A Basic Guide to Insomnia: What You Have to Know when You Can't Sleep

If you always have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep all night and thus always find yourself lacking in energy in the morning, you might be suffering from a common sleeping disorder called insomnia.

Insomnia is often cured by either of two common treatments: medication or cognitive behavioral therapy. These effective treatments for insomnia will be discussed accordingly.

The first type of solution to insomnia is self-medication. This consists of taking in over-the-counter or prescription medicines. These medicines are designed to put anyone to sleep. These sleeping aids, however, are usually helpful only when there is occasional sleeping trouble. When the difficulty in falling to sleep gets more frequent or more severe, sleeping aids may not do the trick. Moreover, sleeping aids have certain disadvantages. These drugs, when misused, often become ineffective and habit-forming. Thus, for an insomniac, taking the medicine regularly may lessen the effect of the drug, causing him to take additional doses every time. Worse, he may become too dependent on the drug that he would continue taking it even after it has ceased to have any effect on him. Furthermore, being drugs, they usually come with various side effects. Finally, sleeping aids do not go to the root of the problem, which are unresolved thoughts and feelings that are causing the sleeping trouble.

The second type of solution to insomnia is what is known as the cognitive behavioral therapy. It is an action-oriented form of psychosocial therapy which assumes that faulty thinking patterns cause maladaptive behavior and negative emotions. The focus of the treatment involves changing a person's thoughts with the view of changing his behavior and emotional state. This, compared to the first solution, is a better one, from the point of view of addressing the root cause of the problem. Of course, this is based on the assumption that the cause of the sleeping trouble is an emotional imbalance that can be solved through solutions affecting the emotions. However, as in the other kind of solution, this one also has its negative side; that is, it can be a long, costly and painful process.

Remember, more importantly, if your unhealthy sleeping habit is becoming more and more serious everyday, you may want to check with your doctor or psychologist to know which is the best and most effective solution for your sleeping disorder.