Insomnia
Hypnotherapy for Insomnia
Hypnotherapy for Insomnia
What is Insomnia?
It is not unusual to have sleep troubles from time to time. But if you feel that you do not get enough sleep or satisfying sleep, you may have insomnia.
People with insomnia have one or more of the following:
Difficulty falling asleep
Waking up often during the night and having trouble going back to sleep
Waking up too early in the morning
Unrefreshing sleep
Insomnia is suffered by around 30% of the population at some time in their lives. Insomnia is a much more serious problem than most people think. Not only is the long term lack of sleep bad for your health but can cause poor performance at work.
If we do not access the deep sleep states needed, we miss out on the necessary processing of our daily concerns and worries resulting in stress and fatigue the next day.
Some people find it incredibly difficult to get to sleep in the first place, called primary insomnia. Other people wake up many times during the night and find it difficult to get back to sleep, called middle insomnia. And others wake up very early and are not able to get back to sleep, called terminal insomnia.
If you are suffering with insomnia
If you are suffering with insomnia, make sure you avoid stimulants such as alcohol, coffee, heavy meals and exercise immediately before you go to bed. Exercise can be an excellent way of improving your sleep patterns, but not immediately before you try to sleep, as it releases stimulating chemicals into the brain.
There are many foods that encourage sleep, as well as foods that interupt sleep, e.g. lettuce which contains an opium-related substance combined with traces of the anticramping agent, hyoscyarnin.
How can hypnotherapy help with insomnia?
It can:
- find the cause of the disturbed sleep and empower clients to make necessary changes reduce stress
- increase levels of calm and learn to relax
- shift patterns of behaviour
- increase motivation to exercise as this often affects sleeping patterns
- analyse past events which may have triggered the insomnia
Insomnia Affects:
- 30-40% of adults
- Concentration and attention
- Memory consolidation
- Decision making ability
- Reaction speed to stimulus
Sleeping problems tend to occur for several reasons:
Something on your mind - means you can't switch off enough from daily events. Fear of not being able to fall asleep - if you experience sleeping problems for a period of time, the fear of it continuing can cause you to lose even more sleep - thereby worsening your insomnia.
Stress and anxiety tend to affect many areas of your life, a good night's sleep being one of them.
Sometimes even unresolved issues from long ago can come to the surface at sleep-time and cause restless sleep.