Sleep Hygiene: 5 Practical Ways To Overcome Insomnia

Are you struggling with insomnia (or inability to sleep well at night)? Insomnia has become a relatively common condition affecting over 20 per cent of people, according to a survey of 4,023 adults in the United States. About 68% of Americans (an estimated 164 million people) have been reported to struggle to find sleep at least once a week.^[1]Why Americans Can’t Sleep – Consumer Reports

Medically, insomnia is defined as difficulty either falling or staying asleep that is accompanied by daytime impairments related to those sleep troubles^[2]American Academy of Sleep Medicine. (2014). The International Classification of Sleep Disorders – Third Edition (ICSD-3). Darien, IL..

A study among 82,055 Chinese University students in 2016 showed that 23.8% of respondents find it hard to initiate sleep, and 25.5% had inadequate sleep less than 6 hours a day^[3]Lu, li et al. (2017). Sleep Duration and Sleep Patterns in Chinese University Students: A Comprehensive Meta-Analysis. Journal of clinical sleep medicine: JCSM.

Lastly, the healthcare cost related to insomnia was estimated to be $41 billion in 2015 and was predicted to rise to $52 by 2020. In 2020, Americans spent over $830 million on melatonin sleep supplements alone^[4]Ibid. Why Americans Can’t Sleep.

However, observing sleep hygiene is a practical way to improve the quality of your sleep. Here, you will see what sleep hygiene means and how you can use it to improve your quality of sleep.

Benefits of Sleep

Why is it necessary to improve one’s quality of sleep? Sleep has a lot of benefits for health and productivity. Here are some benefits of sleep and why you need to adopt sleep hygiene to improve the quality of your sleep.

1. Sleep keeps your heart healthy
2. Sleep reduces stress
3. Sleep enhances memory
4. Sleep can help control weight gain
5. Sleep may reduce the risk of depression
6. Sleep helps your brain clean up
7. Sleep helps the body heals
8. Sleep can help maximize athletic performance
9. Sleep reduces the risk of stroke, heart disease, and cancer
10. Sleep enhances your immunity
11. Sleep reduces inflammation
12. Sleep enhances your emotions and social interactions
13. Adequate sleep enhances your productivity.

Causes of insomnia

We cannot talk about how to overcome insomnia without talking about its causes. The causes of insomnia can be categorised into the following classes: medical, psychological, drug-related, stress-related causes, etc.

Acute or chronic medical conditions can affect the quality and quantity of a person’s sleep resulting in insomnia. These include conditions like hypertension, heart failure, diabetes, etc.

Psychological causes of insomnia are primary sleep disorders affecting the neurochemical regulation of sleep in the brain. For a normal sleep-wake cycle, a balance of certain neurochemicals is important.

Drugs like prescription drugs for another medical condition, substance use, or other drug abuse or misuse can affect sleep and cause insomnia. For example, caffeine-containing medications can cause a lack of sleep in those taking them.

Stress also causes insomnia by altering the body’s hormonal balance. Stress causes the release of the so-called stress hormones which help the body to cope with the stress but have a side effect of affecting the sleep-wake cycle.

The Sleep Hygiene and How It Can Help Overcome Insomnia

The majority of the causes of insomnia are related to lifestyle, stress, and the environment. Sleep hygiene is a  set of non-pharmacological interventions (behavioural and environmental) to improve the quality of sleep by modifying such factors in the environment that can affect one’s quality of sleep.

Sleep hygiene includes the following:

The dos

1. Adequate physical activity during the day, at least 150 minutes a week.
2. Observe a regular sleep routine.
3. Eating a lighter and high-fat content meal at dinner, etc.
4. Sleeping in a quiet, dark and well-ventilated bedroom.
5. Good mattress and bedding.
6. Finish all tasks before going to bed to avoid thinking about what is left.
7. Listening to calm soothing music has been found to be an effective sleep aid for most people.

The don’ts

1. Avoid sleeping during the day.
2. Avoiding food and drinks containing caffeine that may affect sleep.
3. Avoiding alcohol consumption.
4. Avoid congestion or sleeping with a snoring person.
5. Avoid using mobile devices in bed.

For an average person without sleep problems, some of these interventions may be unnecessary but if you are having issues with sleep, sleep hygiene as outlined above can be super helpful in overcoming insomnia.

Other ways to overcome insomnia

While sleep hygiene does not address any specific cause of insomnia, it generally helps with most causes of insomnia. Sometimes, however, it may be unhelpful if there is an underlying medical or psychiatric problem.

The following are additional ways to overcome insomnia when sleep hygiene proves ineffective.

1. Sleep medications (for short-term only)

When sleep hygiene does not work, pharmacological interventions become the next line of action. Over-the-counter sleep medications like diphenhydramine – Benadryl, Sominex (an antihistamine drug), and doxylamine – Unisom (another antihistamine drug) have been shown to help with sleep.

Benzodiazepines like diazepam, Zolpidem and Zoleplox are also effective in the treatment of insomnia. While these over-the-counter and prescription sleep medications are useful, they also have some side effects and should not be used for too long^[5]Drugs with anticholinergic properties, cognitive decline, and dementia in an elderly general population: the 3-city study – PMC.

Extended use of sleep medications can also mask any underlying cause of insomnia. Thus, making it difficult to address the underlying issues and achieve a longer-lasting solution.

2. See a doctor

Booking a medical appointment with your doctor can be helpful if you are not getting relief from sleeplessness after trying other drug and non-drug approaches described above. Several psychiatric and medical conditions can cause insomnia. Your doctor will help identify them and treat them accordingly.

Common medical causes of insomnia include obstructive sleep apnea, cardiac insufficiency, febrile illnesses, diabetes, obstructive urinary disease, etc. Primary insomnia, anxiety disorders, and depression are psychiatric conditions that can cause insomnia.

Other issues not related to a medical illness can also cause insomnia. For example, perimenopausal women have been found to experience insomnia, according to a study done in 2017^[6]Ciano, C., King, T. S., Wright, R. R., Perlis, M., & Sawyer, A. M. (2017). Longitudinal Study of Insomnia Symptoms Among Women During Perimenopause. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and … Continue reading. Your physician will be able to address these issues or counsel you on what to do.

3. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a specialized intervention used in psychiatry. It involves a systematic process of modifying one’s behaviour using psychiatric tools and methods without using medications.

In CBT, the patient is sensitized about a negative event they want to avoid and is systematically encouraged to make efforts to confront it through enlightenment, positive and negative reinforcement.

CBT has shown effectiveness for several psychiatric conditions and has been considered the gold standard for treating insomnia. You can visit a specialist psychiatrist for counselling about the procedure and how to get it done.

Conclusion

Sleep hygiene is a non-pharmacological method of overcoming insomnia. It involves some dos and don’t that can improve one’s quality of sleep.

Other interventions medical and pharmacological interventions are also helpful for insomnia, as discussed above.