Insomnia is a serious sleeping disorder that requires medical attention. It can happen to anyone at any age. To simply put, it can strike both male and female, the young the old. You probably experience spending hours tossing and turning on your bed, and end up not getting enough sleep.
To fully understand the extent of devastation, not to mention the frustrations that lack of sleep brings, we must first learn about sleep and its role in our lives.
When we were young, our parents often told us to have plenty of sleep. Back then, we don’t understand the importance of sleep. But as we grow older, bodily changes occurred, and sleep has a lot to do with it.
Many people have misconceptions that when we dozed off, there is not much action happening inside our body and brain. Well it’s time to wake up. While we were sleeping, 3 R’s are going—recharging, rejuvenating and repairing. It is the time for our brain to sort out the events that had happened during the day. At the same time, for our body to repair our cells and tissues.
Knowing all that information about sleep, it is hard to imagine the negative consequences of sleeplessness or insomnia. Although some people can still function normally with just few hours of sleep, others may need as much as 10 hours of rest. But the average hours of sleep in adults is 8 hours. When insomnia hits you, don’t expect that you will have decent sleep at night.
There are 2 forms of insomnia, the primary and secondary. In primary insomnia, there is no specific cause, whereas in secondary insomnia, there is/are underlying causes behind it.
Here’s a list of the side effects of insomnia that can affect us mentally and physically.
- Personality change. Most sufferers are irritable and have the tendency for angry outburst. Mood swings and depression are not uncommon.
- Lack of concentration. Daily activities and work performance are greatly affected. The normally easy tasks seem complicated.
- Sleeplessness can result to frequent headaches. This is a common side effect, which lead to some people to rely on pain killers or sleeping pills.
- Insomniacs can be prone to accidents. They should not operate machinery or drive a car because they might fall asleep, and can hurt themselves or others.
- Health condition is compromise. Insomniacs are most likely to suffer from heart disease, hypertension and diabetes.
- Relationships can suffer. Due to lack of sleep, you may find it difficult to control your temper or moods.
- Hallucinations can occur in some cases of insomnia.
If you are experiencing the effects of sleep deprivation mentioned above, it is important that you seek medical treatment before it gets worse. There are therapies that can help you deal with your problem, and will able you to sleep soundly.
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