Psychological Sleep Disorders
Sleep disorders damage both the physical and mental health of people. Not sleeping well affects the way a person acts during the day and their performance. Sound sleep is a necessary for living a well rounded life. Psychological sleep disorders fall into many classes such as bipolar disorder, depression, or schizophrenia.
Bipolar disorder was previously known as manic depression. Bipolar disorder displays energized moods and a general sense of depression. Mood changes come on out of no where and are very unpredictable. The length and the strength of the mood swings can vary. People with bipolar disorder have a tendency to commit suicide much more than people that are suffering from other kind of depressions. This disorder cannot be cured but it can be managed with the help of medication.
Depression is a state of sadness that gets to the point of altering a person’s social living as well as their activities of daily living. The treatment of depression varies from person to person. Medication and psychotherapy are the two common forms of treatment, often used together. When the conventional treatments don’t work, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) might be tried. Alternative treatments to depression include exercise and the use of vitamins, herbs or other nutritional supplements.
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that displays an exaggerated ego and personality problems that create social problems. An effective treatment for the symptoms of this disorder is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Psychological sleep disorders can lead even to serious mental illnesses such as psychosis, if not well attended for.
There are a variety of behavioral treatments are for use in treating insomnia which, when used regularly will be as good as use of medicine but there are no further consequences or ill effects. Relaxation works nicely too such as biofeedback, muscle relaxation exercises, meditation, or even hypnosis can be learned and can be very effective. Cognitive therapy is very effective when trying to treat insomnia. This is because it sways off unwanted thoughts including that of anxiety, allowing sleep. Many times people that suffer from insomnia subconsciously and when they get into bed they automatically think they can’t fall asleep.
Cognitive therapy would then recommend that when faced with this situation you should immediately get out of that bed and go somewhere else in the house and do something mellow and non stressful until you feel sleepy again. The night before, you must have a predetermined wake up time set, regardless of the amount of time that you have slept. It is very important that you get up when the time comes. Part of this therapy instructs that you must limit your sleep time at first and then you can slowly add more hours a little at a time.
Psychologically, your bed must only be for sleeping and being intimate. Make sure that are wearing nice and loose fitting clothes when you go to bed and that the temperature in your room is comfortable. Watch what you eat, especially before bed. Finally, try to eliminate your stressors.