So what is insomnia?

I was thinking that everybody has a bad night now and again, or a bad week or a bad month or two.  Most people have disturbed sleep if they're worried or excited, maybe busy at work or concerned about family or health problems.  So I guess we're all insomniacs now and again.  In my case, it's always just been an inability to relax. When I'm awake, it's as though my brain is permanently switched on. I've tried all sorts of relaxation techniques and while some of them help to some degree, they really just don't make any significant difference to the way my brain works.

I don't know what the medical definition of insomnia would be, but I guess that it becomes a problem when it affects your ability to function. We all feel grotty after a restless night, but as long as you can get up, get to work, live a normal life, then while it makes you feel lousy, it's not affecting your ability to get on with your normal routine.  It's a problem when it affects your ability to function. I used to regularly fall asleep at my desk, once for a couple of hours!  But I realised it was a real problem when I started to fall asleep driving, usually on the motorway!  And then the migraines started....

Our body needs a balance of excercise, rest, nutrition (ie food and drink) to enable us to live.  If you only had 60% of the food you need to survive, you'd eventually die of starvation.  So if you only have 60% of the the rest you need over a long period of time, it's bound to have a significant effect!

Of course the occasional bad night or bad week will balance out over time.  So if you're going through a difficult period and it's affecting your sleep, chances are that it'll sort itself out over time and you'll fall back into your normal sleeping pattern once things in your life have settled down.

The problem is when your life settles down but your sleeping doesn't get back to normal.  Then the insomnia becomes a problem in its own account.  And if you start worrying about not sleeping, that just exacerbates the problem!


So we all suffer from insomnia from time to time.  It becomes an issue and a health problem when it affects your ability to function.  And the best thing you can do is to try and not stress about it.  Don't go to bed thinking "oh I hope I sleep tonight" because chances are you'll get yourself stressed up about it all and not sleep.

There are loads of things you can try to help sleep and I'll talk about them over the next few months, from lavender on the pillow to medication.  I'm sure you'll find something eventually that will help without having to resort to medication, but I do think that the best advice is simply not to worry about it. 

Bernadette