Insomnia is a complex and widespread sleep disorder that affects one in three adults worldwide — and millions of adolescents, too — at any given time. Even when conditions are perfectly conducive to getting rest, insomnia can:
No matter how insomnia affects you, chances are you’re tired of how tired it makes you feel. But daytime fatigue isn’t the only reason to seek help from Dr. Ran D. Anbar and our team at Center Point Medicine. When you treat chronic insomnia, you also protect yourself from the many adverse health effects it can cause. Let’s take a closer look.
Short-term insomnia can last for a few days or a few weeks. Whether it’s caused by a stressful event, changes in your routine, or a new environment, short-term insomnia typically resolves by itself and usually isn’t cause for concern.
Chronic insomnia, on the other hand, is a long-term sleep disorder that occurs at least three nights a week and persists for longer than three months. It can be more challenging to address because it’s usually the product of multiple coinciding factors.
Chronic insomnia can wreak havoc on your daily life, causing low energy, exhaustion, irritability, and difficulty concentrating or remembering. It can also undermine your well-being, increasing your risk of developing a myriad of serious health problems.
When you sleep, your body is hard at work supporting — and, to a large degree, restoring — normal brain function and physical health. Just as children require adequate sleep to grow and develop normally, your adult body needs quality sleep to:
Simply put, routine sleep disruptions take a toll on many aspects of your health.
Evidence suggests that poor sleep quality fuels inflammation in the body, helping set the stage for various physical illnesses. Chronic insomnia is strongly linked to:
It’s also associated with suppressed immunity and a greater likelihood of acute infection — as well as an increased risk of breast, ovarian, colon, and prostate cancers.
But that’s not all. Chronic insomnia can take a toll on your mental health, too, leaving you more vulnerable to chronic stress, anxiety, and depression — and a subsequent associated risk of substance use and addiction.
Fortunately, it’s not all bad news — there’s a lot you can do to overcome insomnia and restore a good night’s sleep, starting with improved sleep hygiene practices. We recommend that you:
Treatment for anxiety, depression, or any other co-occurring mental health condition is also critical to restoring consistent, restful sleep. In addition to these proven strategies, our team also uses hypnosis therapy to help you reach deep levels of relaxation, so you’re better able to calm and relax yourself when you can’t sleep.
Are you ready to gain the upper hand over insomnia? We can help. Call or click online today to schedule an appointment at your nearest Center Point Medicine office in La Jolla, California, or Syracuse, New York.
