In the present world, there is only the “Survival Of The Fittest”. Tough competition, pressure to succeed, constant demands, change in technology, and the desire to be “The Best” has left many sleepless.
Also, other factors like a awaiting promotion or waiting for exam results or birth of a baby lead to stress and anxiety and cause many to suffer from sleepless nights.
A very common term used for such factors is “Stress”. Stress is related to various other disorders and in a very major way is related to insomnia.
What is stress and how does it lead to insomnia
Stress is a common psychological trauma that many suffer from or are likely to suffer at some point of their life.
Before explaining about stress, let’s look at how our body functions:
In layman terms, our body is created in such a way that for it to function normally everyday, it is required to stay in a state of homeostatic balance. This means that all the vital functioning requirements like body temperature, blood pressure etc need to be set at a ideal level. Also, during sleep, the body takes rest after a day filled with activity and actions. The body is active throughout the day and during nighttime when one sleep’s the body unwinds. The unwinding process begins gradually with the relaxation of muscles, lowering of blood pressure, with synchronized and relaxed functioning of neurons etc.
Now when faced with stress, which could be a threat in the form of expectant grief, danger sorrow, loss etc, our body is geared to be ready for action. Our body is in a state of “Flight and fight”, the heart begins to pump more blood to the muscles, oxygen consumption increases, the body is tensed up, and since the individual is in this state, energy is stopped being sent to the digestive system and other functions and is directed towards the muscles.
Stress if used for the right situations and demands is a great boon to the body. For e.g. if your house is on fire you need to act quickly and run away from the house. If you are slow and lethargic you are bound to die. Also when faced with an important project one may notice that they are able to stay awake for longer periods of time. Stress of course has its advantages as it enables us to finish off work quickly. But if stress continues to prolong immense damage will be caused to our body.
People who are used to constant stress and high profile work are unable to sleep easily. This is because stress causes effects, which are quite contrary to the requirements of sleep. In order to sleep the body requires to unwind whereas stress causes the individual to be alert and awake continuously. Sleep requires the blood pressure to decline and be more relaxed, whereas in state of stress there is increased flow of blood in the body. Also, stress draws away energy from important functions like digestion and hair and skin growth. Thus we notice that stress often leads to hair loss, dry hair and dry skin.
Stress disturbs the entire body mechanism, but with remedial efforts and persistence, the body will definitely come back to its normal state. In order to sleep well and have a healthy life style one needs to draw a line between important and urgent tasks and likewise invest their energy and sleep. Going sleepless for unimportant tasks could cause trouble. Also engaging in relaxing techniques will cause your body to relax eventually.