Sound uninterrupted sleep is vital for optimal health. Not everyone gets sound sleep regularly.
Why is sleep disturbed?
Why are some people habitually light sleepers?
How can the condition be corrected?
In this article answers of these important questions will be found.
Sleep is a natural event required for rest and recovery of body and mind after the activity of the whole day. We have inbuilt biological clocks in our system, one of which regulates sleep. That is why we feel sleepy around the same time every day.
What are the basic pre requisites for sound sleep?
*Our body should be free from any sort of pain, mildly tired but not exhausted.
*Mind should be calm free of anxiety.
*Comfortable and reasonable size bed.
*Comfortable bedroom temperature and humidity.
*Pleasant color of the walls and furniture of the bed room.
*Lighting of one’s choice. This vary from person to person.Some people cannot sleep in total dark; a small night lamp in a corner of the room below the height of the beds and invisible to the eyes, or in the adjoining bathroom is an advantage.
*Night clothing should be loose.
*Understanding between spouses is an important factor.
*Calm atmosphere, without disturbing noise.
Factors may disturb sleep are:
Absence of above mentioned basic pre requisites and..
#Caffeine due to excessive consumption of tea, coffee or cola drinks, especially in the evening or at night.
#Excessive smoking.
#Excess alcohol.
#Disruption of sleep rhythm due to late-night engagements and parties.
#Irregular hours of sleep as in shift workers.
These factors if continue for long time, there will be gross disruption of biological circadian rhythm and a person suffers from sleep disorder.
Elders are more sufferers of sleep disturbances
*The young are relatively less affected by adverse factors mentioned above because they have large reserves in the brain which make them withstand sleep abuse much better.
*Depleted body reserves in the elderly leads to greater disturbance in sleep.
*Enlargement of the prostate in elderly males and frequent trips to the bathroom at night is a frequent cause of loss or disturbance of sleep.
How to get a sound sleep?
If you recline awake in bed in the dark or semi dark at night, trying to induce sleep, you will be disappointed. Don’t lie down in bed without clear indication of sleep. Try reading some light story book or watch TV and whenever you start yawning lie down in semi awake state by putting off the TV with the remote control. Don’t start roaming about and closing the door, checking the locks etc. Do these before you start reading book or watching the TV. Yiu may not get the result immediately, but within a few days your body will adjust its own clock ans you will have no problem thereafter. Respect your biological clock. If your are an 'owl' or night person, you will not be able to sleep early nor get up early. If you are a lark' or morning person, you will want to sleep early and your biological clock will wake you up early.
Should one use sleeping pills or tranquillizers?
Occasional use of these drugs when you are very disturbed for some reason may be justified but do not take them regularly. They are habit-forming drugs and do not bring natural sleep. Most of these drugs result in a hangover the next day which may disturb your work. You may have to increase the dose every now and then to produce the same effect. In course of time some of them are themselves known to produce a state of anxiety and insomnia. If a tranquillizer has to be used more than occasionally, it should never be used for more than two or three weeks.
Bottom line:
Try to identify the cause or causes which are keeping you awake and remove them. They may be trivial such as a night dress which is too tight, a blocked nose, acidity of the stomach or simply an overfull stomach.
This article is also published in India Study Channel
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