Unable to sleep at night _ Sleeping Difficulty - Treatment - Dr.Manaswini Mullapudi _ Doctors' Circle

Hello , I'm Dr Manasi and I'm a consultant psychiatrist at Cogs Minds Wellness Center in Chirag Hospital , which is in JP Nagar Bangalore .

And I'm also a visiting psychiatrist in 1/7 Day Adventist Hospital in Fraser Town , Bangalore .

Many people would have experienced some kind of sleep disturbance at some point of time in their life .

However , if it is being persistent , it might be a sign that there is some underlying illness .

So usually sleep disturbance can be a symptom of some other issue .

There are many causes for sleep disturbance and we'll start with medical issues first because those are easily diagnosable problems with thyroid , even problems like diabetes , hypertension and some nervous system problems .

Chronic pain can also lead to sleep issues .

People who abuse substances like smoking or drink a lot of alcohol or use drugs .

These substances interfere with the sleep process .

So this can also lead to sleep disturbance , coming to psychiatric issues .

Almost every psychiatric problem like depression anxiety , mania , schizophrenia , all of them have some level of sleep disturbance .

So to treat this problem of sleep disturbance first , we would have to evaluate the patient and understand why exactly they are having this issue and then we can uh treat accordingly .

Now , suppose , uh a doctor didn't understand why you are having sleep discipline just from your clinical problems .

They might run some tests like a sleep test , which is called a polysomnograph , which will give you an idea about why there are issues in sleep .

Now , let's say that you don't have a medical issue .

You do not have a psychiatric issue and all your tests are normal , but still you feel like you are having some issues with your sleep .

You can follow some simple changes to your daily habits and try to improve your sleep .

Now , one important thing is do not use your bed for any other activity except what it is meant for .

This includes browsing your mobile phone on in bed or working on the laptop when you're sitting on your bed or eating and watching TV .

So keep all these activities outside the bedroom .

Secondly , don't consume coffee or tea or any substances like alcohol or smoke close to bedtime because this will interfere with our brain understanding that it is time to sleep and they might stimulate the brain and delay your sleep onset .

In the long term .

You can practice yoga and meditation or even deep breathing just 10 minutes before you go to bed so that you are more relaxed and ready to go to sleep .

Try to also create a calm environment in your bedroom without too many distractions .

And uh , keep your mobile phone away at least half an hour before you go to bed .