Millions of Canadians suffer from some sort of sleep disorder or more widely known as “Insomnia”. While insomnia is not really a firm diagnosis, many Canadians accept the fact they can’t sleep and resort to sleeping pills. While most medications for sleeplessness are only to be taken for acute sleeping problems, many people resort to taking more than the indicated amount, and more frequently than they should. Doctors, it would seem, are often not part of the solution when it comes to treating people with sleep problems. According to the article doctors country-wide are simply writing prescriptions for sleeping pills without examinations, referrals or any attempts to get to the bottom of the condition causing the sleep disorder.
In the years between 2003 and 2007, the use of zopiclone, a drug in the benzodiazepine family of sedatives that is prescribed specifically for insomnia, rose almost 50 percent. And according to IMS Brogan, a private company that monitors the pharmaceutical industry, pharmacists across Canada filled nearly 7 million prescriptions for sleeping pills last year alone, amounting to $162 million in sales. Most recent statistics show that 60 percent of those prescriptions were written for women.
Sleeping problems are generally a sign of some other illness. There is a common misconception about “insomnia”, that states that insomnia is the inability to sleep at night. Understanding why you can’t fall asleep is the first step in the important process of identifying why you may need the pills to begin with. Sleeping problems can be caused by many different factors including diet, levels of exercise, physical medical conditions and mental health problems. Seeing as how many sleeping pills are addictive (one can become addicted in as few as 2 to 4 weeks), and that the side effects can be troublesome, it is important to speak to your doctor and try to get to the bottom of why you have difficulty sleeping.
Insomnia is a symptom closely associated with dozens of sleep disorders, and is most generally characterized as the inability to fall asleep.
Here are a few facts that help you see the Bigger Picture of insomnia:
- Insomnia is not a sleep disorder in and of itself, but a related symptom of other problems, including an assortment of common physical and psychological disruptions in the sleep cycle. Symptoms of insomnia can be brought on by physical situations, such as medical conditions, hormonal changes, changes in diet, changes in work schedule, exercise or the lack there-of; environmental situations including changes in time zone, changes in season, travel and cultural changes, and more; and psychological problems including stress, depression, and anxiety.
- Insomnia symptoms include the inability to fall asleep, the inability to stay asleep, the inability to concentrate and function in your daily activities. Common patterns of insomnia include onset insomnia, middle, and late insomnia.
- Chronic, or long-term, insomniacs often exhibit signs of sleep deprivation.
- Types of insomnia include temporary, acute and chronic. The symptoms can last for one night or they may last months and even years. Insomnia ahs been divided into 4 distinct “patterns”: onset, middle-of-the-night, middle, and terminal.Many prescription medications may contribute to insomnia. Over the counter and prescription drugs often have additives intended to combat drowsiness and others simply have side affects that inspire symptoms of insomnia.
- Caffeine, a natural property of many coffees, teas, and chocolates, and also a common food and drink additive is one of the most common sleep inhibitors.
- Contrary to popular belief, alcohol can suppress your body’s natural sleep cycle and actually interfere with natural sleep patterns, leading to symptoms associated with insomnia.
- Statistics show that insomnia is a major problem among American adults. Approximately 60 million American adults report insomnia ranging from long-term or chronic, to brief and temporary.*
- Symptoms related to insomnia are common among individuals that work night shifts or rotating shifts. Night shift work, while some people prefer it, is an unnatural human cycle. Studies have shown that this type of work over the long-term or in cycles can significantly disrupt your natural Circadian cycle. Interruptions in the Circadian cycle affects the physiological balance of your body and can vastly shift sleep patterns and inspire symptoms of insomnia and/or sleep deprivation.
