sleep and stay sleep every single day. Other people may experience acute insomnia, a short-term form of insomnia that often occurs when we’re facing a stressful life event.
The difference is important to understand because acute insomnia is unlikely to lead to much more than a fuzzy brain the next day, while chronic insomnia has been linked to a greater likelihood of anxiety, depression, fibromyalgia, headache, asthma, heart attack, stroke and more.
The disrupted sleep patterns of chronic insomnia may not seem like patterns at all. Setting up a bedtime routine is essential if you want to have better sleep. This may include not exercising soon before bed, turning off television, computer and tablet screens a few hours before bedtime, and blacking out the windows in your room to create a dark environment for sleeping.
Sleeping medication should only be used as a short-term fix for severe sleep issues. For long term issues, many doctors recommend cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for insomnia. Rather than simply relieving symptoms, CBT aims to address the cause of a person’s insomnia, change their sleep behaviors and challenge their beliefs about sleep (such as that they’ll never be able to get a good night’s sleep).
While it can feel lonely to be awake when everyone else seems to be sleeping happily, sleep problems are quite common: around 30 percent of American adults have at least some insomnia symptoms and around 10 percent have insomnia that’s severe enough to cause them problems during the day. If you don’t have a friend or family member to confide in, an insomnia support group, either in person or online, may help you feel more connected and realize you’re not alone.
Because so many people can relate to the experience of acute insomnia, they may think that’s what you’re experiencing with your chronic insomnia. Such misplaced empathy can be very frustrating, but try to remember that people usually have the best of intentions and are not intentionally trying to downplay the severity of your insomnia.
I’ve had some success blacking out my windows, setting up a sleep routine, and making sure I go to bed at the same time every day. I still suffer from insomnia, but I get more and better sleep when I do fall asleep, and I wake up a little more rested.