Insomnia is probably the most common mental illness, perhaps even more common than depression, yet no one takes insomnia seriously. Almost every adult has experienced some form of insomnia at least once in their life, and some adults do not even realize it. According to NHLBI, twenty percent of car crash injuries, not related to alcohol, are caused by sleepy drivers. Still, the general populous does not pay attention to insomnia. Your local news station, CNN, FoxNews, and others are even less likely to speak on mental illness...let alone insomnia.
I am one of those who has been afflicted with insomnia since childhood. For me, insomnia is a life-long struggle that I must keep in check. If I do not, I may find myself staying up all through the night to six am. Trying to wake up early, or going to bed by midnight can sometimes take me a month of adjusting. People might question the seriousness of insomnia, but for some people, insomnia can prevent them from being productive in the workforce. Insomnia can cause depression, or anxiety disorders.
Most people have had insomnia without realizing it. Some of the symptoms include: restless sleep, waking up in the middle of the night, fatigue, or feeling sleepy, inability to focus, anti-social behavior, waking up earlier than anticipated, depression, tension, sleep deprivation, headaches, increased typographical errors, bad reading comprehension, lackluster memory, and even irritability. People experience insomnia due to stress, diet, sleeping habits, and that’s to name a few. Scientists are not a 100% certain on everything concerning insomnia. Insomnia is sort of like the common cold where we have a lot of theories floating around, but no certain answers.
Unlike many mental illnesses, insomnia can be kept in check by a myriad of home remedies. Medication can be an effective treatment, but some people would rather avoid medication. An unusual method is waking up exhausted. This method requires someone to wake up after not getting enough sleep, so they’ll be extremely exhausted the next day making it easier to fall asleep earlier in the night. Meditation and stretching can potentially help someone sleep better. For me, changing up my sleep routine helped. I had to only go to my bed when I was tired (that meant no watching TV in bed, reading, or getting on a computer), take no naps, and laying down less. If one does those things in the bed, they start to associate the bed with those instances instead of a good night’s sleep. A few others are not eating at night, maintaining a sleep schedule at the same time every day, avoiding caffeine, working out, stimulus control therapy, and even improving your diet. Other methods include Yoga, melatonin, and acupuncture; however, these are unproven scientifically.
The United States as a country spends an inordinate amount of time discussing immigration, walls, foreign countries we should have never gone to in the first place, social justice, and that’s to name a few. However, mental illness is swept under the rug, and not given primetime on the usual news stations. Mental illness is treated as a lesser issue compared to other political issues. Despite this, mental illnesses impact everyone at least once in their life whether it is minor depression, a minor case of insomnia, a rare mental illness, or something more serious. The question remains, what needs to happen for us as a country to start taking the various mental illnesses out there seriously? Instead, we minimize its impact, or make jokes calling people crazy. Perhaps, now is the time to put effort into helping those with mental illness no matter how strange, or insignificant the mental illness appears to be.
I wonder how many of you have experienced insomnia? Do you believe we take mental illnesses seriously enough? Feel free to comment below and share with others if you're so inclined.
