If you find yourself staying up late because you simply cannot sleep, you may be suffering from insomnia. You can identify insomnia by; difficulty falling and staying asleep, waking up often during the night and earlier than you desire, you are tired and sleepy during the day, difficulty concentrating and mood swings.
What causes insomnia?
Poor eating habits
Overeating or taking the wrong kind of food may keep you awake for most of the night. When you overeat, your stomach produces too much acid, which causes heartburn. Heartburn leads to irritability and pain which may hinder you from sleeping.
Serious medical conditions and mental illnesses
Some medical conditions such as sleep apnea, bronchitis, obesity, and high blood pressure may cause you sleepless nights. They may cause pain and irritability making it hard for you to have a good night rest. Some of these illnesses have serious medications that will make you lose your sleep.
Environmental factors
Factors such as noise and light determine the amount of sleep you receive at night. if you live in areas with too much noise, you are likely to develop a sleeping problem.
Here are some of the major effects of insomnia.
Increased risk for medical conditions
Lack of sleep can lead to various health issues. Some of the medical conditions people develop from insomnia include; asthma, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. While you are asleep, the immune system produces infection-fighting substances that defend your body against illnesses. Without enough sleep, your body will not be able to defend itself against simple illnesses. You are now more vulnerable to simple illnesses like respiratory infections.
Eating too much without enough exercise and sleep puts you at risk of developing obesity. High levels of insulin increase your blood sugar and promote fat storage which are the two major characteristics of type 2 diabetes.
Increased risk for mental health disorders
People with insomnia can get up to zero hours of sleep every night. If you sleep less on a regular, you have increased chances of developing mental health disorders. Insomnia may affect your ability to understand and process negative emotions. It increases the likely hood of developing stress, depression, and anxiety.
For many of us, lack of sleep makes us grumpy, irritable and unable to concentrate. We can simply overreact when things don’t go our way or have little excitement when they do. An increase in negative moods and decrease in positive ones are the early symptoms of mental illnesses.
Increased accident risk
Insomnia has been linked to uncountable road accidents. Some of the most gruesome road accident can be linked to insomnia as the primary cause. What happens is, when you don’t get enough sleep during the night, your body may start to make up for it during the day. You start feeling tired and drowsy as an impact of pulling an all nighter, and this may affect your normal functioning.
Imagine driving a car while feeling, you may fall asleep and the next thing you know, you are in a hospital from a road accident. Insomnia is a safety hazard not only on the road but at high risk working places. Insomnia and poor quality sleep can lead to accidents and serious injuries while you are on the job. If a person having insomnia happens to work at construction sites with heavy machinery, they have a high chance of injuring themselves and their co-workers during operations.
Insomnia affects your memory and ability to learn
Several sleepless nights will have a long-term effect on your cognitive functioning. Without enough sleep, your brain is unable to regenerate its cells leading to negative effects in most parts of your functioning. Lack of sleep can distort your memory, making it hard to remember even the simplest of things.
Lack of sleep will have an effect on your attention, concentration, and cognitive thinking. In simpler terms, you will not be able to understand anything, make the right decision or come up with solutions to the simplest problems.
Weight gain
The part of your brain that controls hunger is affected by the lack of sleep. Sleep is necessary for the digestive process, when you do not get enough sleep, the whole process lows down. Lack of sleep induces your brain to produce Gherlin, increasing the feeling of hunger, which leads you to eat more than you need to.
Lacks of sleep can also indirectly lead to weight gain. When you stay up all night online or watching movies, there is a high chance of you getting a snack once or twice every night. Snacks are full of sugar and fat, which are the primary causes of weight gain.
Develop paranoia
Minimal sleep may cause paranoia in some people. When you are worn out and sleepy, chances are that you are more likely to imagine things. Hallucinations may come in the form of daydreams or false memories and imaginations. It is easy to imagine that you may lose a job or fail in school due to lack of enough sleep.
Age faster
When you get less than 7 hours of sleep regularly, your body starts to release a stress hormone that reacts with the collagen in your skin. Your skin starts to lose its youthfulness and after a while, you start noticing some dark circle and permanent creases.
Final word
Most people have had difficulties sleeping at one point i their lifetime. Finding out about the issue and taking affirmative actions may be the only way to fight insomnia. There are natural ways you can cure insomnia, but if it is persistent ensure you visit a doctor before it causes any permanent damages to your physical and emotional health.