When was the last time you had a good night sleep? And I really mean a good undisturbed all night shut eye without sleep aid? Can't remember? Most of us blame pressure of work, lack of money, pain from a twisted knee, jet lagged, emotional problems, marital problems (you think your"spouse is having an extra marital affair, amongstothers) for bad nights.

Although the biggest sleep robber is work. We leave office late and in orderto accommodate the relentless pressure for target results, we are sleeping less and spending less time in social and leisure pursuits; the resulting stress can steal away even more sleep. Consider this: We are not only missing more shut-eye, we are too tired to engage in lovemaking, too.

To some degree, we can sacrifice sleep to oblige other demands on our time, but we pay a high price for the privilege. This is because the need for sleep is fixed deeply in our brains, and any interruption of its natural rhythm for any reason sets off a surge of problems. Sleep affects everything we do during the day-our ability to learn, our skills, our memory, stamina, health and safety, in particular our mood. That is why chronic sleep disruption and depression.

Admit that everyone has a troubled night sometimes, or even several of them. That is part of being human as we battle with stress and anxiety. However, it is our response to it, according :0 experts that determines whether we will end up with chronic irlsomnia. Shockingly, it turns out that the best thing to do in response to a spell of sleeplessness is often, Well... nothing at all.

Manipulating the Circadian rhythm:
The circadian rhythm is the body's biological clock, which guides the body through cycles of sleep and alertness. The circadian system is tied, albeit imperfectly, to cycles of light and dark. We have dedicated sensors on the retina that deliver the daytime! nighttime message directly to the pineal gland tucked deep inside the brain. In response to darkness, this tiny nodule of brain tissue. produces the sleep-inducing"" hormone melatonin. Ironically, it issues its-trongest alerting force in a burst Lasting from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. After 8 p.m, alertness begins to. fade, permitting us to doze off. This same system makes us sleepiest in the early morning, from 4a.m. To 6 a.m. Stay up all night studying for an exam and circadian forces will make you drowsy near dawn. Stick it out for two more hours, though, and you will start picking up steam again.

Understanding this cycle can help some people who have trouble falling asleep or getting back to sleep. Manipulating the circadian rhythm with bright lights in the morning orrnelatonin in the evening can help.
By the same token, it's possible to raise the sleep drive by fiddling with the sleep haemostaL Two of the best methods are exercise and heating or cooling the body. As it turns out, sleep naturally follows a sharp drop in body temperature. So lying still in bed after a hot bath or cold shower may be just what your body needs to drift off.

Is it Insomnia or Sleep~Phase Disorder:
Many of us complain that we struggle to get enough sleep. But insomnia is one of those words we toss around a bit too freely. Experts generally apply the "30" 30 rule": It's insomnia if it takes you 30 minutes or more to fall asleep or if you're awake for 30 or more minutes during the night-at least three times a week. nomatter how little you sleep, it isn't insomnia unless your night time habits drag you down during the day.
Those who have trouble falling asleep or waking up may not technically have insomnia but instead be suffering from "sleep-phase disorder." In this case, people have unwittingly trained themselves to conk out at the wrong time. It's especially common among adolescents and college students-those who yield to all the siren calls for their time, don't get to sleep before 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. and then can't get up for classes. (If you have insomnia four or five nights a week but not on weekends, you probably have a phase-shift problem.)

Sleep patterns also shift during life. Many of us use this phrase to describe a good night sleep "Oh I slept like a baby". But believe it or not, "You don't want to sleep like a baby," Rather "You want to sleep like an adolescent." Babies wake often; they are not yet able toconsolidate sleep into one stretch. Adolescents sleep like there's no tomorrow. For most people, it's downhill from there.

Good Night Sleep

Anxiety About Not Sleeping: After one bad night, most people experience a great deal of frustration and anxiety about failing asleep and staying asleep. So you try to compensate. You nap in the afternoon or go to bed early. Or you sleep late the next morning, or you have a couple of drinks before bed. That only makes matters worse. You go to bed and, without the accumulated need for sleep, you stare at the ceiling half the night. Now you are even more tired and worried about the consequences of not sleeping than you were the day before. Very soon, this self defeating cycle takes on a life of its own. Under the influence of anxiety, your brain learns very quickly to associate the bedroom with wakefulness. You lie down to rest and your brain goes on high alert, your nervous system switches on just when you want it to calm down. Suddenly you are wide-awake. There are now a million things to think about, including how much you need sleep to be at your productive best for tomorrow.

Solution to Insomnia: Do Nothing!
All of the tactics people usually resort to in order to feel better after a bad night napping, sleeping in, going to bed early¬tend to undermine the body's natural Inclination to right itself after a short bout of insomnia.

As a result, the most powerful attack on the beast of insomnia is to do nothing at all. The first and best approach to sleeplessness is to let the sleep haemostat right itself, without making any attempt to compensate. It is also possible that the prompt use of a sleeping-pill-say after a couple of sleepless nights. rather than after several wretched months-can get the natural mechanism back on track.

That's welcome news, given what's known about the destructive power of persistent insomnia. Chronic insomnia brings on irritability, headaches and muscle pain. It destroys 'concentration and mental well being, it weakens coping skills and robs vitality. It undenmines intimate relationships. It also seems to be the true mother of depression. Most depressed people have trouble sleeping. But insomnia is not just a symptom: It is the best predictor of depression. Two or more weeks of sleeplessness, according to experts, increase the risk of a first episode of depression by 400 percent¬even for someone who-has never before been depressed. For those who have struggled with depression before. insomnia often ushers in a recurrence, as insomnia often precedes episodes of depression by about 5 weeks. Most intriguing, the evidence suggests that treating insomnia may forestall a first episode of depression, or a recurrence, and at least keep insomnia from becoming chronic. So if we get rid of the insomnia, we get rid of the depression risk. And that is one more reason not to panic the next time you find yourself wide¬awake at 2 a.m.

Culled from Indulge