I literally used to dread the morning alarm, its buzzing sound was so irritating that I decided to stop putting the alarm and let myself lie in bed for as much as my body demanded without bothering about the ticking clock. After all I was spending most of my nights tossing and turning in bed, unable to shut out the outside noise in my brain and command it to fall asleep. So, when the morning alarm used to ring, it seemed kind of unfair, as I never was able to get my share of good sleep.
My God Insomnia!
To a common man like myself, it is just a sleepless night spent counting minutes and seconds when the sun will rise, but doctors call it some sort of a disease named INSOMNIA.
I must say I agree with the doctors, it definitely behaves like a disease, taking a toll on my energy, mood and ability to function properly during the day. Almost for the entire day I feel lethargic, I keep thinking about the time when I will go home and sleep and ironically, when that time comes, this disease kicks in and deprives me of my beauty sleep.
On further research I found out that insomnia is not just giving me sleepless nights and bleary eyes in the morning, but it can even result in some serious health problems such as heart disease, high BP, and even diabetes. Sounds scary and serious!
My Brain Doesn’t Listen to Me
Our body parts work the way we want them to. We command our hands to move and they move, we command our mouth to speak and it speaks, we command our legs to walk and they walk, so shouldn’t a command to the brain induce it into sleep mode?
I personally feel that at night whenever I command my brain to sleep, it goes on a strike and pretends not to listen to what I say. I have counted sheep, done deep breathing, yoga, meditation, but no, the brain just won’t listen to me.
Stop Sleeping to Start Sleeping
The quest for that elusive sleep lead me right to the medicine cabinet. Maybe there was something that could put me to sleep, but I was wrong, sleeping pills don’t help, they don’t take you from a state of wide wakefulness to deep sleep. They just help you sleep better when you go to sleep. Not a cure for my insomniac brain.
So, I decided to not focus on trying to sleep and instead started working at nights for long hours, until my brain and body gave up under extreme exhaustion and cried for me to go to bed. The trick actually worked and I was finally able to get some sleep, it may not be the recommended dose of 6-8 hours but it is a good start. At least now I do not feel gloomy and lethargic when I wake up in morning.
A good night sleep is one of the best things in the world, it feels so good, so great. If you are also insomniac then do listen to the plight of your insomniac brain before it gets too late…..
