What is sleeplessness / insomnia? – This refers to the inability to sleep well. This may mean not sleeping at all; too little sleep or difficulty staying asleep (i.e. waking up too often). It is a common phenomenon, occurring in 1 out of every 3 adults.

Why is sleep important for the body?

The body needs sleep to reset and restore the energy expended while awake. The body rests during sleep. Thus, absence of sleep deprives the body of the much needed rest and ability to reset. 

How much sleep is needed in a day?

Sleep needs change throughout life. While children (especially less than 2 years) generally need more sleep (about 12 to 18 hours a day), adults (above 18 years) need an average of 8 hours of sleep per day.

What are the types of sleeplessness?

Sleeplessness may occur in different ways. These include:

1. Difficulty falling asleep: Some persons find it difficult to initiate sleep.
2. Midnight wakefulness: This entails waking up in the middle of the night, not specifically for any purpose. The person may still fall asleep again. This is the most common type of sleeplessness.
3. Early morning wakefulness: This entails waking up too early without falling asleep again.

What are the causes of sleeplessness?

Sleeplessness can be caused by a combination of many factors. These include:

1. Medical conditions: This may involve temporary illnesses like infections, injuries or long-standing illnesses such as persistent body pains (e.g. arthritis)
2. Family history: Sleep patterns and disorder sometimes run in families.
3. Mental health conditions: Conditions like anxiety and depression cause prolonged sleeplessness.
4. Unsafe environment – Environment with repeated violent attacks make sleep difficult due to the fear of imminent attacks.
5. Life challenges: Disappointments, stressful or difficult life challenges may contribute to sleeplessness. These are often temporary conditions, which after resolution, often lead to return to normal sleep pattern.
6. Environmental factors: Relocation to a new environment, adjusting to a new work schedule, sleeping in a noisy environment etc may affect sleep pattern. These often resolve with time.
7. Pregnancy: The body changes, as well as hormonal effect of pregnancy, may affect the quantity and quality of the sleep you get. Understanding this reduces the need to be apprehensive about it.
8. Drugs: Some medications may affect the ability to fall asleep. This may resolve after completing the treatment. Taking hard drugs may significantly affect the quality of sleep.

What are the consequences of sleeplessness?

Not sleeping well may result in the following: 

1. Tiredness during the day
2. Sluggishness
3. Forgetfulness
4. Confusion / inability to concentrate
5. Significant interruptions with daily activities

Is there a treatment for sleeplessness?

Sleeplessness can be treated in many ways. The approaches to treating sleeplessness depend on the cause and include:

1. Practicing good sleeping habits: Develop a sleep pattern and adhere to it. The brain tries to adjust to a lifestyle / routine. Try go to bed at certain time and wake up at certain time daily as regular as possible.
2. Adjustment / modification of environment or circumstances: This may be necessary if there are environmental factors causing sleeplessness (such as noise). If there are medications causing sleeplessness, they may be changed to others that don’t have the same side effect. Illicit drugs causing sleeplessness should be discontinued.
3. Drugs: Medication for sleep may sometimes be necessary. This may be necessary after adjusting for other causes and no resolution is achieved. Drugs that may result in dependency should be avoided.
4. Attention to mental health – Treatment of anxiety disorder or depression may result in resolution of sleeplessness.

What are the complications of sleeplessness?

When sleeplessness lasts for a long time, it may lead to sleep deprivation, which may lead to: high blood pressure, diabetes, anxiety, depression, heart attack, stroke, obesity etc. This emphasizes the need for adequate sleep.

How can sleeplessness be prevented?

Sleeplessness can be prevented by:

1. Reducing physical and mental stress
2. Regular physical exercise
3. Good and adequate nutrition
4. Avoidance of noisy and tense environment
5. Avoidance of hard drugs
6. Prompt treatment of medical conditions such as hypertension, diabetes etc