Healthcare professionals are able to diagnose insomnia and also prescribe insomnia treatments. If the patient does not respond to any insomnia treatment prescribed, then more extensive examinations and further testing might be warranted. Especially if neither the person's physical, emotional, or mental circumstances seem to be the cause. The treatments available are diverse and will invariably seek to improve any physical or emotional difficulties that might be contributing factors to the condition.
The insomnia treatments available include anti-anxiety drugs, antidepressants, tranquilizers, and sedatives, all of which require a prescription. The drawbacks with regards to this kind of treatment are: 1. the drugs can be habit forming/addictive 2. they will often become less effective over time, and 3. they can reduce awareness.
It is important to identify any medical or psychological problems that may be causing the insomnia, as well as rule them out, before a suitable treatment can be found. There are alternative insomnia treatments which can be tried and avenues which can be explored before turning to drug therapy. For many people simply making changes in their lifestyle will often improve the situation.
There are effective and natural insomnia treatments available. Stimulus control therapy involves controlling/changing the sleep environment, a concept often referred to as 'sleep hygiene'. Changes might include: 1. Setting the alarm for the same time everyday, Monday through Sunday, to establish a regular sleep pattern - regardless of how much sleep one managed to achieve 2. Refraining from using the bed for reading or watching TV - reserving bedtime exclusively for bed time 3. Only going to bed when ready to sleep 4. If you cannot sleep within 20/30 minutes, engage in a relaxing activity elsewhere, like reading 5. And no napping during the day.
Sleep Restriction endeavors to equal the time spent in bed with the time spent asleep. This can play an important role in stimulus control therapy. Sleep restriction maintains a precise and inflexible sleep-wake routine. This is one of the insomnia treatments involving a level of sleep deprivation, as well as control. A minimum of 85% of the time in bed must be spent sleeping: If a person can only manage to sleep around 5hrs the maximum time they are allowed to sleep would be around four and a half hours - and they must always get up at the same time. Over a matter of two or three weeks the amount of sleep allowed is gradually increased.
There are many natural insomnia treatments available which are non-addictive and effective. Even so, the first line of defense should invariably be to change elements within your environment, your sleep routine and even your lifestyle..