Causes of Sleeplessness
When You Just Can’t Sleep

When Are Sleep Problems Serious?

Learning how to sleep better may simply require a few changes to your bedroom and your daily routine, or it may require a bit of work on your part.

There are many insomnia causes, including things like working long irregular hours in artificial light, smoking, over-consumption of alcohol, and a sedentary lifestyle with lack of exercise.

Insomnia Causes

Causes of Sleeplessness
Can Be Simple or Complex

People have different routines, different work schedules, different habits and different routines—each of which can lead to sleeplessness.

• Shift Work - Shift work, whether you rotate work schedules, or you work at night, can have a detrimental effect on your ability to sleep well.

  People who work at night sleep longer than those who work during the day—but their sleep is disturbed, and they sleep for shorter periods of time. Their sleep is also lighter, and they spend less time in REM sleep than people who work daytime hours.

  In addition, when you sleep during the daytime, your hormones get all mixed up, and that leads to poor body repair and growth, and sleep that does not refresh!

• Jet Lag - Anyone who has flown across the country or to another country in another time zone, has experienced jet lag.

  When you have jet lag, you are sleepy during the day—and unable to sleep at night. You can also develop a headache, loss of appetite and irregular bowel movements. Worst of all, for business travelers, you may have difficulty concentrating.

  While these sleep disturbance symptoms are temporary, they can be pretty uncomfortable while you are experiencing them.

• Stimulation During the Day - Both over-stimulation and under-stimulation can be a cause of insomnia. If you don’t exercise during the day (under-stimulation), you may not be tired enough to sleep at night.

  But, physical exercise isn’t the only culprit. If you don’t have enough mental activity during the day, or you are not motivated or you feel unfulfilled, you can have light, unrefreshing sleep. If your life is boring, you may not be sleeping well.

  On the other hand, if you are over-active physically, especially toward evening, you can have too much adrenaline in your system—leading to sleep problems.

  Mental stimulation, late at night without a wind down period, can also be a sleep inhibitor. In this case, you may just need to learn some relaxation techniques…

• Drugs and Chemicals - Not only can illegal, street drugs cause sleep insomnia, but also some common drugs that you may use everyday:

  • Caffeine – Make sure you don’t drink tea, cocoa, cola or hot chocolate later in the day. The caffeine in these drinks can last up to 14 hours.

  • Alcohol – While a little drink may help you get to sleep initially, you can have a rebound effect, waking up in the early hours of the morning, unable to sleep.

  • Nicotine – Nicotine in cigarettes and chewing tobacco stimulates the nervous system, raises blood pressure and changes your breathing patterns. It can also make you have lighter and broken sleep patterns.

  • Prescription Medications – Every single prescription drug has side effects. And a very common side effect is sleep insomnia. If you are having sleep problems and take prescription drugs, check to see if sleep disturbance is one of the side effects.

  • Street Drugs – Street drugs can do a lot of things to you—and one of them is causing sleeplessness.

• Psychological or Emotional Factors - Most people who suffer from anxiety or depression have some difficulty sleeping. Anxiety, even temporary anxiety caused by exams or a job interview, causes tension and can become one of the causes of sleeplessness for you. And sleeping poorly is actually one of the symptoms of depression. If emotional issues are causing you to have sleepless nights, addressing the emotional issues is your way to a good night’s sleep.

• Physical Conditions and How to Sleep Better - Your sleep environment also influences how well you sleep. If things aren’t just right for you to get and stay asleep, you can be lying awake all night—thinking about why you can’t sleep!

What does this mean for you? If you can determine the causes of sleeplessness for you, you can use that information to make changes so that you can alter your environment or routine, so that you can once again get a good night’s sleep!

You might also like:

• Facts about Insomnia
• Symptoms of Insomnia
• Treatment for Insomnia

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